Dr. Will Beeson is an agritech research scientist investigating new ways to protect crops with biotechnology
In our conversation on March 9th, 2021, Will related how his academic interests changed over time from computers to chemistry and chemical engineering to pre-med, and how he was able to integrate his foundational knowledge and interests during graduate school to explore and discover novel enzymatic reactions related to biomass conversion.
Growing up in southwest Florida, Will didn’t live near major research universities or startup companies. Instead, he was wow’d by what he saw in the movies, like Jurassic Park. He pursued his PhD in warm California – and not the cold northeast, and he is now working as a research scientist in industry. He collaborates across the company on the next generation of agricultural biotechnologies for improved crop protection (and not, he promised, on reanimating a Stegosaurus).