This root has been colonized by EMF.

Me as I plate roots to look at under the microscope.

1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.
I worked in the Bennett Species Interactions Lab over the summer. I helped with many different projects going on at the time.
2. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.
This experience boosted my sense of confidence as far as feeling prepared to one day lead my own experiment. I now feel competent enough to train others on how to do things like examining root slides under a microscope and finding the number of arbuscules to indicate a successful EMF pairing or how to prepare slides in general and prep specimens and harvest experiments. It also boosted my drive and enthusiasm for my major and even inspired me to add a microbiology minor to my schedule in the coming semester. I just feel more prepared and surer of myself in not just a lab setting, but in my classes as well as I now have firsthand experience to help me in my labs and in lab practicals.
3. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.
My relationship with my STEP project manager, Dr. Bennet, helped me feel like I have a mentor and someone to look up to that is already doing exactly what I’m working so hard to accomplish. I feel as though her connections will continue to help me in my journey to becoming a great plant pathologist and researcher. It was through her that I got to meet professors studying endomycorrhizal fungi in Finland and experience other universities programs.
I also met other grad students, Scott and Antonio, who are also some key mentors in my life. Scott works alongside Dr. Bennet helping to run multiple projects going on in the lab and is in charge of training new students who come into the lab to work. He has provided me with other opportunities, such as scholarships and grants that I can apply for in order to have funds to run my own experiment. Antonio is allowing me to continue working in the lab on one of his experiments, allowing me to be part of its progression from start to finish and be a part of the publishing process. It is his work on the microbiomes of the soil and of the plants that inspired me to add microbiology to my schedule.
I also met other students from all sorts of different majors that were working on their own experiments. I even met a friend, Christine, who is now in my OCHEM class and together we are doing great in the class. I got to work on so many different projects and gain so much experience that I feel I can handle whatever gets thrown at me and know the proper techniques for everything from mite eradication, root washing, slide preparation, data collecting, to root staining and weighing.
All of these connections and experiences have transformed me into the confident, determined aspiring young researcher that I am.

4. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans
My plans for the future include working on diseases like SCN, rice blast, TMV, and stem rust; diseases that devastate farmers and only increase the world hunger crisis. In order to do hat, I needed the necessary tools and knowledge to work in a cutting-edge lab. This experience has put me directly on that path and made me cross paths with individuals already in the field. These connections will continue to aid me in my journey long past my graduation, and will be truly valuable assets to my professional career.