Tomorrow

Procrastination’s setting in
like the setting of the sun
Soon it will be all dark as sin
and time will be all done.

Last Day!

Today is the day that I am all done
No more mass spec, its time to have fun
No longer before dawn will I rise out of bed
Eat breakfast alone and kiss wife on the head
And measure all day, like a beaver and dam
No, never again hence today, that’s the plan!
I will go home today a burden relieved
Although that’s what I thought last week, woe is me!

Scrap-booking in China

To Beijing China I did go, with poster in a sling
To speak some science and to show, my work with modeling
But when I got to where I was to post and show it off
I realized my dimensions wrong, I cursed and oft did scoff!

But innovation came so swift with scissors and with tape
A scrapbook poster there would fit my fate I would escape
Surprisingly the poster there as rough as it did look
Attracted conversation sweet suspended from that nook!

What I do

A number of people have asked me to post a brief description of exactly what I do. So here it goes…



You may have learned back in high school that plants take in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen during photosynthesis. This is only partly true. While the net flux of gasses is carbon dioxide in and oxygen out, other plant processes take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide at lower rates than photosynthesis. Some of these processes are a big headache for the plant and result in wasted energy and lost carbon. I am looking at possible ways to minimize the amount of carbon dioxide that bleeds from the plant during these processes in order to maximize the potential carbon gain of the plant. If you want more specifics, check out the Wikipedia article on photorespiration.