Steve Hanson

Background

About Steve Hanson

Most of my career has focused on developing biotech solutions for problems- mostly agricultural. These have ranged from developing pathogen detection systems (including synthetic antibody mimics) to engineering genes to confer resistance to pathogens and characterization of new pathogens. Critical thinking and problems solving rooted on a strong foundation of molecular biology and communication are probably my greatest strengths. Throughout my career I have been lauded for my ability to communicate with and coordinate diverse groups for addressing interdisciplinary problems. I am very comfortable working with groups that include producers, plant breeders, genomics specialists, and more. My ability to communicate with diverse groups is also evidenced by having won a national award for an extension publication aimed at debunking many of the misconceptions over GMO crops (https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/CR682/welcome.html). Throughout my career I have been acknowledged for my ability to productively engage with public interest groups, even those opposed to my work. I often hear how few molecular biologists are able to communicate ideas to the general public as well as I do. And this has carried over to my teaching where I regularly receive some of the best student reviews on campus and occasionally show up on graduation senior exit interviews for being the best instructor they had during their undergraduate experience. My biggest weakness is working within bureaucracies- I find it really frustrating when bureaucratic inertia or administrative pot holes impede progress. Especially when "that's how things are done around here" is the explanation. While much of my career has been spent on vegetable crops I have noticed the challenges and opportunities associated with the re-emergence of hemp as a legal crop. After nearly a century of prohibition this crop is lagging far behind in research. I believe my skills are applicable here and thus I have an interest in taking on projects with hemp and cannabis. Toward this end, I have been developing ideas and proposals for making true THC free hemp, looking at disease resistance in hemp, and using both traditional and GE approaches for metabolic engineering of the cannabinoid pathway in hemp and cannabis.