Dr. Pedmale's visit was funded by a National Science Foundation STEM Education grant to provide undergraduate-level, hands-on instruction in Plant Science. Sacred Heart Academy was the only school selected in 2021-22.
"Unlike animals, plants have no specific organs that see or hear various stimuli, yet, plants are sensitive to their surrounding environment and modify their development according to various external signals. Our lab studies how the environment of a plant modulates its growth and development. Understanding environmental control of growth will have far-reaching implications for agriculture, energy production, and many other human activities. And that's what Dr. Rosado and I will show you today..."
First, Dr. Pedmale presented a brief lecture demonstrating the mechanisms behind how a plant perceives and successfully adapts to its environment. Dr. Rosales, a postdoctoral researcher at Cold Spring Harbor Labs, then ran a series of experiments and demonstrations with the girls - to help them understand how a plant integrates intrinsic and extrinsic cues and "decides" how to best respond to environmental cues. Understanding how plants deal with, and respond to a multitude of environmental signals could help researchers and farmers develop crops that more effectively cope with unfavorable growth conditions without diminishing yield. Several girls have become very invested, already planning botany projects for 2022-23. Junior Catalina Ramirez already works as a Research Assistant in CSH's Pedmale Lab.