Marites Sales, a program associate in the plant pathology program, is one of 12 plant biology researchers named by the American Society of Plant Biologists to a PlantingScience Master Plant Science Team.

PlantingScience is an educational and research resource that brings together middle and high school students, plant scientists and teachers in a virtual learning environment. Students engage in hands-on plant investigations while working with peers at their schools and online with scientist mentors to build collaborations and enhance their understanding of plant science.

Members of the Master Plant Science Team are graduate students and postdoctoral researchers active in all areas of plant science research with an interest in participating in K–12 outreach. The team's mentors help middle and high school students and their classroom teachers to develop practical, insightful research skills while investigating the plant themes and teaching modules provided by the PlantingScience program.

More than 9,000 middle and high school students, 2,500 research teams, and teachers in 34 states have experienced the brand of scientific inquiry offered by PlantingScience. Unlike the repetitive lab exercises with predicted outcomes common in many classrooms and textbooks, PlantingScience offers the real world of ambiguity, messy data and scientific creativity.

Since becoming an official partner in the PlantingScience project in 2006, the American Society of Plant Biologists has supported more than 30 early-career plant scientists as mentors. The society recently expanded its support.