1. What's your job title?
Extension Nematologist, Oregon State University. My rank is Senior Faculty Research Assistant.
2. How did you feel about math when you were in school?
I felt differently about different math subjects. In gradeschool, I liked it in general (because I was supposed to be one of the "smart kids".) In high school, I began with the attitude of liking it, but in algebra, my first class, I could never figure out how to factor quadratic equations. In geometry, there was no algebra, and I loved it, understood it completely, and barely had to study. The teacher would always call on me to put my answers up on the board after all the other students goofed up. The next two years, junior and senior years in high school, we had some kind of advanced algebra or something. I never understood it, and it was discouraging. I developed the opinion that I was "bad in math." At OSU, I was placed in Analytic Geometry, which is geometry based on quadratic equations. I did not do well in this, and in fact dropped the class and took two or three terms of remedial math, and then tried analytical geometry again. I didn't do very well, but I liked it because conic sections are so attractive. I also took a term of calculus. I did so badly that no one ever suggested me taking another term. My image of calculus is of a guy standing around tossing a softball in the air and catching it, because this is all I ever understood in this class.
3. How do you feel about it now?
I like math, and I think that if I could work at the parts I struggle with more slowly, I would do OK. In addition, I have had more recent successes in math-oriented classes. For my master's degree here at OSU, I had to take three terms of statistics. I was so afraid I was going to fail that I studied really hard. I did well in two of the three statistics classes, and I have used statistics since that time in writing scientific publications. Success helps to build confidence. (However, I have no solution for a lack of success!)
4. Did you have to go to college to get this job?
Yes.
5. If so, for how long?
I went to OSU for four years for my bachelor's degree in botany and then, after several years, came back to OSU for three years to complete a Master's of Science degree in Botany and Plant Pathology.
6. If so, what kind of math class did you take?
(see above.)
7. What kind of math is in your job?
1. Statistics (mostly things like Analysis of Variance and t-tests and comparable non-parametric tests) for publications. This is not an everyday thing - it's used more in the set-up of experiments, which my boss does, and in the writing up afterwards. I use these tools in personal projects, however, especially regarding birds (see below). During the experiment itself, the work is usually mundane. 2. Arithmetic and a few descriptive statistics. Explanation: my job is to receive soil and plant samples from members of the public, to figure out how many plant-parasitic nematodes are in the soil or plants, and to report this information back to the sender. (Nematodes are roundworms. The ones that live in soil are from about 1/3 mm to 5 mm long. There are many nematodes living in soil that are NOT plant parasites; these feed on bacteria, fungi, or other small animals. All are important in cycling nutrients in soil. A lot of people think of these as "bad" nematodes versus "good" nematodes, but I prefer to be neutral and think of them according to what they feed on. Plant-parasitic nematodes are members of natural systems, so they are not unexpected in crop plants. Because crops are a monoculture (one kind of plant growing over a whole big area), if a plant-parasitic nematode happens to like that plant, it will multiply and possibly damage the crop. Just thought you might like a little background. OK, so I report the number of plant-parasitic nematodes in terms of what would be in 100 g of soil corrected for soil moisture. To get this figure, I put 20 g of soil into a soil drying oven, dry it for a predetermined amount of time, and weigh it afterwards. It weighs less, because all the water is gone. I divide 20 g by the dry weight, which gives a number between 1 and 2. (Here's another way I used math. I compared the price of a Soil Drying Oven with the price of a Bi-Mart Toaster Oven, and the toaster oven cost about 1/10th as much as the Soil Drying Oven, so I chose the toaster oven.) In the meantime, I get the nematodes out of the soil - I won't bore you with the details. I count at least 100 of each relevant kind in a gridded counting dish. The reason the grid is there is so that the number of nematodes within a certain area can be counted, and if you know what proportion of the total that area is, you can figure out how many nematodes would be in the whole dish by multiplying by the proper factor. We have a standardized counting dish, and I figured out the area of the whole thing. Concentric circles are inscribed onto the dish. Also, the dish is divided into quarters by two perpendicular lines through the middle. I figured out the area of each of the six rings formed by the concentric circles, and the area of 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 of each of those rings, plus combinations