Prof. Pamela Christine Ronald received her PhD in Mobile Biology and Plant Physiology from the University of California, Berkeley, USA. She received her master's degree (school science) from Stanford University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University, before becoming a lecturer at the University of California, Davis in 1992.
She is also a senior fellow at the Center for innovative Geneology at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of the book Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, genetics and the Future of Food. She was voted by Scientific American magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in the field of biotechnology.
In 2022, Prof. Ronald was awarded the Wolf Prize for Agriculture - considered the "Nobel Prize for Agriculture", and the VinFuture Special Prize for Female Scientists. She is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the American Academy of Sciences and Arts (AAAS).
- In a presentation at VinFuture Week 2025, she introduced a new discovery in the laboratory. Can you tell us how this research is different from the work that helped you receive the VinFuture Prize in 2022?
The 2022 work for which I received the award was for the discovery of a gene, called "flood resistance bacteria". That is the research effort of the whole group. However, the work in this paper that I bring to VinFuture is the result of my research with a colleague, researcher Flor Ercoli.
She used to work in my lab as a researcher, but is now starting to build her own lab at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). We have discovered a gene that helps the root system of plants grow, grow and expand rapidly, thereby helping to reduce methane emissions by 40%.
- Since you won the prize and were honored at VinFuture 2022, in the past three years, have you had any relationships with agricultural researchers in Vietnam? How far has the initial step of that cooperation process progressed?
I have had the opportunity to attend the VinFuture Prize twice. I visited the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture. I am learning about practical ways to reduce methane emissions. You have many very talented scientists, who are applying a method that we call "interspersed grille - drying", helping to reduce methane emissions.
This time, I had the opportunity to visit the Biotechnology Center. It is a pity that I have not had the opportunity to welcome Vietnamese students or graduate students to work at my laboratory to research. Hopefully that will come true in the future.
- It is known that after being honored at the VinFuture 2022 award, she took on a new role as a member of the Award Council. As someone who was both nominated and a "mental person" for such a big award, how do you feel? Is there any difference in the years you work with the award?
When I received the award in 2022, I was extremely excited and really surprised. When I came to Vietnam and witnessed the organization of the Organizing Committee, I felt very impressed and amazed, because everyone put all their efforts and passion into creating such a wonderful event.
This time, as a member of the Award Council, I feel very happy and proud to be the one to review and evaluate many nominations. It must be said that the nominations are really excellent. To contribute to selecting the award winners and meeting them directly, I feel extremely happy, because I used to be in the same position as them and understand that feeling.
- As a member of the Council, how do you evaluate the nominations this year?
This year's nominations are extremely great. The winners of the selected awards are also extremely excellent, and we will know the results soon.
- Although you cannot reveal the owner, can you give a general assessment of the quality of this year's nominations? Did the judges have a hard time in the debate because the nominations were all good?
This is really a challenge. We have 3 councils to screen, pre- approve, and then select the winners of this year's awards.
Many times I see a group of authors with very impressive works, very good, but still need to carefully check whether they are really suitable and fully meet the criteria of the award or not. At the same time, those studies focus on solving fundamental scientific problems.
We think very carefully about who created the fundamental and applied discoveries and how they were developed; how many people are needed to take basic science further and apply them in practice. These are the criteria that we are aiming for.
- It can be seen that in the past four years and at least three years since she was honored with the VinFuture Prize, there have been many changes, especially when the Prize winners have also been honored at other major awards such as the Nobel Prize. With her current role as a member of the Prize Council, how do you feel?
Our Prize Council selects winners based on the quality of research and the impact it brings, especially in low- and middle-income countries. These criteria may match the criteria of the Nobel Prize Council.
I think that the Council members do not feel pressured because of that, if only the award winners feel pressured. As we know, last year, a VinFuture owner was later awarded the Nobel Prize. It is a great joy to see that the VinFuture winners continue to receive other awards.
Thank you!
