Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84Seed World: What are you reading, and why? Rusty Rodriguez: “The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough. This is a fantas- tic story about two brothers who used their knowledge of building bicycles to develop technology that started the avia- tion industry. Though many others had tried and failed, Wilber and Orville Wright persevered through adversity and risk to succeed in developing a technology that would change the future of civilization. Unlike these brothers, I think that too often people are unwilling to take risks, embrace change and visualize what can be. Stories like this remind me about the profound impact individuals can have on civilization and how groundbreaking technologies often require cross-disciplinary efforts. Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies CEO Rusty Rodriguez has been a leading expert in plant-fungal symbiosis while effectively managing research laboratories in academic and government institutions. He shares his secret to staying focused. SW: What concerns you most about what’s happening in the industry? RR: The consolidation of large com- panies. As organizations get larger, they lose the ability to rapidly adapt to changing needs of agriculture and food security, and to generate or adopt new technologies. I believe that the strength of U.S. agriculture is based as much on hard work as it is on creative technologi- cal developments in engineering, chemis- try and biology. SW: What is your No. 1 hobby, and how does it help you in your work? RR: This is a little hard to choose, but I would say cycling. Seattle is a great place to cycle with numerous bike paths and lanes. For me, cycling provides uninter- rupted time to let my mind wander far afield or focus on specific issues. During the wet, cold winter months, cycling to work forces me outside. SW: What do you never travel without? RR: Exercise apparel. Although they vary in size and quality, it is great that hotels have workout facilities. Exercising allows me to clear my head, maintain flexibility, sleep well and focus on business activities. SW: What do you like most about your field of study? RR: The challenge of understanding how two or more very different organisms live together. My field of study is symbiosis, which was discovered in the 1800s and since that time, has been shown to be a universal phenomenon for plants and animals. In fact, plants and animals can’t survive without their symbiotic partners. The most remarkable aspect of this is that the communication that occurs between symbiotic partners is just starting to be understood. SW: What do you dislike most? RR: Although symbiosis is one of the most important aspects of plant and animal life on Earth, it is not well recog- nized in the scientific community. Only a small percentage of scientific papers on agriculture, ecology or physiology of plants include microbial components. This can make it difficult for people to under- stand what we do and the value microbial research can bring to agriculture. SW: Why plant-fungal symbiosis? RR: Crop production and food security are being impacted by climate change. Regardless of your political views on this matter, farmers around the world are being impacted by the increasing frequency and severity of abiotic stresses such as drought, temperature and salini- zation. It may be possible to commer- cialize symbiotic technology to mitigate impacts of climate change on crop production. SW Making Sense of Symbiosis 52 / SEEDWORLD.COM JANUARY 2017