What inspired your interest in plant science?

I have a vivid memory, from spring break of my second year in college, of travelling with two friends to Death Valley National Park in California. Our visit coincided with a fairly wet year for the California deserts, so there were many plants growing and flowering that would ordinarily be waiting out Death Valley's notoriously hot and dry climate. My friends were keen to check out an abandoned mining operation on the side of a hill overlooking the valley, whereas I was immediately drawn to all of the plants scratching out a living among the rocks and thin soil. I was entranced looking at the different adaptations the plants had evolved to survive – some with succulent leaves, others with thick cuticular wax or dense hairs, and some clearly getting by through an ephemeral lifestyle that exploited this brief burst of moisture. The whole experience was such a great bridge to the real world from the lecture classes in general biology and chemistry that I'd been immersed in all semester, and my short time on that hill turned into a big push towards a career in plant biology.

中文翻译：

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 大卫·L·德玛莱

是什么激发了您对植物科学的兴趣？

我对大学二年级春假时和两个朋友去加利福尼亚州死亡谷国家公园的旅行有着清晰的记忆。我们的访问恰逢加州沙漠相当潮湿的一年，因此有许多植物正在生长和开花，这些植物通常会等待死亡谷臭名昭著的炎热干燥的气候。我的朋友们热衷于参观俯瞰山谷的山坡上的一个废弃采矿作业，而我立即被所有在岩石和稀薄土壤中生存的植物所吸引。我着迷地看着这些植物为了生存而进化出的不同适应性——一些植物有多汁的叶子，另一些植物有厚厚的角质层蜡或浓密的毛发，还有一些显然是在利用这种短暂的水分爆发来度过短暂的生活方式。整个经历是从普通生物学和化学讲座到现实世界的一座伟大桥梁，我整个学期都沉浸在其中，而我在那座山上的短暂时间变成了对植物生物学职业生涯的巨大推动。