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Identifying pathways by which plants produce floral scent volatiles, the substances flowers produce to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies, is just one of the discoveries that has made her a top researcher in this growing field. Floral scent is essential to agriculture—three-fourths of all crops are dependent on insect pollinators—and the consumer florist trade.
"It's great science, and it smells good, too. It's very enjoyable to go to the greenhouse and smell the scent," says Dudareva, recipient of Purdue's 2005 Agricultural Research Award, which recognizes scientists whose research helps solve problems important to agriculture. "Scent is part of our society and culture," she says. "We see a flower, and we put our nose in it."
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Jenna Rickus combines engineering and biology to create biomaterials that mimic mammalian cells. (Photo by Tom Campbell) |
The next generation
The breakthroughs made by Ferris and Dudareva helped make way for a new generation of women who would make further inroads in closing agriculture's gender gap.
Jenna Rickus' father was a Purdue engineering graduate who wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps. During her elementary and middle school years, Rickus often came to Purdue for enrichment programs in math and science. When it came time for college, she chose Purdue Agriculture's dual-degree program in food process engineering and biochemistry.
After graduation, Rickus did a two-year stint at Kraft Foods as a research engineer while she checked out graduate schools and tried to decide between science and engineering. With choices narrowed to MIT and UCLA, it was again the combination of science and engineering that tipped the scale. She opted for a new program in neuroengineering at UCLA. "It was engineering in the context of biology," she says. "It turned out to be a good path for me."
It was a path that would lead straight back to her alma mater. "I ultimately wanted to come back to Purdue," Rickus says. "I just didn't know it would happen so early in my career." Early turned out to be an understatement. She made an impromptu visit to Purdue in spring 2002, nearly a year before completing her doctorate, stopping by to visit her professors in agricultural and biological engineering (ABE). "They asked if I had my CV with me." Rickus came back for an interview a few months later and had a job offer in her pocket before she graduated in January 2003. "That was a big year," she says, "Defending my thesis, moving across the country, starting a new job and having a baby, all within a few months' time."
At Purdue, Rickus has a joint appointment in ABE and biomedical engineering. She's one of a growing number of women making a mark in biosciences. Her research, too, is a venture into new territory. Rickus engineers biomaterials that mimic mammalian cells. The bioengineered, or artificial, cells have a wide range of medical, agricultural, food and animal health applications, from helping control neurological symptoms of Parkinson's disease and epilepsy to biosensors that can detect deadly food-borne bacteria, such as listeria monocytogenes . "Artificial cells are very inexpensive and robust," she says. "You can leave them on the counter for a year and still use them; you couldn't do that with a living cell."
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