Laura M. Boykin
EDUCATION:
Ph.D., Dec. 2003, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
Phylogeny and evolutionary biology of Orcuttieae (Poaceae: Chloridoideae): analysis of radiation into a unique amphibious environment.
Advisor: Prof. Tim Lowrey
M.A., May 1998, Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, USA.
Phylogenetic Analysis of Arctostaphylos (Ericaceae).
Advisor: Prof. Bob Patterson
B.A., May 1996, Department of Biology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Phenetic Analysis of Arctostaphylos parryana. I. Two new burl-forming subspecies.
Advisor: Dr. Jon Keeley
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• TED Fellow
• TED Senior Fellow
• WIRED magazine’s ’25 People Who Are Racing to Save Us’
• Gifted Citizen Winner
• Honorary Doctorate- The Open University
• TED Talk featured on TED.com
• Featured as one of Fast Company’s world changing ideas 2019
• Spoke at the UN for the signing of the sustainable development goals
BIOGRAPHY:
Biologist Laura Boykin uses genomics and supercomputing to help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa control whiteflies and viruses, which have devastated cassava crops. Cassava is a staple food for more than 800 million people globally. Along with scientists in East Africa, she founded the Cassava Virus Action Project to roll out portable DNA sequencing and analysis to farmers. The team also trains local communities in the use of these technologies to tackle future outbreaks. A TED senior fellow, Boykin was awarded the Gifted Citizen Prize at the Ciudad de las Ideas Festival in 2017. The prize is given to the best social entrepreneurship project that is having a large-scale impact on humanity’s most pressing issues. She is one of this year’s Wired 25—innovators who are racing to save us from ourselves. Boykin earned her doctorate in botany and plant biology at the University of New Mexico.
EMPLOYMENT:
2019-present CEO, Director and Co-founder of The Cassava Virus Action Project.
2015-2019
Senior Research Fellow, Computational Biology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, ARC CoE Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia.
Research Fellow, Computational Biology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, ARC CoE Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia.
Assistant Professor (Research), Computational Biology, Plant Energy Biology , ARC Centre of Excellence , The University of Western, Australia.
2009-2012
Postdoctoral Researcher. Bio-Protection Research Centre. Lincoln University, Lincoln, Christchurch, New Zealand.
2008-2009
9th and 10th grade Science Teacher. Jensen Beach High School. Jensen Beach, Florida
2006-2008
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Biology, Indian River College. Fort Pierce, Florida
2004-2008
Postdoctoral Researcher, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, United States Horticultural Research Laboratory, Subtropical Insects Research Unit, Fort Pierce, Florida
1998-2003
Research Associate, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Theoretical Biology and Biophysics. Los Alamos, New Mexico.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Current areas of interest:
MY ERDOS NUMBER: 4
Paul Erdős -> Donald A. Darling -> Howard M. Taylor, III -> Catherine A. Macken -> Me
My ORCID page and my Research Impact page.
ME:
I was born and raised on the westside of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. I attended Trevor G. Browne High School for three years and spent one year at Kadena High School in Okinawa Japan. I recently had to describe myself and I wrote: I am-compassionate, good on my word, loyal, hard working, keen instinct, dreamer, grateful, team player, taker of opportunities, lover of life. I believe in equality on all levels and am striving to bring equality to every level of science. In my free time, I enjoy reading, yoga, walking, the beach, watching sports (basketball is my favorite) and movies.
Ph.D., Dec. 2003, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
Phylogeny and evolutionary biology of Orcuttieae (Poaceae: Chloridoideae): analysis of radiation into a unique amphibious environment.
Advisor: Prof. Tim Lowrey
M.A., May 1998, Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, USA.
Phylogenetic Analysis of Arctostaphylos (Ericaceae).
Advisor: Prof. Bob Patterson
B.A., May 1996, Department of Biology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Phenetic Analysis of Arctostaphylos parryana. I. Two new burl-forming subspecies.
Advisor: Dr. Jon Keeley
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• TED Fellow
• TED Senior Fellow
• WIRED magazine’s ’25 People Who Are Racing to Save Us’
• Gifted Citizen Winner
• Honorary Doctorate- The Open University
• TED Talk featured on TED.com
• Featured as one of Fast Company’s world changing ideas 2019
• Spoke at the UN for the signing of the sustainable development goals
BIOGRAPHY:
Biologist Laura Boykin uses genomics and supercomputing to help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa control whiteflies and viruses, which have devastated cassava crops. Cassava is a staple food for more than 800 million people globally. Along with scientists in East Africa, she founded the Cassava Virus Action Project to roll out portable DNA sequencing and analysis to farmers. The team also trains local communities in the use of these technologies to tackle future outbreaks. A TED senior fellow, Boykin was awarded the Gifted Citizen Prize at the Ciudad de las Ideas Festival in 2017. The prize is given to the best social entrepreneurship project that is having a large-scale impact on humanity’s most pressing issues. She is one of this year’s Wired 25—innovators who are racing to save us from ourselves. Boykin earned her doctorate in botany and plant biology at the University of New Mexico.
EMPLOYMENT:
2019-present CEO, Director and Co-founder of The Cassava Virus Action Project.
2015-2019
Senior Research Fellow, Computational Biology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, ARC CoE Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia.
- Main project funded through NRI by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: "African cassava whitefly: outbreak causes and sustainable solutions."
Research Fellow, Computational Biology, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, ARC CoE Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia.
- Main project funded through NRI by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: "African cassava whitefly: outbreak causes and sustainable solutions."
Assistant Professor (Research), Computational Biology, Plant Energy Biology , ARC Centre of Excellence , The University of Western, Australia.
2009-2012
Postdoctoral Researcher. Bio-Protection Research Centre. Lincoln University, Lincoln, Christchurch, New Zealand.
2008-2009
9th and 10th grade Science Teacher. Jensen Beach High School. Jensen Beach, Florida
2006-2008
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Biology, Indian River College. Fort Pierce, Florida
2004-2008
Postdoctoral Researcher, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, United States Horticultural Research Laboratory, Subtropical Insects Research Unit, Fort Pierce, Florida
1998-2003
Research Associate, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Theoretical Biology and Biophysics. Los Alamos, New Mexico.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Current areas of interest:
- Food Security especially in sub-Saharan Africa
- Phylogenetics
- Bemisia tabaci species complex
- Genomics
- Molecular Evolution
- Species delimitation
- Systematics and Taxonomy
- Fire ecology
- Environmental biology
- Photosynthesis evolution
- Influenza and Hepatitis C evolution
MY ERDOS NUMBER: 4
Paul Erdős -> Donald A. Darling -> Howard M. Taylor, III -> Catherine A. Macken -> Me
My ORCID page and my Research Impact page.
ME:
I was born and raised on the westside of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. I attended Trevor G. Browne High School for three years and spent one year at Kadena High School in Okinawa Japan. I recently had to describe myself and I wrote: I am-compassionate, good on my word, loyal, hard working, keen instinct, dreamer, grateful, team player, taker of opportunities, lover of life. I believe in equality on all levels and am striving to bring equality to every level of science. In my free time, I enjoy reading, yoga, walking, the beach, watching sports (basketball is my favorite) and movies.