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Kevin M. Folta is a professor in, and chairman of, the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida.

Education and career

Folta received his B.S. and M.S. in biology in 1989 and 1992, respectively, from Northern Illinois University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in molecular biology in 1998. He completed postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin, and joined the faculty at the University of Florida in 2002. He assumed the role of Interim Department Chair in 2012 and accepted the Chair position in 2013.

Research

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Folta's laboratory has two primary research areas—how to control plant traits with light, and use of genomics to identify molecular markers for key fruit-plant traits.

Plants and Light

Folta's first work in light began in 1987, when working with genetic mapping of genes associated with phytochrome responses. His research continued into blue-light-mediated control of gene expression and physiology through cryptochrome and phototropin receptors, using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Later work would investigate the unusual effects of green light wavelengths using a variety of physiological approaches. This work in basic plant biology would later extend to studies of sources using light emitting diodes to control discrete facets of plant biology, including nutrient accumulation, flavor and shelf life.

Strawberry Genomics

Folta's work in strawberry genomics began in 2002. His earliest publications helped to develop a set of molecular tools for strawberry research that quickly seeded community building among researchers. These early efforts raised the amount of public information in strawberry and other rosaceous crops, culminating in the sequencing of the strawberry genome in 2011, where Folta was the contributing author . Ongoing work in the laboratory continues to use genomics tools to identify genes associated with flavors, disease and other important industry traits.

Science communication

Folta has formal training in communication, and has been active in the public discussion of controversial public discussions such as evolution, climate, vaccines and agricultural biotechnology (familiarly genetically modified organisms (GMOs)) since 2002. He has said the scientific consensus regarding the safety of genetically modified foods is comparable to those regarding global warming and vaccines. He is an outspoken critic of Vani Hari's claims about the alleged dangers of certain food additives.

Conflict of interest allegations

In early February 2015, the nonprofit organization US Right to Know filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA request to the University of Florida, on the basis that the organization suspected that Folta may have been pressured into claiming that GMOs are safe by food and agricultural companies. The University released documents, including email exchanges with Monsanto, which indicated that he had not committed scientific misconduct.

In a Nature article from August 2015 Keith Kloor wrote , "Folta did receive an unrestricted US$25,000 grant last year from Monsanto." and that Folta had "close ties to Monsanto and other biotechnology interests". Folta responded to this article by denying the article's claims that he had "close ties" to Monsanto. He stated on his blog, the claims were based on a few dozen emails and three professional direct interactions over thirteen years and show he was reimbursed by Monsanto for exact costs incurred for one travel event over that time to speak to farmers in Colorado in September 2014. The University of Florida received an unrestricted $25,000 grant from Monsanto that was to be used at the university's discretion in support of research and outreach projects, which was then earmarked for a biotechnology communication program. In response to the controversy and personal threats against Folta, the university offered to return the money donated by Monsanto and, when this was refused, reallocated the funds into a university food pantry.

In September 2015, the New York Times wrote that Folta received an undisclosed amount of money in special grants from Monsanto to help with biotechnology outreach and to travel around the country to defend genetically modified foods. Forbes wrote, that the $25,000 donation occurred "..on the landscape of an already-public record of greater than $1 million of cumulative giving to the university by Monsanto, primarily for an endowed professorship (not held by Folta)". The outreach program is an established program in science communication for scientists, and it is not used in "defending genetically modified food" as Lipton claims.

The Tampa Bay Times characterised Folta's case as an example of activist groups attempting to silence scientists who wish to engage in public discussion of politically controversial topics, describing it as the "Spiral of Silence". Professor and science communicator Steven Novella noted that "The shill witch hunt is just getting started, and now they are emboldened by the PR bonanza they have found in FOIA requests for e-mails. All of this is likely to have a chilling effect on scientists speaking out in the public square on controversial issues."

References

1. "Kevin M. Folta, PhD" (PDF). Retrieved 5 September 2015.
2. "NIU alum has a taste for success". NIU Today. Northern Illinois University. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
3. ^ "Kevin M. Folta". University of Florida. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
4. UF/IFAS names Folta as horticultural sciences chairman
5. Shulaev, Vladimir; Sargent, Daniel J; Crowhurst, Ross N; Mockler, Todd C; Folkerts, Otto; et al. (2011). "The genome of woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca)". Nature Genetics. 43 (2): 109–116. doi:10.1038/ng.740. ISSN 1061-4036.
6. ^ Kloor, Keith (6 August 2015). "GM-crop opponents expand probe into ties between scientists and industry". Nature. Retrieved 5 September 2015. Folta did receive an unrestricted US$25,000 grant last year from Monsanto.
7. ^ Levinovitz, Alan (23 February 2015). "Anti-GMO Activist Seeks to Expose Scientists' Emails With Big Ag". Wired. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
8. Hamblin, James (11 February 2015). "The Food Babe: Enemy of Chemicals". The Atlantic. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
9. Flaherty, Colleen (14 August 2015). "Casualty of GMO Wars". Inside Higher Education. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
10. Folta, Kevin (13 September 2015). "What are "Deep Ties" to Monsanto?". Illumination (blog). Retrieved 13 September 2015.
11. Schweers, Jeff (28 August 2015). "UF to donate Monsanto funds to food pantry". Gainesville Sun. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
12. Lipton, Eric (5 September 2015). "Food Industry Enlisted Academics in G.M.O. Lobbying War, Emails Show". New York Times. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
13. Kroll, David (10 September 2015). "What The New York Times Missed On Kevin Folta And Monsanto's Cultivation Of Academic Scientists". Forbes. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
14. Payne, Jack (12 September 2015). "Perspective: Records requests hijack scientists' time". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
15. Novella,Steven (11 September 2015). "How To Attack a Public Scientist". Neurologica Blog. Retrieved 11 September 2015.

External links

• Profile at Google Scholar
• Faculty information page at the University of Florida

• Living people
• American horticulturists
• University of Florida faculty
• Northern Illinois University alumni
• University of Illinois at Chicago alumni
• American molecular biologists
• Scientists from Chicago, Illinois
• Science education