Abstract Detail
Healing the planet: medicinal plants and the legacy of Richard E. Schultes Schultes, Neil P. [1]. The Leaf falls near the Tree: my Father and my Career in Plant Biology. I find myself in the unique position of being not only one of Richard Evans Schultes many students (as an undergraduate in his Plants and Human Affairs course) but also a recipient of half his genome. Is it the nature of a Schultes or the nurture in the Schultes household that led to my career choice as a plant biologist? One might think that as my father and I share similar fates - attending undergraduate and graduate school at Harvard and choosing plant science as a career - that there might have been a hefty dose of generational grooming. Surprisingly, this was not the case. What my father offered me, as well as to many others, were opportunities and experiences. These undoubtedly helped me decide upon my career. Today I work at The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven CT as a plant molecular biologist. There, colleagues and I work as part of a large effort in the plant community to identify and understand how maize genes give rise to C4 photosynthesis. Despite the gap between field botany and lab research it never ceases to amaze me how often I reach back and retrieve informational gems from his course to use in my own seminars and teaching. Truly his legacy extends beyond the nature of Economic Botany and into the nurturing of the next generation of plant biology students. Broader Impacts:
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1 - The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Biochemistry & Genetics, 123 Huntington St., New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
Keywords:
Schultes
nature
nurture.
Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY04
Location: Maryland Room/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Time: 11:15 AM
Number: SY04008
Abstract ID:294 | 