of various rings and various parts of other rings, and I put them all in a spread sheet. Now all I have to do is count the nematodes in a particular area, look at this chart, and multiply my counted total by the factor designated on the list for that area. Now I have the number of nematodes in the dish as indicated by my sample of at least 100. Next, I have to correct for soil moisture, so I multiply this total by the factor I got above from the soil dry weight divided into 20 g. That give the number of that kind of nematodes that would be in 100 g of soil if the soil were dry. (This is to standardize between all levels of soil moisture). But then, also, I usually extract nematodes from 200 g of soil, so I have to divide by 2 in there someplace to get the number that would be in 100 g (because 200/2 = 100.) So this is all just arithmetic, and I do it routinely on my hand-held calculator. The process for plant material is simpler: I just weigh the plant material, put it under mist for a week, count the nematodes, and divide be the weight, and tell the sender how many nematodes per unit weight. We use grams - metric is much simpler than English to use. Speaking of metric versus English, when I first started this job, the number of nematodes in soil were expressed as number/quart of soil. This is so dumb that there's not a word for it. The process at that time was to get nematodes from 20 g of soil and to multiply it by 20, and this was supposed to be the number per quart. As a math student, you can figure out why this is illogical. Descriptive statistics - that is, mean, standard deviation, standard error, and things like that, are used in identifying nematode species. You can tell what genus they are (usually) using the dissecting microscope, but to figure out the species, you have to use the compound scope. Some species characteristics are things like length and width and various ratios of lengths of body parts. There is a micrometer in the scope eyepiece, and you count units in the micrometer, multiply by a predetermined factor that gives you the number of microns in a unit at that power, and that gives you the measurement in microns. I try to measure several nematodes to determine the species. I then have a data set for each measurement. I then determine the mean and standard error ( for which you need the standard deviation) for comparison to published descriptions. The standard error gives a rough estimate of how variable a data set is.

8. How do you use math in your job?
See answer for Question 7.
9. How do you use technology in your job?
1. Computers. I'm not really good at using computers; I use them as tools rather than getting excited about computers themselves, so I'm always several steps behind everyone else. We use computers for planning experiments and analyzing data; most of this is done by my boss. I use computers for everyday things like writing letters to clients and e-mail. 2. The process of getting nematodes out of soil is a density flotation method involving a centrifuge. Soil is suspended in water and poured through various sized screens. A fraction of this soil is then suspended in sucrose syrup and centrifuged. The nematodes remain in the sugar solution, but the soil particles are denser, and they sink to the bottom. I'm not sure whether or not this is technology. 3. The Nematodes in Oregon Agriculture Web Site at http://mgd.nacse.org/hyperSQL/squiggles/ uses an innovative computer language to enable the user to use a database easily. I supplied the information about nematodes for this site, but my computer frieds did all the computer stuff. Also on this site is information about how many plant-parasitic nematodes will damage some crops. Farmers can use this information to decide whether or not to treat their crops for nematodes after they get their results back from this lab. ----- most of the nematology that we do is pretty low-tech. It involves a lot of looking at stuff through a dissecting microscope and counting worms. I use computers for personal projects to write scientific publications, to produce graphs, usually of number of organisms per unit weight or area over time, and to do spread sheets that provide the numbers to put into the graphs.
10. Do you have any fun hobbies we could in clued?
Quantitative bird watching: I count and identify birds in a systematic way in the same area many times over years, and compare numbers between years, compare these numbers to numbers from other areas or studies, and draw inferences about breeding, migration, and wintering. The birds I enjoy most are big ones that don't hide, such as ducks and hawks. Native plants in my yard: I am attempting to grow native plants in my yard while getting rid of Himalaya blackberry, English ivy, and wild garlic. I would like to have my yard simulate a native system. Moss identification: I collect (with proper permits) mosses from particular areas and develop lists of mosses and their relatives according to substrate (what they grow on). I also do the moss identifications for the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology here at OSU.
11. Is there anything else you would like us to know?
Life is one long story problem, and it's fun.