Helen A. Stafford

Helen Adele Stafford was an American scientist and the first plant scientist to understand how plants use carbon dioxide from photosynthesis without wasting it.  She discovered that special chemical processes in plants happen in organized groups of enzymes working together in one place. Stafford discovered many important breakthroughs in Biology, Phytochemistry, and Plant Physiology.  Biology is the scientific study of living organisms and life. Phytochemistry is the study of chemicals produced by plants. Plant Physiology is the study of plants’ lives and what allows them to grow. 

 Early life 
Stafford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She discovered her love of plants when she was gardening with her father.  He was an enthusiastic gardener.

Stafford earned her Bachelor’s degree in Botany at Wellesley College in 1944. Botany is the study of plants. She earned her Master’s degree at Connecticut College for Women, in 1949. She then earned her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in the Botany department at the University of Pennsylvania in 1951. 

 Career 
Stafford’s Ph.D. was one of the first studies on enzymes in plant tissues. Her thesis research from her Master’s degree was on the growth and development of Phleum pratense (a kind of plant) seedlings. Her Master's thesis became her first published paper. It was published in the American Journal of Botany. Stafford was the first plant scientist to suggest that special chemical processes in plants happen in organized groups of enzymes working together in one place.  This was important because it helped explain how plants use carbon dioxide from photosynthesis efficiently, without wasting it.

Stafford was a professor at Reed College. She was the only woman in her department at the college. She discovered many important breakthroughs in Biology, Phytochemistry, and Plant Physiology.  Biology is the scientific study of living organisms and life. Phytochemistry is the study of chemicals produced by plants. Plant Physiology is the study of plants’ lives and what allows them to grow. Stafford also published more than 70 papers.  

Stafford helped design a successful training program at Reed College for people who hadn’t graduated from college. This was a research-heavy program with faculty members keeping it research-intensive. Their research was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Health (NIH), and other sources. Stafford got her first NSF grant and received continuous renewals until one year after her retirement in 1955. Stafford was able to produce excellent work in institutions without a graduate degree program with this support.

 Awards 
Stafford earned many awards. She was the first woman to receive the Charles Reid Barnes Life Membership Award from the American Society of Plant Physiologists in 1996. She was also the first professor at Reed to win a Guggenheim Fellowship.  She took the fellowship at Harvard in 1958.  The Pennsylvania State Nurses Association selected her for a Pioneer Award in 2008.

 References 

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