Welcome Susan Whitehead – New SE
Submitted by editor on 7 January 2025.
We are happy to welcome Dr. Susan Whitehead from Virginia Tech to the Oikos Editorial Board. To know more about her, read our interview below!
Website: www.speciesinteractions.com
What's your main research focus at the moment?
I mainly study the role of plant chemistry in ecology, evolution, and sustainable agriculture. We work in a variety of systems, from tropical rainforests in Costa Rica to agroecosystems in the eastern US. Most of our projects involve fruits, frugivores, and/or phytochemical diversity.
Can you describe your research career?
I began with a love of plants and a fascination with all of the diverse bioactivities hidden within the species we use as foods and medicines. Through some experiences in the years after my undergraduate degree, I discovered the field of chemical ecology. Soon after, I started applying to graduate programs, and I had the good fortune that Deane Bowers at the University of Colorado took a chance on me as a Ph.D. student. My dissertation focused on the chemical ecology of seed dispersal interactions between Piper plants and their seed-dispersing bats at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. From there, I went on to a post-doc with the amazing Katja Poveda at Cornell University, where I spent three years working on questions surrounding crop domestication and the application of chemical ecology to solve challenges in agricultural systems. Then, in 2017, I was offered a tenure-track job at Virginia Tech, where I have built a research group focused on plant evolutionary ecology, chemical ecology, and agroecology. We work on lots of different systems, and I continue to learn and grow with the interests and directions of my students and colleagues.
How come that you became a scientist in ecology?
As a young student, I didn’t much love being in the classroom, but I was excited about two things: 1) playing in the woods, and 2) traveling and seeing the world. So, my junior year of college, I applied to two study abroad programs in tropical biology and conservation. One was in Madagascar with Patricia Wright, and another was in Costa Rica with Alan and Karen Masters. These two programs completely changed my view of the world and gave me my first real opportunities to actually DO science. I fell in love with the process of asking questions, finding creative ways to answer them, and weighing the evidence to better understand the world. My trajectory as an ecologist began there, and luckily was continuously supported by so many additional mentors who helped me learn how to shape my interests into a career.
What do you do when you're not working?
You’ll mostly find me enjoying time with my favorite people, including my husband and two kids. My extended family has an old farm just a couple of hours from where we live in Virginia, so we spend many of our weekends there, keeping busy on projects and gatherings with friends. I love to grow, cook, and eat food, ferment cider, backpack through the mountains, practice yoga, and soak in hotsprings.
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