Renowned Scientist Bonnie Bassler to Speak at Stuart on Tuesday

Renowned scientist and Princeton University Professor Dr. Bonnie Bassler has been named the 2012 Women in Leadership Speaker at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart.

She will give a talk, “Science Adventures from the Bassler Lab” on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. at Stuart’s Cor Unum Center.

The talk is free and open to the public.

Bassler’s talk is part of the all-girls' school’s commitment to science, technology, engineering and math education for girls and goal to give graduates the skills and inspiration to explore opportunities in STEM.

“We are pleased to invite the greater Princeton community to take advantage of this unique opportunity to hear Dr. Bassler speak about the importance of engaging young people in STEM,” said Dr. Patty Fagin, Stuart’s head of school. “She is a dynamic speaker and an international leader in her field - the perfect mentor to inspire and excite our young women to consider future study and careers in science, technology, engineering and math.”

For more than two decades, Bassler has studied how bacteria communicate with one another and the possibilities to manipulate the bacteria- either to work together to keep people alive or to create antibiotics to disrupt bacterial communication.

She estimates it will be five to 10 years before her research will result in antibiotics to disrupt bacterial communication in the body.

The research may also be used in other applications, for example to create stents and catheters that prevent infection, or used in fertilizer to make plants grow more reliably.

“I am paid to think of things that no one has ever thought about on earth,” Bassler said. “It’s just an amazing, amazing, time right now where it started as this quack idea 20 years ago, this understanding of bacteria and its place in the world.”

Bassler, who chairs Princeton University’s Council on Science and Technology, credits the University with supporting her and her research.

“I sent out a million job applications and I got one interview and one job,” she said. “Princeton gave me a job and backed me during the hard times. Part of the reason why I succeeded was they gave me a chance and gave me a long view.”

Bassler is a member of the National Science Board, which prioritizes the nation’s research and educational priorities in science, math and engineering. 

She has received the MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” Princeton University’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, and was named the 2012 L’Oreal-UNESCO Woman in Science for North America.  

The Women in Leadership program exposes Stuart students to women who shape opinions and make a difference. Past speakers include Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman, NPR News Analyst Cokie Roberts, and Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking.

Bassler was an original member of Stuart's STEM advisory task force but stepped back when President Obama nominated her to the National Science Board.

Bassler is the Squibb Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Bassler says its important for all students to study STEM because it teaches skills critical for the 21^st century.

“What Stuart has in particular is the ability to give these girls in their younger lives the confidence they need so when they are in the big leagues with men and boys, they will have confidence that they can engage, not be given messages- subtle or not- that women can’t engage," Bassler said. "They’ll have a higher chance of excelling and changing the discourse because they’re in it. And that’s Stuart’s obligation."

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