Not only do I nurture superb science students--by demanding hard work in class and excellent research work in my lab--I have grown a creative, forward-looking research program. The person who nominated me for the Gordon Research Conference Chair summarized my qualifications as “she is a real thinker…and she reads the literature”. I have often been funded in the high-risk-high-reward category in federal grant programs, as my research ideas are ahead of the curve. Being ahead of the curve has been a disadvantage at times; I find the scientific publication peer review process to be a barrier to dissemination of novel results and new experimental designs. However, some editors have been very supportive, with comments such as
“…found the manuscript to report on a very innovative and interesting study. I agree with their assessment – I found the work to be very interesting, and this subject matter will be a welcome contrast to the more reductionist studies that normally appear.”
I remain underwhelmed by the ultimate impact of most published results relative to the time it takes to do extensive experimentation and write comprehensive manuscripts. I think that one reason we still have a thriving, lively scientific meeting culture is that most scientists learn new science from personal contact, in a focused setting meant for information sharing, rather than from outdated literature reports. Analysis method development and model system development may have more potential to influence how science progresses than specific publications, and data analysis is still slower than it should be. Thus I have devoted substantial time to creating a biology cyberinfrastructure for data analysis—democratizing access to computing for everyone, at both large and small institutions, from undergraduates to senior faculty.
Teaching
Teaching Overview
My primary accomplishment is fostering strong student intellectual development—my research students have become plant breeders, surgeons, medical school faculty members, biostatisticians, high-school teachers and software developers. My current students run a LinkedIn group with the lab graduates and pay visits to former students who have positions relevant to their career goals. My approach to mentoring was described by our graduate program director:
"Ann is a fantastic mentor to her graduate students. She is very regimented in her interactions with her students, providing regular feedback and guidance, while also allowing them the freedom to develop and implement their own ideas in their research design. Her students therefore get off to a fast start and quickly grow to become independent scientists."
