Professor Michael Elmes: Traveling to New Zealand to Help the World Better Understand Biotechnology's Social and Cultural Impact
With the advances in genomic research and other recent breakthroughs in biotechnology, the world is facing ever-increasing choices about how our food is produced, our illnesses treated, and our lives affected by genetically manipulated products. One of the most critical questions we must address today is how we will use - or not use - this technology.
One of the people seeking answers to this pressing question is WPI's Dr. Michael Elmes. Elmes, Professor of Management in the Department of Management, has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study the affects of lifting the nation-wide ban on genetically modified (GM) products in New Zealand. He will join a group of academics and scientists funded by the New Zealand Foundation of Research, Science, and Technology, tasked with studying "socially and culturally sustainable biotechnology in New Zealand". Elmes will be part of a team interviewing the various groups that could be affected by the introduction of GM products - farmers, consumers, policy-makers, scientists, environmentalists, and the indigenous Maori people. "You have the whole spectrum of interests, all of whom have very different points of view," comments Elmes. "Part of our mission is to track these different reactions and also perhaps to facilitate some kind of dialogue among the different groups."
With a growing international market for organically grown products and a reputation for environmental sensitivity, New Zealand has a lot at stake and is determined to approach biotechnology with caution, carefully charting its course and monitoring its impact. "I'm really going to be trying to level the data - I recognize the value of both sides of the argument about biotechnology," says Elmes. "There are the people that see this as an evil technology and see all the risks associated with what they consider an abomination, and then the people that see this as a godsend - as an opportunity to feed the world and reduce the reliance on pesticides and other chemicals."
With a BS in biology/psychology, a Master's Degree in counseling, and a Ph.D in organizational studies, Elmes has always been interested in nature, how people think about it, and how it all relates to business. "That belief about what nature is frames how people think about biotechnology," observes Elmes. "I'm going to look at this question of nature -- fundamental things like what is 'natural?' If you have this view of nature as an intact, almost holy thing, then you're going to have a very different view of biotechnology from someone who sees nature as something that should be manipulated for the purpose of providing food and lodging and jobs."
As a teacher of management processes and organizational leadership here at WPI, Elmes will also be looking at the affect of biotechnology on business, the economy, and New Zealand's role as a potential exporter of GM products and the technology itself, an issue with ramifications here in the United States as well. "I'd love to ask the policy-makers 'what is it about the economic argument for genetic modification that makes it so compelling over the cultural argument against it?'."
Elmes' time will be divided between his research and teaching courses on organizational behavior, change, and leadership at Victoria University in Wellington. During his six month stay from January to July, Elmes and his family will live in Wellington where his youngest daughter will be enrolled in the 9th grade and his oldest will be studying at Victoria U. Elmes is posting periodic updates to his Sabbatical Update web site as his research progresses.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: October 13, 2006 14:45:41