Dr. Terry Woodford-Thomas grew up in the Midwest with a love for nature. She studied Botany at Eastern Illinois University, Plant Physiology and Plant Pathology at Purdue University and Developmental Biology at Virginia Tech. Her graduate work was at Harvard Medical School where she was an American Cancer Society Research Fellow. Other stops along the way to working at the Danforth Center included Molecular Biology and Physiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Biochemistry at Purdue University. Terry was a faculty member in the Department of Immunology and Pathology at Washington University School of Medicine from 1991-2001 after which she came full circle back to plant science at the Danforth Plant Science Center as it was being created. In her spare time, Terry likes to hike, kayak, travel and grow things. She is a certified wildlife rehabilitator. Her laboratory at the Danforth Center is a home for wayward plants and a place where pre-collegiate students can get their first authentic experiences in laboratory research.