Carolyn Lawrence-Dill facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carolyn Lawrence-Dill
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| Born | May 18, 1974 El Paso, Texas, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Georgia Texas Tech University Hendrix College |
| Known for | Plant science data access and availability; gene function prediction tools and resources; making phenotype descriptions computable, research community-building |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Plant Biology Bioinformatics |
| Institutions | Agricultural Research Service, Iowa State University, Colorado State University |
| Doctoral advisor | R. Kelly Dawe & Russell L. Malmberg |
Carolyn Joy Lawrence-Dill, born on May 18, 1974, is an American plant biologist. She is also an academic administrator, which means she helps run universities. She creates computer tools to help scientists study plant genetics (how traits are passed down) and genomics (all the genes in a plant). This helps them understand plants better and improve how we grow crops.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Carolyn Joy Lawrence-Dill, whose maiden name was Cogburn, was born in El Paso, Texas. She grew up in a town called Throckmorton. In 1989, her family moved to Cleburne, where she finished high school in 1992.
She earned her first college degree, a Bachelor of Arts in biology, from Hendrix College in 1996. In 1997, she received her Master of Science degree in biology from Texas Tech University. There, she studied how cotton plants grow and function. She then earned her Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) degree in botany from the University of Georgia in 2003. For her Ph.D., she studied how to combine old and new computer methods to figure out what different genes in plants do.
Career Highlights
After finishing her studies, Dr. Lawrence-Dill worked as a researcher at Iowa State University for two years. She was guided by a scientist named Volker Brendel.
In 2005, she started working as a geneticist for the USDA-ARS, which is part of the U.S. government. She became the director of MaizeGDB, a special database for maize (corn) research, and held that role until 2013.
In 2014, she joined Iowa State University as a professor. She worked in departments focused on genetics, plant development, and farming. By 2019, she was promoted to a full professor. In 2021, she took on bigger leadership roles at Iowa State. She became an Associate Dean for Research and Discovery for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She also became an Associate Director of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station.
In 2024, Dr. Lawrence-Dill moved to Colorado State University. She is now the Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences.
Plant Research
Dr. Lawrence-Dill's research helps scientists understand plants better. She works on mapping plant genomes, which are like the plant's instruction manual. She also tries to predict what different proteins in plants do.
Her work involves finding new ways to connect genes to how plants look and behave. This includes using images of plants. She also helps organize large amounts of plant data so other scientists can easily use it. Much of her work focuses on maize, also known as corn.
Genomics Research
Dr. Lawrence-Dill has made it easier for plant scientists to use genomics information. She helps sequence and put together plant genomes. She also helps identify important parts of genes, like regulatory elements and CRISPR sites. She creates tools that let researchers study how genes are expressed, which means how active they are.
Phenomics Research
Phenomics is about studying a plant's traits and characteristics. Dr. Lawrence-Dill has improved how scientists can use computers to study these traits. She connects image-based traits to genetic data. She also uses "crowdsourcing," where many people help identify traits in images for computer learning. Her work helps manage information from advanced plant phenotyping, which is like taking many measurements of plants quickly.
Leadership and Policy
Dr. Lawrence-Dill also works on important topics like sharing scientific data and discussing big issues like climate change and genetic engineering.
Data Sharing
A lot of Dr. Lawrence-Dill's work focuses on making it easier for scientists to share their research data. Some scientists worry that if they share their data, they won't get enough credit for their hard work. However, not sharing data can make it hard for other researchers to check if results are correct. It also stops new discoveries from happening. When it comes to genetic data, limiting access can prevent scientists from finding new ways to use plant materials for research.
Climate and Genetic Engineering
Dr. Lawrence-Dill often talks about important topics like climate change and genetic engineering. She advises her colleagues to discuss these topics with people from different fields, with lawmakers, and with the public. She believes it's important to find common ground and focus on the good things that can come from science, like new opportunities for society and the environment.
In 2016, Dr. Lawrence-Dill and a sociologist named Shawn Dorius started studying why some people have negative opinions about GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) and climate change. While they were looking at how GMOs were shown in U.S. news, they found something interesting. News from Russian state media, like RT and Sputnik, talked about GMOs very differently from U.S. media.
Russian news about GMOs was almost always negative. It seemed to purposely link GMOs with unrelated and controversial topics. For example, they might link GMOs to discussions about Zika-infected fetuses or trade agreements. The researchers thought this might be done to cause arguments in the U.S. They also thought it could help Russia's economy, since agriculture is a big industry there.
When their findings were about to be published, a newspaper called the Des Moines Register wrote a front-page article about their work in February 2018. This led to a lot of media attention, with coverage in over 80 newspapers, websites, and radio shows. Even Bill Gates talked about GMOs in an online discussion during this time. The full research paper was officially published in March 2018. After this, other reports showed that Russia might have influenced discussions on many other topics, from energy to human rights, to cause disagreements.
Building Scientific Communities
Dr. Lawrence-Dill has also worked to bring scientists together from different groups. She helps them agree on standards and names for things. She has helped start new organizations for scientists and encourages others through mentoring and training.
Awards and Recognition
- 2023: Maize Genetics Cooperator Award
- 2020: YWCA Women of Achievement award for working to end racism and empower women
- 2013: Gamma Sigma Delta Induction
- 2009: USDA-ARS Midwest Area Equal Opportunity Award for helping American Indians with plant genetics.
Elected Service
Dr. Lawrence-Dill has been elected to serve on several important scientific boards:
- 2018: International Plant Phenotyping Network Board (co-chair for 3 years)
- 2018: North American Plant Phenotyping Network Executive Board (chair in 2019; she helped start this organization)
- 2016: DivSeek International Network Steering Committee (member for 4 years)
- 2010: Maize Genetics Executive Committee (chair in 2015 for 5 years)
