Mentoring & Teaching

Within the scope of my current projects, I mentor and guide undergraduate students for their Capstone project, a requirement for many majors. Below is a list of capstone projects I have advised. ​

• Within the Biodiversity- Ecosystem Functioning field experiment, an undergraduate used three of the species to study
  seedling trait plasticity and its relationship with mortality and growth rate across diversity. We found that root traits significantly changed across diversity, and influence mortality and seedling growth rates. 

• Within the Biodiversity- Ecosystem Functioning field experiment, an undergraduate is analyzed how phenology and C allocation changes across diversity and water availabiltiy in 6 herbaceous species. We found qualitative shifts in peak flowering time across water availability and richness, and significant shift in root:shoot across vegetative and flowering stages.

• A greenhouse experiment to understand how AMF mitigates the effects of drought on plant fitness and Carbon storage in legumes. We found that the presence of AMF reduced the negative effects of drought and influenced nodulation of the host species.

The Inclusive Student Training in Collections and field-based Topics (InSTInCT) REU program provides undergraduates belonging to historically excluded groups an opportunity to conduct cutting-edge scientific research on the diversity of life and organisms in their natural environment over the summer. 

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I participated as a mentor to a student working in the Wolf Lab. Their project focused on how Carbon sequestration and resource acquisition traits in Texas plants will change in the face of climate change. They found significant shifts in root:shoot ratios and specific root lengths when plants were drought-stressed, suggesting a change in carbon storage under these conditions. 

Society for Advancing Gender Equality in STEM (SAGES) is a social and academic organization supporting feminist/queer students. The Center for Women's and Gender Studies wants to create a responsive community for WGS majors, minors, LGBTQ/Sexualities Studies scholars, and like-minded students. This program offers a yearly mentoring program that pairs mentees with mentors in similar fields in an effort to expand the network and opportunities for individuals from underreprented groups. 

The Biodiversity Scholars Program is designed to offer financial assistance to undergraduate students interested in taking a field course but may have the time or money to do so. This program also offers individual-based mentorship from graduate students to help guide undergraduates in the program towards their academic and career goals.