Side-bar:
On Teaching Botany
I became a botanist without knowing it! A shift of interest evolved gradually during my development as a biology teacher. After earning B.S. and M.A. degrees in zoology, I began teaching general biology at a community college in Southern California. My undergraduate background included courses in general botany and plant physiology, but my teaching assignment motivated me to learn much more about plants. I apprenticed with botanical colleagues studying the local flora so I could do a better job of leading my students on field trips to the nearby mountains and deserts. I also designed new lab exercises that used plants as experimental systems to engage students in the process of science without having to "sacrifice" animals.
 |
| Leading students to discover more about plants and the botanical sciences can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience. |
| Photo courtesy of Marsh Sundberg. |
In one of those labs, my students and I used the sensitive plant (Mimosa) to study the universal biological property of "excitability," the capacity of organisms to sense environmental changes and respond to those stimuli. I never imagined that I would return, several years later, to the rapid leaf movements of the sensitive plant as an experimental model in my own research.
When I decided to resume graduate work to earn a Ph.D. degree, I chose the University of California at Riverside only because it was close enough for me to keep my teaching job. I studied the structure and function of salt glands that enable certain desert plants to thrive in salty soil. After publishing several papers, I accepted a faculty position at Cornell University, where my research focused on the cellular mechanism of leaf movements. It was not until I was a member of Comell's Section of Plant Biology that I realized I had become a botanist.
My lab and field experiences with general biology students continue to shape my work. For the past several years, I have been writing biology textbooks back in California. It is an activity that keeps me in touch with undergraduates and secures a starring role for plants in my books.
Neil A. Campbell, Univ. of California, Riverside.
Continue .....
|
- GO GREEN – THINK BALANCE – BE
SUSTAINABLE