Scientific Trailblazer Dr. Rita Colwell Shares Renowned Research
In front of a packed Cleary Lecture Hall on September 20, Dr. Rita Colwell, the first woman to serve as Director of the National Science Foundation, imparted crucial wisdom to Endicott’s STEM students: “Stay the course.” Be sure to surround yourself with a group of strong individuals in your industry, she implored, and acquire a mentor.
“Get yourself a posse,” she said. “If you're just starting a new job and feeling like you don't know what's going on, find different people, provide coffee every couple weeks, and just discuss what's crazy.”
In a talk titled “Oceans, Climate, and Pandemics: Lessons From Cholera and Related Vibrios,” the scientific trailblazer encouraged the audience—students, faculty and staff, and community members—to not give up during their career journeys. Colwell, a Beverly native, knows quite a thing or two about perseverance.
Despite being cautioned by her high school teachers that science wasn't for women, Colwell embarked on a career in science out of, in her words, “sheer stubbornness.” She earned a B.S. in bacteriology and an M.S. in genetics from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Washington.
She is a distinguished scientific administrator, serving as a senior advisor and chairman emeritus at Canon US Life Sciences, Inc., the founder and chairman of CosmosID, Inc., and president of the Rosalind Franklin Society.
In 2006, Colwell was awarded the National Medal of Science and has served as president of the American Society for Microbiology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Sigma Xi National Science Honorary Society, among a long list of leadership positions. A member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Colwell’s compelling memoir—spanning her childhood in Beverly and her groundbreaking career—was published by Simon & Schuster in 2020.
Colwell has authored or co-authored 20 books and more than 800 scientific publications, and throughout her career has focused on improving health outcomes around the world and highlighting the impacts of infectious diseases in drinking/bathing water.
For the past 60 years, Colwell has made it her life’s work to research the effects of cholera, a life-threatening bacterial infection of the small intestine that can cause severe diarrhea and vomiting. It’s caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacteria, which is often found in contaminated water and food. It occurs in over 50 countries and affects approximately seven million people, with people living in places with unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene at the highest risk.
After her research in the Chesapeake Bay, Colwell discovered that the cholera bacterium is naturally found in association with plankton and zooplankton, both of which are abundant in marine environments. She identified a clear link between the bacterium and environmental factors like temperature and rainfall, which influence the spread of Vibrio cholerae. Using this knowledge, she has predicted areas at higher risk, especially following heavy rainfall and high temperatures.
While cholera, which spreads through ingestion or contact, is not a pandemic or a common infection, when it does occur, it requires immediate treatment.
Colwell warned that as sea levels and temperatures rise due to climate change, cholera will become increasingly widespread. According to a, cholera outbreaks around the world are already becoming deadlier, with deaths increasing last year by 71 percent compared to deaths in 2022.