I'm going to interrupt my Olympic hiking posts to interject a Washington D.C. post. Last week I traveled to D.C. to receive an early career scientist award, and several members of my supportive and loving family joined me. It was an overwhelming experience because I kept feeling the gravity of good fortune: to be successful, to be supported, to be alive. Also, I had to give a 5-minute acceptance speech, and I was a bit nervous about that. Despite the weighty emotions, it was such a wonderful experience! My grandparents rode a subway for the first time. My daughters visited the national monuments on the Mall. We visited the National Zoo and caught a glimpse of the newborn panda on the PandaCam. It was spectacular.
Below is a copy of my speech, which can also be viewed at minute 33 by following this link. Don't be alarmed by the login. Just type in your info and login.
Heather's acceptance speech:
Thank you very much, Joon. I am so very honored to be here today accepting
this award from ARS. I am especially
honored to be here among the many outstanding ARS employees who are also being
honored today. Perhaps the other
honorees will resonate with the strange feeling I have of receiving an honor
for what has most certainly been a team effort.
Dozens, if not hundreds, of people have contributed to this achievement,
starting with my husband Ian and my loving and supportive family, some of whom
have traveled from Iowa to be here today, including my grandparents. Thank you for being here to share this moment
with me, as you have time and again throughout my career. My team also includes the fantastic doctors, nurses,
friends, co-workers, and even acquaintances who navigated me through two
diagnoses of breast cancer in the past 5 years, and whose support was critical
to my survival.
I want also to thank the wonderful support staff and
scientific colleagues at my location in the beautiful Ames, Iowa who facilitate
my research and outreach endeavors. It is
impossible to name all of the mentors and collaborators who are in my heart to
thank, but I would like to name those whose guidance and intellect have been
critical throughout my career: Jo Handelsman,
Thad Stanton, Al Klingelhutz, Shawn Bearson, Torey Looft, Karen-Cloud-Hansen, and
John Bunge. Thank you for paving the
way, or for helping me to pave the way when the way could not be found.
My scientific impacts have been in the field of microbial
ecology, in particular regarding antibiotic resistance gene diversity. You are perhaps familiar with antibiotic
resistance in terms of “Superbugs”, which is a word for pathogenic bacteria
that have become so resistant to antibiotics that we can no longer treat them
with antibiotics. I don’t study
Superbugs, but I’m interested in the reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes
in the environment, how resistance genes move among bacteria, and in alternatives
to antibiotics that might prevent the emergence of new Superbugs. My research has helped to define resistance
gene diversity in both pristine and antibiotic-impacted ecosystems, from Alaska
to the pig gut. I hope that the data my
collaborators and I generate will inform scientifically sound policies to reduce
the risk of making more Superbugs, thus improving health and food safety.
I’d like to conclude by making two comments to my daughters. In high school I took an AP chemistry class
taught by a first-rate teacher, Mr. Ferrell.
One day following an exam, Mr. Ferrell tried to comfort the lesser-achieving
students by assuring us that we’d all hit our wall someday. “Everyone hits their wall,” he said. Ever since that day, I have been fearful of
my wall, wondering how high it would be, how wide it would be, would it hurt
when I hit it? Daughters, I am happy to
report that there are no walls, only doors, and it is up to you to walk through
them.
Second, in 2005 I was
representing the Graduate Women in Science organization at the University of
Wisconsin’s Committee on Women. I was
attending this committee meeting because graduate students in Madison were not
entitled to maternity leave of any kind, even if it was unpaid. I had researched several other universities
who had mechanisms for maternity leave for graduate students and was presenting
my case to the committee. Afterwards the
one male member of the Committee said, “Women think they can have it all!” Daughters, I am happy to report that with the
right support and some hard work, yes, you can have it all.
I am humbled by this award, and I am grateful to ARS for
being a door and for being a part of my having it all.
