Many of you are firmly set and making good progress on your career paths - congratulations to you and good luck with your future endeavors!

Others of you are currently "undecided" - and that's fairly normal for your current place in the space-time continuum called "life".

Still others of you, are coming to a realization that, maybe, what you thought was a career path, just isn't quite as appealing as it once seemed a few months/years back.- and that, too, is fairly normal for your current place in the space-time continuum called "life".

Maybe, just maybe, I have sparked some interest within all of you in what it's like to live as a plant!

As I told you on day 1 of this class, the reason I choose to make the study of plants my vocation is simply, "We can't live without them!" - so someone has to try to understand them.

One thing that the MU Botany Department faculty takes pride in is the number of undergraduates we are able to offer "real" lab/field experience to.

This opportunity can be enlightening - you might really love it, or you might really hate it.

You don't have to be a "Botany" major/minor to try the experience!

The experience won't be a "cake walk" - so if you are looking for an "easy way out" - hit the back button!

Now that I have had opportunity to at least give you a little taste of what research into plant life might be about, I would like to tell you about some individual possibilities in my laboratory.

I have several research endeavors, that are at various stages ( 1 = beginning; 5 = ending) of development, that potentially afford undergraduate students opportunity to experience what "cutting edge" scientific research is all about.

1. Chemistry majors: (Stage = 1) Analyses of Lignin in Stems versus Roots of 3 local tree species. What we are trying to understand is why woody stems are "stiffer" than woody roots. We think it might relate to the amount of lignification in the wood of these organs.

2. System/Business majors: (Stage = 5) Conversion of data bases to next generation of MUDES hardware/software. We are posed to convert our MUDES data base to the next generation of hardware, but need help in upgrading out data base coding.

3. Math majors: (Stage = 2) Analysis of empirical data within the context of theoretical dynamic systems models of pattern formation processes in Shoot Apical Meristems. We have a good set of empirical data with which to evaluate very complex dynamic systems models. Our dilemna is coordinating the mathematics, in a meaningful fashion, with the empirical data..