Highly sensitive to changes in cues from their environments, plants have the ability to adapt, become more mechanically robust, and flourish. Throughout my graduate career I have gained great inspiration froma plants both in research and my personal life. My home is filled with houseplants because I think they are beautiful, but they also serve as a daily reminder of resiliency, pushing out new growth even when their water is lacking, or bending to catch a bit more sunlight each day when they are shaded, always finding ways to flourish. Inspired by this resiliency, my research focuses on understanding mechanisms in which plants respond to environmental cues to develop robust mechanical properties and leveraging these mechanisms to develop synthetic materials with responsive material properties. Strand like images depict mycelium hyphae adapting their growth and resulting mechanical properties in response to changes in substrate composition. Bubble-like images depict two examples of strain-stiffening, soft, actuating devices developed to mimic osmotic actuation and swelling of nonvascular plant tissue. These beautiful images serve as a tribute to the beauty of plants, and what they can inspire and teach.
