Jeanette Simmonds
| Jeanette Simmonds |
U.S. Fulbright Postgraduate Scholar
Media Profile
“A diverse community of Australian scientists have been leaders in the international Biological Nitrogen Fixation research community since the 1950s. My research will document how these scientists have increased scientific understanding, and how their desire to make basic research serve the social good has contributed to more sustainable agricultural products and practices in both developed and developing countries.”
Jeannette Simmonds is one of fourteen Americans to be granted a Fulbright Postgraduate Award in 2006 and will study at the University of Queensland (UQ) researching the culture and collaborative strategies of the BNF community, and how they have contributed to better knowledge of plant-microbe interactions and technologies for sustainable agriculture in developed and developing countries.
Jeanette has PhD and Masters in Science and Technology Studies from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from University of California at Santa Cruz. In Australia, Jeanette will be based at the UQ’s, Centre of Excellence for Integrative Legume Research (CILR) whom is hosting her stay. Her research will involve conducting interviews with Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) scientists at seven research centres throughout Australia, attend conferences, and analyse historical documents.
The “Green Revolution” of forty years ago increased world grain production through plant breeding, disease management, and high fertiliser applications. However, legumes (beans, clovers, et al) were not a significant part of this revolution. Legumes are an important protein resource and do not require the application of nitrogenous fertilisers, which are proving unsustainable in cost - environmentally, economically, and in the consumption of natural fuel reserves.
Australian scientists in conjunction with CILR are actively investigating the control mechanisms of biological processes that could reduce or eliminate the need for fertiliser and deliver other benefits. Their research therefore promises to ensure agricultural sustainability, and to deliver benefits for human and environmental health through a natural science - social science interface.
“Australian scientists have long played a vital and systemic role in developing and structuring more sustainable approaches to agriculture. The Australian community has sustained two distinct yet complementary approaches to BNF research: practical research in agronomy (soil science and breeding programs); and basic research in biochemistry, bacterial genetics and plant molecular biology. Integration of these two research approaches has been vital to the development of novel approaches to agricultural production in Australia and around the world.”
Jeanette’s research aims to understand how Australia’s scientific culture, technological development, and its scientists collaborative strategies produce scientific knowledge which is then translated into agricultural technologies; in addition to understanding how economic, political, institutional, and ecological factors - at local, regional and global levels - have influenced the development of research programs in Australia.