Meet The Woman Who Launched A New Field Of Scientific Study

As a female chemical engineer, Frances Arnold was already a rarity. After all, only about 16 percent of chemical engineers are women. But now that she has become the first woman ever to win the prestigious Millennium Technology Prize — it was awarded in Helsinki, Finland, on May 24 — Arnold is truly one of a kind. And she knows that in addition to a big cash award (1 million euros, or about $1.3 million), the prize brings an opportunity to spotlight the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers and to be a role model for other women. "I hope that my getting this prize will highlight the fact that yes, women can do this, they can do it well, and that they can make a contribution to the world and be recognized for it," Arnold told The Huffington Post in an email. "I hope that women will see that one can have a rewarding career in science and technology." Arnold, 59, won the prize for "her discoveries that launched a field known as directed evolution," according to a statement issued by Technology Academy Finland, the organization that awards the prize. To learn more about the field, and about Arnold herself, HuffPost Science posed a series of questions to her via email. Here, lightly edited, are her answers: Did you always want to be a scientist? I did not choose to become a researcher until I was almost 30. I tried other careers, but science spoke to me more and more, especially after I started studying the biological world and all the ...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news