How a “hyperactive child” turned into a successful Professor
BY: BEATRICE JOHNSON
Contributor
Scott Gevaert, Ph.D, was a self-proclaimed hyperactive child. It may be hard to imagine as he sports a bespectacled grin beneath a neatly trimmed beard while sitting in his office in STLCC-Meramec’s Biology Department.
His parents noticed his hyperactivity and encouraged him to help with things around the house, said Gevaert. One of the chores that Gevaert said he loved the most was helping his father in the garden. “I was pretty active in the garden we had around the house growing up, and as I got older my parents let me have more control over it,” he said. He shared that it was his love for plants which was his main driver for becoming a biology major when he decided to attend Saint Louis University.
At SLU, most biology majors were pre-med, and as a result, Gevaert said he had a variety of opportunities to work with plant biology professors in labs which sparked his interest. “I love being in nature and less so being in the lab,” he said.
During his senior year of his undergraduate degree at SLU, he received the Young Botanist Award from the Botanical Society of America. “I had a lot more opportunities than a lot of the students I’ve had, which is humbling, but also makes me want to work harder for them,” he said, with a pensive look.
Before continuing his work in academia, Gevaert had a brief stint working for the American agrochemical company Monsanto. While he shared that he didn’t particularly enjoy being a lab technician for the few months he was there, he did still learn from the experience. “Sometimes to do what you love, you have to do super tedious things you don’t like doing,” he said.
Gevaert continued his education at the University of Georgia, where he completed his doctorate degree in plant biology. He also felt more comfortable coming out in graduate school, after having multiple colleagues who were open about their sexuality while working for his doctorate, he said.
He came out in 2008; he wasn’t out in high school or college, in large part due to the homophobic practices of his university at the time. The rejection of the beginning of a Gay Straight Alliance on campus as well as the homophobic attitudes of the people in his hometown also played a large role in this decision. In his current position, Gevaert said that he feels significantly more comfortable being open.
“There have been moments of strife, for the longest time we didn’t even have a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Office, in the last three or four years however, there’s definitely been a shift to allow more for sociological differences,” he said with a reflective glance.
He also shared that he has experienced verbal slights on account of his homosexuality in his life, at times being told he was “too sensitive” or “emotional,” which he felt to be a pointed attack based on his sexuality.
In his spare time, Gevaert is never one to back down from a challenge, with a wide array of hobbies, like winemaking, baking, cooking, and taking care of his home garden. He enjoyed working in art classes in college. He was involved with SLU’s pep band, where he played tuba, as well as the mass choir in which he sang bass.
“I have a batch of wine going in my kitchen right now. It’s wonderful. It smells like a winery in my house, but it’s also packed with challenges since you have a micro-organism doing work for you and they can be picky sometimes,” he said with a chuckle.
