A scientist named “Fatma” does not get recognition every day
A bitter-sweet recognition!
After 27 years of hard work in science, my efforts were for the first time recognized in 2021, simultaneously by both industry and academic communities. I was ecstatic! I was awarded ISCE Applied Chemical Ecology Award by the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE) in March and the Female Leadership Award by Thrive AgFood Accelerator in June. This was followed by a Cover Feature of AWIS Magazine in July. It was a great honor for me I couldn’t help but share my excitement with everyone.
I was immediately put in my place in November. I was told that I have been advertising myself too much. I was told that I should not be mentioning recognition. This left me with a bitter-sweet taste. I was conflicted about taking the advice on whether or not to share news of the awards. A lot of minorities and women reached out to me from many different countries when I posted on social media. They said I was an inspiration to them. One of them said that he was working with model organisms at a University in Hong Kong and did not know what to do with this basic research after graduating. He realized that he can do a lot with basic research like me and move from bench to field. A group of female students reached out to me from Turkey and told me I was their role model and they can be successful like me. At UC Davis, I am invited to the “Inspiring Womxn and Femmes in STEM Symposium”. Sharing my excitement about recognition of my efforts was not just for me. Sharing meant to many around the world that if I make it, they can make it too.
Believe it or not, it is very rare that a person named ‘Fatma” gets recognition. She is usually passed over and treated like she does not exist. Sometimes even worse, she gets to be criticized or told that someone else is being identified to take the credit/recognition for her efforts. That is the powers-to-be-decision and she can’t do anything about it. Then she wonders “What is that she is doing wrong? What is it that others doing right? What is that right thing?”. When all of her friends around her are promoted or recognized, she is not, even though she worked just as hard as her friends.
There are only a few role models for people like me. When I was in middle school, the closest role model was Dr. Marie Salomea Skłodowska Curie. Even though scientist role models make it to the textbooks, the business role models for women do not make it that far. Luckily, our role models slowly increased in numbers; Dr. Tu Youyou, Dr. Frances Arnold, Dr. Jennifer Doudna, Dr. Andrea Ghez, Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier, Dr. Katalin Karikó, Dr. Özlem Türeci. Very few, if any of them gets to meet their role models which is by itself an inspiration. After 23 years of hard work, I think got luck out and met my first business role model, Dr. Pam Marrone, in 2017. Two years later, I met 3 more role models Dr. Frances Arnold, Dr. Jennifer Doudna, and Melinda Richter in 2019. Meeting just one of your role models has a very powerful effect on a person's future decisions, so I specifically go to the talks at middle and high schools. I know it shaped my future decisions when I was in middle and high school. The importance of owning my accomplishments, sharing the recognition, and giving talks at middle/high schools were reminded me in 2017 by a middle school girl in San Francisco that next-generation girls know they can do great things.
Most of the time, we are the first to go to graduate school in our immediate family. People like me may not know the unwritten rules in graduate school. We learn them the hard way by trial and error as opposed to our friends from multi-generational academic families who know the rules. The opportunities rarely show up on our doorstep. (If the opportunity ever shows up, we are not given a second chance. We have to make it the first time.) We have to create/make our own opportunities but we need hope with examples of role models!
I will take the bitter-sweet recognition today (even if I am put in my place), so women and girls like me can take it with joy in the future!
Author: Dr. Fatma Kaplan is the CEO/CSO of Pheronym and Activate Berkeley Fellow & Berkeley Lab Affiliate Cyclotron Road Cohort 2021. She is also an entrepreneur and an accomplished scientist with experience in both biology and chemistry. She has a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology and postdoctoral training in Natural Product Chemistry with a focus on isolating biologically active compounds. Dr. Kaplan discovered the first sex pheromone of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and published it in Nature. Then she discovered that pheromones regulate other behaviors in both parasitic and beneficial nematodes. Dr. Kaplan conducted the first agricultural biocontrol experiment in Space at the International Space Station in 2020. She has very high impact publications, and her dissertation (beta-amylase’s role during cold and heat shock) was cited in textbooks within 5 years of publication. Dr. Kaplan worked as a scientist at NASA, the National Magnetic Field Laboratory, and the US Department of Agriculture — Agricultural Research Service. Dr. Fatma Kaplan and Mr. Karl C. Schiller co-founded Pheronym to bring nematode pheromone technology to the market and to provide effective, non-toxic, sustainable pest control for farmers and gardeners.
