Jaishree: The Scientist Who Defies Convention

The Selfish Gene, the famous book suggested by my genetics professor as a part of a class exercise, changed my life forever. I found it so intriguing that I ended up researching the author, Dr. Richard Dawkins. Only when I started reading another book titled ‘The Greatest Show on Earth, Evolution,’ authored by him, I realized that this is the area of biology that I want to pursue in the future. This was the beginning of my life-long love affair with the field of ecology and evolutionary Biology.

I was born curious. While playing in my grandmother’s terrace garden, I often looked at a plant, and marveled at its courage and resilience to survive despite adversities including my incessant bugging. The questions I used to ask my grandmother were “Is Treeni alive (my pet plant)?”, “Can Treeni hear when I sing, does she like my singing?”, “Does she know I am her friend?” A plant has so many lessons to teach us! Little did that 5-year-old me know that I would spend the rest of my life deciphering those secret messages.

I belong to a typical middle class Indian joint family and was raised among 14 kids. It is safe to say that our house was always full of life, but the path to education was a less traversed one. There were several advantages to being the youngest girl in the family, but I also had my fair share of relatives advising me what they thought would be best for me. While all my cousins were married between the ages of 24-25, my plans were slightly different. I was rebellious by nature. From purposely flunking in order to leave engineering, a path that was decided for me, to getting admitted in one of the most prestigious science institutions for women in the country, all by myself, I have done it all.

Amidst the excellent faculty members, environment, and exposure at the Miranda House, I developed my interest in understanding the intricacies of the amazing world of plants. This helped me to secure a valedictorian position in B.Sc. (H) Botany in the college. I was overjoyed that I was honored with the prestigious Dr. Angeli Qwatra Award for Excellence in Science from Miranda House along with the Dr. Lakshmi Krishnaswamy Prize, for securing the first position in all the three years of Bachelors in the college and the University Ranker Award. My passion for plant sciences made me pursue M.Sc. in Botany from the same university. I remained amongst the top 5% of the university graduates. During my time at the Delhi University, I also nurtured my interest in pursuing scientific research. I spent all the summers interning at different laboratories, learning various techniques, understanding the scientific methods, preparing myself towards the life of a researcher.

By the end of my Masters, I was sure about pursuing science for the rest of my life. I seek refuge in the truth of science. Everything in science is based on facts and proof, but what is considered proof? For a mathematician, it means a logical demonstration of a conclusion. For a cell biologist, it lies inside a microscope. But for an evolutionary biologist, it is where one wishes to look., Evolution is everywhere, it is within us, around us, and everything in this world is in the process of evolution. As Dawkins pointed out, “Evolutionary biologists are like detectives who reached the crime scene late. But to deduce the exact timings of events and how things took place is what makes this field so exhilarating”. To be able to think, justify and truly appreciate the beauty of nature and how evolution shaped it all, I decided to pursue ecology and evolutionary biology. The path I took to reach there involved my stay at New York City (USA), Ramnagar (India), and Toulouse (France).