Driven by his passion for biodiversity, Suzuki pursued a degree in Biology and graduated from Amherst College in 1958, specialising in genetics. Three years later, he completed his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Chicago. He then began his career as a professor in the Genetics Department of the University of British Columbia where he spent 35 years studying fruit flies.
- Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring”
The revolutionary book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson – highlighting the impacts of insecticide and technology on biodiversity – was published around the time he began his career as a geneticist. Suzuki cited this book as one of the most influential books he has read, and regards Rachel Carson as the “mother of the environmental movement”. The publication of the book caused him to realize the interconnectedness of the ecosystems and made him rethink our place on the planet.
- A student’s influence
One day, a student at the University of British Columbia invited him to speak about the misapplications of genetics. During the lecture, the student asked him how he could continue with his work while knowing all the bad ways in which science is being used. At the time, Suzuki was more interested in doing research in and of itself than the applications of his work. However, the student made him realize that science is a collective body where one scientist’s discoveries may be applied – or misapplied – by other scientists in the field. In Force of Nature, he revealed that this episode set him thinking on how he could “reconcile doing science with the tremendous social crises going on at the time,” influencing him to go beyond his research.
Suzuki went on to become an environmental activist beyond his lab work, travelling to educate people about environmental issues, hosting several TV and radio programmes, and writing books to make science and environmental issues understandable by lay people.