Dr. Matt Geisler

(to be added)

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Dr. Jane Geisler-Lee

1. Officer in Professional Associations

2018-19    Past-President for the Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Honor Society. SIUC Chapter.

2017-18    President for the Sigma Xi SIUC Chapter.

2016-17    President-elect for the Sigma Xi SIUC chapter.

2015-16    The Admissions Committee, the Sigma Xi SIUC chapter.

2012-13    Chair for Midwestern Section of American Society for Plant Biology (MWASPB).

2011-12    Vice Chair for MWASPB.

2009-11    Treasurer/Secretary for MWASPB.

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2. Outreach

Our Laboratory has been active in outreaching to the future generation. We regularly participate in the Expanding Your Horizon (EYH) for grade 5-9 girls and serve as judge for student poster presentations in research forums.

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2019 EYH statement:

How do plants compete for light, water and nutrients? Leaves require light for photosynthesis while roots absorb water and nutrients. We are using the strategic board game PhotosynthesisTM so attendees can practice shade avoidance using photosynthate (photosynthetic products) points to grow or place seeds. Depending on location and the availability of the Sun, some seeds germinate and seedlings grow and accumulate photosynthate while the others do not, due to shading of bigger tree(s).

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2019 EYH scientist profile:

• How long have you been at your current job?  My husband and I came to SIU Carbondale together from Canada since August 2006.

• What classes did you take in high school and college to prepare for your job?  High School: General Biology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. College: Plant Biology-related courses (Anatomy, Physiology, Cell Biology, Microtechniques); Genetics, Statistics, Calculus, Algebra, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry

• What are the best and worst aspects of your job?  Best: freedom to do research; Worse: never-ending topics to do research on.

• How did you decide on a career?  My college professors’ inspiration. Professor Tsai inspired me to look into details of plants’ structures; then, Professor Chen inspired me to decide the path to study the interrelationship of plant structure and function in Plant Biology.

• What advice would you give to young women who are interested in a similar career?  First, to have a hobby or two to be able to take a mental break from studying. Second, to have an exercise routine to build up physical endurance for a long haul in career building and to release/cure stress. Third, to have a broad and basic knowledge in science, such as mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics and computer science. Fourth, to do a project from the beginning to the end; one project at a time. Completion of a project will make one feel satisfactory and want more and go deeper. Fifth and utmost, to build a life long self-improvement program, e.g., study a new subject one hour a day; read one book intelligently per week. Learn to beat procrastination.

• Give a brief description of your research study. I study how plants interact with their neighbors, especially their roots. Do you know roots don’t like to tangle with one another? They keep at least 2mm away from their neighbors. However, how do they know the presence/existence of their neighbors to be away? Some plants can secrete chemicals to claim their territories (like male cats pee on their territories). After plants sense the presence of their neighbors, how do their roots communicate with their stems to grow differently from if without neighbors? In Plant Biology, bigger plants will shade small plants – so-called “shading” effect. To avoid being shaded, plants tend to grow taller when facing neighbors which are competing with them. In the 2019 EYH workshop, we will be playing the “Photosynthesis” board game to mimic this shading effect. The sun moves in four seasons. If plants are without being shaded, they do photosynthesis and grow. If they are shaded, they don’t grow. In this gamification of “shading effect”, you will quickly learn what my research is about and hopefully, have fun, too. Doing science is rewarding while learning it could be fun!

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3. Affiliations.

1991- Present                  American Society for Plant Biology (ASPB)

2006 - present                 Midwestern ASPB (MWASPB)

2008 - Present                 International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB).

2008 - Present                 Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Honor Society.

2009 - Present                 Missouri Botanical Garden

2017 - Present                 Gamification Research Network

2019 - Present                 Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN)

It is my professional obligation to mentor students, from me through weekly progress meetings and the lab mentoring program in our weekly lab meetings and also through their affiliation to their professional societies. Lab students are invited to join a professional society such as ASPB, ISCB, International Society of Mathematical Biology and Sigma Xi etc.   

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