Zhao Ma’s journey to her life’s work
Zhao Ma started her academic path pursuing a degree in material physics from the University of Science and Technology in Beijing. From the start, she doubted that was her passion, and describes herself as intentionally stumbling into a student environmental organization that took her down a different path.
That stumble also eventually led to her current position as professor of forestry and natural resources at Purdue University and becoming a nationally and internationally recognized leader and interdisciplinary scholar in the human dimension of natural resources and global change. This month she will receive the Purdue’s Agricultural Research Award, the highest honor given by Purdue’s College of Agriculture to mid-career faculty.