Alissa Devereaux's life and love of plants kind of crept up on her.
"I got a job in my fourth year of my undergrad in the department of plant
agriculture, just as a field technician actually. So, I started working in
the department and I really liked it. I hadn't decided what I wanted
to do yet, so I decided to try a master's in the department -- [it was
a] good choice!" she says.
"I didn't start off in this [field] loving plants any more than anything
else, but once you start working with them, you realize how fascinating they
really are.
"I originally started off with just a general interest in genetics," she
says. "Plant genetics just happened to be what I got into."
Where there are plants, however, there are mice and fruit flies, says Devereaux.
While she's gained an appreciation for plants, these little critters
have yet to find a place in her heart.
Whatever flies or scuttles in her direction, however, Devereaux takes in
stride. Flexibility, she says, is crucial in the research sciences. "Say,
for example, your master's project starts off as one thing. It's
going to end up as something completely different -- and that happens to everyone.
In most cases, what your project ends up being is probably more exciting than
what you originally started off thinking you would be doing. So you have to
be flexible and you have to keep an open mind."
If you're willing to move, she says, there are companies that will
gladly hire you.
"There's no question -- if you want to go work for [big private firms],
you can. They will be more than happy to take you because they need people
and they have a lot to offer you. They have lots of money to offer you. They
have good benefits. They have extensive relocation benefits," says Devereaux.
She adds that leaving friends and family and finding a new home is not
for everybody. "Those jobs are out there, but not everybody wants those jobs,"
she says.
No matter where you work, Devereaux insists that the field is both exciting
and burgeoning. "It's a really rapidly moving field. It's certainly
innovative. The technology is exciting in that sense. I think the fact that
it's in the public eye so much also adds to the interest," she says.
Professor Don Armstrong teaches the next generation of plant scientists
at the University of Oregon. As well, he does research in the area of plant
hormones. "Plant physiology is my life!" he says.
While Armstrong is up to his neck in teaching and research responsibilities,
he recommends the field highly. "I think that if you're interested in
how living things function, plant physiology is one of the most fascinating
areas you could pursue. Physiologists tend to be people that like to manipulate
things, to experiment with them. So, if you like to try things out and see
what the answers are... [it will probably suit you]," says Armstrong.
In addition to an interest in experiments with plants, the ideal candidate
for a career in plant physiology has a competitive edge. Science researchers
often race to make the next big discovery before their colleagues get around
to it.
Armstrong has enjoyed the sweet taste of victory in such a race. "I think
certainly one of the most exciting events was a number of years ago, when
we isolated and identified a... naturally occurring plant hormone that hadn't
been identified before. It was all the sweeter because we actually beat out
another group that was trying to do the same thing!"
New technologies will give plant physiologists the chance to discover over
the next 10 years what couldn't be discovered last year. "Because of
the fact that molecular and genetic tools are becoming available that were
not available before, there will be a chance during the next decade to answer
lots of questions that have puzzled people for a number of years," says Armstrong.