A sunburned grain Stamps of approval Pockets of gold in ... - adron.sr

THE IRRI PIONEER INTERVIEWSConducted by Gene HettelGENE HETTEL (3)A juggling act:Gender barriers and molecular mapsSusan McCouch, an associate geneticist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 1990-94 andcurrently professor of plant breeding and genetics at Cornell University, was truly a pioneer—in more waysthan one. She was an integral part of the team at Cornell that developed the first-ever molecular map of ricewhile, at the same time, being among the first female scientists to break the gender barrier in agriculturalresearch. Back in 1985, when she applied to be a graduate student in Cornell’s plant breeding program,she was placed on probation because she was a female with a young child. Even so, during her July 2009interview on the Cornell campus, she pointed out that, although she experienced difficulties and challengesas everyone does, she didn’t really believe that hers at both Cornell and IRRI were centered on gender issues.Finding meaningful work in thedeveloping world with riceIended up at IRRI in a quite roundaboutway. I actually came intoscience late in my career. I hadlived and traveled extensively inLatin America before coming back tothe United States for graduate school.I had realized that my background inliterature and history wasn’t going togive me the tools that I needed to findmeaningful work in the developingworld, which was one of the aspirationsI had.So, I returned to the UnitedStates with interests in agriculture,nutrition, food supply, and health (butnot necessarily medicine). That rangeof interests converged on the field ofagriculture and specifically on rice asa staple food. Access to food was theunderstory for a lot of the nutritionalproblems and nutrient deficiencies that Ihad seen during my travels.At the time I entered graduateschool, I didn’t know that I would be ableto study something so well-suited to myinterests. I entered the PhD program inplant breeding and genetics at CornellUniversity as an older person, after myfirst child was born. I had deferred tomy husband’s career preparation first.By that time, we were thinking veryhard about how we could “architect” alife that would give us both professionalopportunities in the developing world.Being female with a young babyforces probationWhile my husband, Paul Coen,was in veterinary school, I was astaff technician at Cornell. Duringthat time, I took a very well-knowninternational agriculture course. Throughconversations with many participantsduring that course, I concluded that Iwanted to do graduate work in plantbreeding. It had not occurred to mebefore but it fit very well with manyof the interests I had, and with my MSpreparation in plant pathology.In 1985, when I applied to the fieldof plant breeding at Cornell, it was thefirst time that a female with a youngbaby was accepted to become a graduatestudent. Several of the professors feltit was too great a handicap, and that Iwould never work in the field. I thinkthey felt that, maybe, I was going toattend classes, get an education, but neverwork professionally. So, I was acceptedon probation and I had to prove myself.Despite the fact that many of the malestudents in the department had youngbabies at home, this was not grounds forquestioning their professional aspirations.But, anyway, I entered the departmentand I worked very diligently and I think Idemonstrated a serious commitment.My timing was really fortunatebecause the Rockefeller Foundation’sProgram on Rice Biotechnology hadRice Today April-June 201037