# Transcript

Interviewer
So Angela, could you recall your first memory of plants and how you became interested in them?
Angela Karp
Well interestingly I did do plants at school but I didn't go to do plants at university. I went to do work on animals because I've always been very interested in animals. But in my first year of university, for the first time I really understood genetics. I just did not get it at school. And I think because of that I then became very fascinated by what one could do with genetics and it was much easier to experiment with plants than animals. So at that point I shifted my attention to plants, became much more interested in plants and crops and the importance of food and agriculture. And I went along that path.
I
And who fired your enthusiasm then in terms of the genetics and allowing you to understand it?
AK
I think I just had a really good lecturer. I was at London University Queen Mary College and I had a really good lecturer in genetics and he just inspired me. And I think most importantly I understood the concept which I just hadn't got at school. But I did well in my A level biology but I just hadn't got the concept. And suddenly understood it and I think with that comprehension I became very interested in how we could apply it, particularly for agriculture.
I
And often that's the way. You just need that one person to fire your enthusiasm and you're off then. So was your degree actually in plant science?
AK
Actually, no. So what happened was I was at university in London and they did a lot of course units. And it ended up that I had so many course units in genetics - so I did for example developmental genetics, fungal genetics, all in genetics - that I actually ended up with a BSc in genetics. And I was one of the few people who graduated with a BSc in genetics. Most people came out with Biological Sciences, which is much more typical.
I
More general in many ways.
AK
That's right.
I
So that's the kind of area that you are still working in. So how did your career progress from that point onwards?
AK
Well I went on to do a PhD and at the time there were not that many places that offered PhDs in agricultural sciences and agricultural departments were quite few. So Reading, for example, Aberystwyth - there was a few in the country. I was fortunate to get a good PhD in Aberystwyth, which is one of those well-known departments. And again they had a very strong genetics slant in the way they worked so that suited my sort of interest, if you like. So I did my PhD in Wales and that gave me a break from London so it was quite a contrast - extreme contrast from being in a city to Wales. And then I was fortunate to see the position offered here at Rothamsted. And I went for that and you know I was very fortunate to get that straight out of my PhD.
I
Because normally people have to spend a little bit more time doing post-doctoral research or whatever before they are able to get a position like that.
AK
That's right. Normally have two posts. But I was fortunate because they were specifically looking for somebody who was a geneticist and who could apply genetics to agriculture. So I guess I was just lucky that opening came up at the time when I was finishing my PhD.
I
So when did you come to Rothamsted?
AK
In 1981 so I've been in the Institute for all that time.