[Plsgs] Potential Project for Students

Tue Aug 3 08:32:44 MST 2021

Opportunity for Grads and Undergrads--

I have the project details attached to this email in a PDF letter, but I'm looking for STEM students (undergrad or grad) in biology, ecology, agriculture, botany, and related areas who would be interested in being a writer for a science-based tropical plant/houseplant blog.

In undergrad, I was a student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and Environmental Science (PitE) at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!); I am currently a dual law and MPA student at the University of Montana. I spent all four years of college working in STEM research (biomedical research, paleoecology, biodiversity and human impact, endangered species research, and species survival plans, to name a few), and although I may have chosen a career outside STEM, I'm still holding onto my passion for science through science writing and hobbies.

I am currently finishing up writing a book on the science behind houseplant care (ex., nutrient cycling and fertilizing), and recently launched a website<https://www.howtospeakplant.com/> that is an online extension for everything that couldn't fit in the book. The main idea for both the book and the website is to make everyday science more accessible, which will primarily be accomplished on the website through a science-based blog that is written by student scientists in a way that people without a biology degree can understand. Articles involve traditional houseplant FAQ topics written by me (those are excellent for increasing site traffic), but also anything interesting tropical plant or houseplant-related topics, whether it be about the linguistics behind names, plant family relationships, propagation and plant reproduction, plant relationships with fungi, bromeliads and poison dart frog breeding, or the relationship between frugivores and tropical plant dispersal.

The goal of this blog is to give students the opportunity to be published with a little "p," and explore interesting topics they enjoy. As a former STEM student, I remember how big of a deal and how difficult it was to be Published with a capital "P." Throughout my four years in STEM research, I only managed to be "Published" in research once. Although I know writing for a science blog isn't quite the same thing, I know firsthand that being able to talk about publicly available writing of any kind can be a great leg up when applying to post-grad jobs or graduate school. I was also a writer for the Michigan admissions blog, and I was asked about that experience both in post-grad job interviews and interviews for law school.

Student writers also have the option to coordinate with art students interested in botanical illustration for visual aids to their articles; I am sending out a separate email to other departments to recruit art students, too.

I would be incredibly grateful if you would share this email with your departments or directly with any students you think might be interested. The attached letter has more specific information for students about the project (here is a link to the letter<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mQR6ir9zkaTzdz2ya9j522g2aOZ5Tdpl/view?usp=sharing>, too, in case the attachment doesn't make it through correctly), and a link to a Google Form sign-up<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf3VSIDcJDXrMdPfewHhKothTCT4W6R-v5yTRgamsEjTRwlUw/viewform?usp=sf_link>. Students are welcome to email me directly (wampler at umich.edu<mailto:wampler at umich.edu>) with any questions!

Thank you very much,
Megan Wampler

--
Megan Wampler
University of Montana JD MPA '22
University of Michigan EEB PitE '18
c: (406) 459-4035
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