Meet the Scientists

Name: Dr. John Teem
Occupation: Research Scientist
Place of Business: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

E-mail: teemj@doacs.state.fl.us
Phone: 850-410-0892

How did you become interested in your field and working with invasive species?
I didn’t start my science career as an invasive species biologist. I was a molecular biologist working on cystic fibrosis at Florida State University. I then took a job with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Whereas my former career involved basic research on gene expression and genetics, my new career was directed more toward applied research to solve an ecological problem relating to invasive species.

What do you do?
I try to develop genetic approaches to control or eradicate invasive species. As an example, I recently devised a strategy to eliminate fish using a “Trojan Y Chromosome.”  This approach could possibly be used to eradicate a species like Nile tilapia, which have an XY sex-determination system. The idea is to produce a female fish with two Y chromosomes and introduce it into a population of invasive Nile tilapia in the wild. Over time, the number of female fish in the wild population is reduced to zero because matings of the “Trojan” fish with normal fish produces only males.

What do you like about your job?
It is a mix of lab work and field biology, so I get to partake in two very different kinds of science.  Working in the lab gives me the satisfaction of making day-to-day progress on an invasive species problem using the molecular biology techniques I was originally trained in.  Working with DNA is fun, and I never get tired of doing experiments in the lab. In this job, I also get to work in the field, and that is a nice bonus. As biologist, it is exciting to think that the science that I do in the lab may someday have a benefit for the environment.

What advice would you give students who are interested in science?
These are challenging times for scientists. There are a host of new problems that the world faces, which will require someone to create solutions that no one has thought of yet. Pick one of the problems and become one of the people who solves it. Find somebody who is already doing interesting research and learn from them as much as you can. Become an expert in the field, then teach other people what you know so that they become part of the solution as well.