Blue Devil of the Week: Fighting Hunger with Science

Name: Tom Mitchell-Olds

Title: Newman Ivey White Professor of Biology

Years at Duke: 11

What he does: Mitchell-Olds described the role of a professor as having three components: teaching, research and public service.

Mitchell-Olds, who teaches an undergraduate course on the use of statistics in biology this semester, said he’s always enjoyed teaching. But it’s the research – and by extension, public service – portion that he’s found especially fulfilling.

His research looks at the genetic variations in plants – including rice – that cause traits that affect how they interact with their environment. The goal is to help improve farming practices in parts of the world where food security is a stubborn problem.

By studying these genetic variations, Mitchell-Olds and his colleagues have studied ways rice plants in Asia can better tolerate droughts, plants in Latin America can fight off viruses and plants in Africa can resist common insect pests.

“Our target is smallholder farmers in the developing world,” Mitchell-Olds said. “That is our goal, real-world impact, on the ground, for the poorest of the poor, and the half of humanity that eats rice every day.”

The importance of his work was highlighted last fall, when Mitchell-Olds was bestowed a fellowship by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The honor, voted on by peers, recognizes long-term significant achievements in science.

What he loves about Duke: Mitchell-Olds values the cohesive and collaborative spirit among his colleagues in the Department of Biology.

“People get along and are thoughtful with each other,” Mitchell-Olds said. “And our colleagues are very good at what they do. This is the best department and the best academic situation I’ve been in.”

A memorable day at work: Mitchell-Olds recalled a pivotal moment in a study of a chemical in mustard plants that helps resist insects.

While the plant’s genome had yet to be fully sequenced, Mitchell-Olds and his team had a hunch that a certain section of it held the gene they hoped to isolate. They searched that particular section and found what they believed to be the gene.

“Then we spent a year-and-a-half proving that was it,” Mitchell-Olds said. “And then we published it.

“… When you’re working on a project for years and there comes a day when you find the answer. That’s wonderful. That’s what makes it worthwhile.”

Most important objects in his office: Scattered across several shelves in his office are framed photos of his wife of nearly 40 years, Cheryl, and their two daughters.

“Everything,” Mitchell-Olds said when asked what those photos mean.

First job: Growing up in rural Connecticut, Mitchell-Olds rode his bike to a nearby farm to pick blueberries for 10 cents per hour.

“When I do work with ranchers in Idaho, it’s easy to talk with them,” Mitchell-Olds said. “It’s like talking to my grandfather. I think that’s really important. Food security – parts of it – is really about farmers. Having grown up with farms in all directions, this relates to something I’ve known all my life.”

Something most people don’t know about him: in the 1990s, Mitchell-Olds, then at the University of Montana, was presented with the opportunity to move to the former East Germany and help set up a research institute for the Max Planck Society.

He couldn’t pass it up. For nearly a decade, Mitchell-Olds and his family lived in the German city of Jena, while he served as co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.

“It changed our lives,” Mitchell-Olds said. “Many of us go off to college and it changes our view of the world. We did that again in our 40s.”

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