From the Amazon to the Classroom – Dr. Barbara Zilinskas
Written by Heather Baldwin

Dr. Barbara Zilinskas works in the Department of Plant Biology and Pathology at Rutgers University’s School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.  She wears many hats; as a professor she teaches a variety of courses related to biotechnology and within the Biotechnology Curriculum.  Dr. Zilinskas was also an integral part in initiating the Biotechnology curriculum and has served as its Undergraduate Program Director since its inception as a B.S. degree granting program in 1989.  The undergraduate program was developed as Rutgers was building two major research institutes for Biotechnology, namely the Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and Environment on the Cook Campus and the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine on the Busch Campus. 

Dr. Zilinskas is very involved in research and finds much interest in studying the way plants interact and prosper within their environment.  She has studied the way plants react to adverse environmental conditions, including but not limited to air pollution, saline soils and drought.  She is particularly interested in understanding why some plants are tolerant to these conditions and others are very sensitive.  She believes that this basic research may lead to genetic modification of important crop plants such that they will be more suited to global climate change.  While much of Barbara’s earlier research focused on photosynthesis and on the understanding of plant interaction with the environment, in the last ten years she decided to get involved in turf grass research and development.  This project has enabled Dr. Zilinskas to see a tangible, practical end to the hard work and effort of her laboratory team.  She one day hopes to give special genetically modified grass seeds to her brother so he can stop putting an array of biocides on his lawn!

Barbara, like many of us, originally began her education with a different career goal in mind; she wanted to be a high school biology teacher.  Through a series of interactions with personal mentors, she has found her way from a small liberal arts college, began research as a personal interest as an undergraduate student which developed into much more as she pursued her PhD at the University of Illinois, trekked for one year through the Amazon by way of Peru, and found her way eventually to the State University of New Jersey.  Having been a faculty member at Rutgers for 35 years Barbara has definitely realized the vision she had for herself as a teacher and finds that to be the most rewarding part of her profession.  She considers her most important responsibility at Rutgers in teaching and advising students in her classroom and research laboratory.

“No two days are alike” she says and although a consistent number of her days deal with handling administrative duties and at least two hours dedicated to phone calls and e-mail response she finds time to meet with students daily, both in the lab and either in class or through personal meetings to advise and discuss opportunities and challenges facing undergraduates.  She also enjoys filling her time with involvement outside of Rutgers University, with Bio-1 for example.
 
Dr. Zilinskas came to the Bio-1 Governance Board by way of her previous grant experience and obvious leadership illustrated from a program she and David Finegold, Dean of the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers spearheaded, the Life Sciences Innovation Partnership Institute (IPI).  This grant helped set the stage for WIRED Bio-1, and she now serves as a member of both the Governance Board and Executive Committee.  Because Barbara is clearly a resource in the biotechnology field for Bio-1, she can offer not only her own expertise but the networks she has developed as a professional to help up-and-coming-youth achieve great things.  She is also a member of Bio-1’s strategy team, Excite Young People About the Biosciences, and Co-Leader with Dr. Charles Martin of the strategy team, Transform Graduate Education.

Barbara does not have regrets about not following her plan to teach high school biology, and although she recognizes her career path may have been convoluted and would have turned out differently depending on the myriad of “what if’s” she could have pursued, she is happy and excited to be involved in such interesting projects and meet students on a daily basis.  She is stimulated by learning new things related to biotechnology and finds daily joy in the interaction she has with Rutgers students.  She will serve as research mentor to two high school seniors from the Monmouth County Biotechnology High School this spring, so she'll have her chance to enjoy teaching high schools students after all!