March is Women’s History Month. With the many strides women have made, we chatted with a few of our women in science at the Garden about their careers, inspirations, and advice.
Get to know the women of the William L. Brown Center department!
The William L. Brown Center is dedicated to the study of useful plants, the conservation of plant species, and preservation of traditional knowledge for the benefit of future generations.
What do you do at the Garden?
I am a scientist in the Garden’s Ethnobotany Department, the William L. Brown Center. My research focuses on understanding crop domestication and documenting and conserving crop genetic diversity, especially in tree crops like mango and American persimmon.
What’s been a highlight of your career?
I have been able to travel to Southeast Asia to study mangoes and their wild relatives and explore other wild fruits there.
Who’s been an inspiration to you?
I don’t really have a specific female inspiration!
Parting message to girls and women?
When you find what makes you happy, don’t listen to anyone who tells you can’t or shouldn’t pursue it.
What do you do at the Garden?
I am a taxonomist who studies the flora of Madagascar; I also work on projects involving medicinal plants, particularly their identification and nomenclature, and natural products discovery, and I edit our journal Novon.
What’s been a highlight of your career?
I’ve had the opportunity to visit other countries on five continents. Most special to me, three plant collecting trips in Madagascar with colleagues from our office in Antananarivo were a life-changing experience.
Who’s been an inspiration to you?
There are so many inspiring women; it’s a tough call. I might cite Elizabeth Blackwell, the author of the first English-language herbal, who wrote and beautifully illustrated it in the 1730s, a time when women were entirely excluded from the world of elite scholarship.
Parting message to girls and women?
The understanding of nature, especially ecology, will be critically important for human well-being in the coming decades. I hope that today’s young people will develop ways to couple scientific studies with revived traditional wisdom to create a more sustainable world.
What do you do at the Garden?
My role at the Garden consists on doing research about the relationship between plants and people then sharing outcomes of the research to scientific community. At the same time, I try to look for solutions to the conservation and sustainable management of useful plants in Madagascar.
What’s been a highlight of your career?
So far one of my proudest achievement is the knowledge of wild edible plants and insects used by people from southwestern Madagascar and their important role as solutions to tackle severe malnutrition in local children. Secondly I am proud to be a women who explores remote locations, collecting plants that specialist can use to describe new species.
Who’s been an inspiration to you?
Professor Vololoniaina Jeannoda; she was my professor at the university and my thesis supervisor. She is a brilliant researcher, a talented teacher and an elegant leader. If possible I would love to be like or more than her.
Parting message to girls and women?
Girls and women are pillars of society. We can be a changer of world if we accomplish whatever we do with heart and love.
What do you do at the Garden?
I am a research specialist in the William L. Brown Center and work on various projects that mainly focus on ethnobotany, plant ecology and climate change. My projects often involve fieldwork trips for collecting and/or monitoring plant species, which is definitely a favorite part of my job.
What’s been a highlight of your career?
A highlight of my career so far was the opportunity to participate in a fieldwork trip to the Himalayas for a project focusing on how climate change is affecting alpine ecosystems. It was an incredibly rewarding experience to get to visit such a unique and beautiful place and be involved in what I feel is very meaningful and important work.
Who’s been an inspiration to you?
A woman of inspiration for me is Wangari Maathai who was a Kenyan social and environmental activist who, through many difficulties, worked to empower women and raise awareness about environmental degradation Kenya. In the 1970s she founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots organization, that continues today to focus on planting trees to restore and protect ecosystems and natural resources, and improve the livelihoods of rural communities.
Parting message to girls and women?
Follow your passions, learn from others, and gain hands on experience wherever you can. For me, working through many seasonal fieldwork jobs was what really helped me get the experience for the type of work I am doing today.
What do you do at the Garden?
I study the relationships between plants and people and the important role that plants play in human culture, history, and society.
What’s been a highlight of your career?
While doing research, I get to listen to people who work with wild plants for a living tell me about their lives. In many cases, it seems that they have never been asked directly about their beliefs and hopes and fears, and I am honored to have been present for what seems like a cathartic experience for them.
Who’s been an inspiration to you?
I don’t want to single out any individual woman. I am inspired by all the women who came before me who fought to make science a place where women of my generation can thrive.
Parting message to girls and women?
Growing up as a girl, you probably have been told constantly to be careful because the world is a dangerous place. Don’t let that fear limit your choices if you dream of adventures if that isn’t what you want for yourself–you can learn to keep safe and still go have adventures.
Thanks, ladies! Stay tuned throughout the rest of Women’s History Month for more highlights from our women in science.
A. Robinson | Digital and Community Engagement Specialist
Thanks to contributing experts.
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