Profile

I always wanted to be a scientist, as long as I can remember I wanted to understand how everything works!

One of the most amazing thing for me is life and nature. You look around you and see all that diversity: so many species, so many individuals and no specie is the same as another one, as no one is the same as someone else… even twins!

How that happens? We are all made of cells but built in so many shapes!

So I decided to understand that: How the genetic code and the environment work together to create a perfect unique subject and how they rule evolution and creation of new species.

Plants are the best subject for this study because contrary to animals they grow organs all the time! Flowers, leaves, shoots … so you can easily follow the effect of mutation and environment just looking at the plant growing.

In the past, I have worked to understand the role of the genes in development, then I have studied how the environment influence it.

Now, I am investigating how evolution has affected the appearance of plants,  and helped their algal ancestor to adapt to land, create a root system and to cover earth.

I wake up at 6:00 🙁 Yes I am a girl and I need time to be ready but I REALLY want to be in the lab before ALL the others!

Why? Because I like to have all the machines for me and to turn on the radio as loud as I want 🙂 I usually start the experiments : looking at the growth of the plant (mutant, transformant) , trying to see which genes is expressed in which part of the plant and in which condition, measure the content of the plant in various nutrient, taking some picture using microscops (I love microscops – I love picture in general they describe better than words!)

Then I do the rest. What is the rest?

– I help my intern in the lab and teach her the techniques but mainly I teach  her to think by herself… to ask question … to determine the best way to answer it … and to conclude on the result she get…

– I teach at uni

– I prepare some talks for other scientist – because you need to share in science ! It makes it going faster and you can get the help of other brain then your which is really important as no one think the same!

– I prepare science communication events as Plant fascination day!

I leave around 8:00 pm and I go to the sport center where I climb 1 to 2 hours before to go home for dinner 🙂