The Science of Education and Progress

Dr. Kiran Misra joins us on Tartan Talks to describe her experience as a female scientist from northern India. Born into a culture that hadn’t fully accepted women in academics, this professor in Edinboro University’s Biology and Health Services Department decided she would shatter all cultural norms to pursue higher education and make a difference. The result? Almost all sweet corn grown and raised in the United States features a gene that was identified and developed by Dr. Misra. From her graduate and doctorate-level research at Cornell University to her current projects in India, Dr. Misra has used her education, experience and opportunities to maximize the effects of implementing best farming practices. She is an expert on plant genetics and plant breeding, and teaching biology to science majors and non-science majors. Currently, she’s working with rural farmers in India to develop organic farming methods for soil with severely high salt content.