My 41 Life Lessons: #5   Have a plan for achieving your goals– Your plan should enumerate your baseline (where am I now?), path to achieving each goal (roadmap, route, and resources), and plans for setbacks and obstacles.
Mohammed Armani

Welcome to my site. I am Mohammed Armani, a Plant Ecologist, a Lecturer at KNUST, and a Postdoctoral Associate at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS), Yale University.

I study how plants adapt to disturbance (such as fire, herbivory, and drought) and how plant functional traits (PFTs) influence species performance across tropical plant communities (forest, savanna, grasslands). I employ both field-based and common garden experimental approaches.

But I am not only about research! I aspire to make a difference by providing resources that help students to make the best use of their time before, during, and after college/University (see more under the “Schoolent” page). Under the “Wosotree” (Wise and Ancient Wisdom of Trees) page, I teach many useful life lessons/skills based on our current understanding of the functioning of trees.

How to write a winning Statement of Purpose/Motivation

By Mohammed Armani & Emmanuel Oduro Takyi (PhD Student, Yale University, emmanuel.odurotakyi@yale.edu) The SOP/SOM is often one of the most difficult tasks when compiling your application documents for international postgraduate studies. The difficulty in...

Crinum ornatum: Love at first sight!

It was love at first sight indeed! On my walk this morning, I chanced upon this beautiful muddy patch with numerous Crinum ornatum (Family = Amaryllidaceae). I had no idea what plant it was. I was just attracted to their super bright white flowers with broad pink...

The origin and genetic basis of plant spines

Prickles on the stem of Solanum aculeatissimum Why do plant have spines? Spines are common in many terrestrial plants, habitats, and biomes. Why would plants produce spines and exactly what are their functions? These questions have for a long time fascinated both...