Ceci is a third year PhD student in Plant Biology working in Jim Dalling’s lab. Her research focuses on how abiotic factors, especially soil characteristics, influence plant community distribution and composition in montane tropical forest.
What have you been working on this past week?
This past week I was entering data from an experiment I set up in Panama over the last month. For the project I transplanted 324 seedlings, and for each plant I measured the length and width of each leaf, to eventually calculate the total leaf area. That means I had 15 sheets to enter into Excel. Because entering data is boring and tiring for my eyes, I interspersed it with some canopy light analysis. For the same experiment, I took fisheye lens pictures for each treatment to use the GAP Light Analyzer software to have an idea of the amount and quality of light in each replicate. The software is simple and importing the pictures was easy. Currently I am figuring out what site parameters I have to include for my project, such as geographic coordinates, slope, and aspect, among others. As I do this, I’m considering which site parameters might not be important or informative for my questions. My next step will be to put together a PowerPoint presentation with the preliminary results for my next committee meeting, which will be happening soon.
What did you do over the past weekend?
After finishing in Panama and before returning to Urbana, I went to Michigan to visit a friend, where I spent some time in Grand Rapids. It was my first time there, and I was surprised by how big a city it is – I was expecting a more low-profile town. The city is beautiful and has great things to offer, such as good food from Founders Brewing Co. (you have to try the sandwiches), a wonderful botanical garden (Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park), and a robust art culture. Grand Rapids annually hosts the ArtPrize event, which was occurring when I visited. Every corner of the city was full of performances, sculptures, paintings, and many other creative art forms. What a perfect place for a relaxing weekend!
Describe your office. If you could change one thing what would it be?
I have to say that I have two offices – one in Morrill Hall at Illinois and one in Boquete in Panama. My “office” in Panama is the forest itself, where I generally spend about 6 months from 8 am to 5 pm (if the rain has mercy on me) walking in the forest measuring trees, taking leaf, root, and wood samples, and thinking about life. This one is my favorite office because the lighting is perfect and it is plenty big enough. One problem, though, is that there are too many mosquitoes and chiggers in my office! My other office in Morrill is OK, but I would like for it to have more windows.
