Pamela Ronald

Pamela Christine Ronald is an American plant pathologist and geneticist, born in 1961 in San Mateo County, California, who is a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis. Her laboratory identified the rice gene XA21, which confers resistance to bacterial blight disease, and the Sub1 gene, which confers tolerance to flooding, and Sub1-derived flood-tolerant rice varieties have since reached millions of farmers across Asia and Africa. She is also a prominent public voice arguing that genetic engineering and organic farming practices can work together toward more sustainable agriculture.