![]() ![]() AFN: Did you know you had an entrepreneurial side even back then? I also thought it was a great opportunity to actually do something tangible in agriculture: use my skills to build products. It was one of the first multicultural panels I was at over 20 years ago. Why Monsanto? Well, Monsanto has always been very progressive. For personal reasons, I chose to go with a bigger company. Then I looked at startups and I looked at big companies. And I did interview with some pharmaceutical companies. And you have to understand that being an immigrant, everything was new to me. ![]() I knew nothing about industry - I only knew the academic world. They said, “Well you can work in all these different systems like bacteria and yeast and fungi. I remember being in the interview and saying, “Are you sure?” I didn’t know anything. MF: I had never worked with plants before. So I had two options: either go back and do another postdoc or build another career. ![]() Then I realized that if I want to go back to academia, I would need to do a whole other postdoc again, because that’s the postdoc grind. I pivoted and started working in molecular biology, working on fungal genetics and chemistry, microbiology there. Then I moved to Texas, for personal reasons. I really worked really hard to finish my PhD in four years. That’s what led me to apply to grad school. And I knew I wanted to do more molecular biology research. I came out of school and the university gave me a professor job.īack then, the opportunities were limited. And I started in India, so I’m an immigrant. MF: I started out studying microbiology, so I’m a microbiologist. In May, she launched Solis Agrosciences, a platform that assists ag biotech startups with their research and development needs.Īg biotech startups can outsource many of the complex processes and equipment requirements to Solis, who will provide the required tools and talent for creating and growing genetically-modified plants.ĭuring lunch at the show this week, Fernandes (MF) shared her journey from Big Ag to a startup, along with many other thoughts on the future of biotech, role of farmers, and how her experience as a woman and an immigrant has informed her work.ĪFN: First things first: What led you to ag biotech? Louis, Missouri this week, when I started chatting with Solis Agrosciences co-founder Mary Fernandes.įernandes is a veteran of the agtech world, having spent time at both Monsanto and Bayer (which acquired Monsanto a few years ago). That was the case at the AgTech NEXT show in St. The best part of conferences are the insightful conversations that spring up between panels. ![]()
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