A Conversation With...
Dr. Patrick Larkin

Q: Where did you grow up and how did you get here, (A&M-CC)?

A: I was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, a town of 25,000 in the South Eastern part of the state. I went to the University of Iowa and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in biochemistry in 1989. I worked at Dupont for the next four years in their Agricultural Biotechnology Division in Ames, Iowa before going to graduate school at Texas A & M (College Station). I received a Ph.D in Biochemistry from A & M and then came to TAMUCC in the fall of 2000 as an assistant professor.

Q: What motivates you and has helped you become who you are today?

A: I’ve always enjoyed learning and not just in the field of science, so being in a university setting is a motivation in itself. I like challenges and doing things well, so I try to improve on my abilities to teach, do research, or advise students. I like to help people and being a college professor provides lots of opportunities there. So many people and institutions have helped me that it’s hard to narrow down the list. Of course family and friends play a crucial role. Many other factors were important: the many, many good teachers in my public schools, the boy’s club in my hometown that organized the various sports leagues along with all the volunteers who coached and managed the activities. The library, museums, and community theatre were all important to me as I grew up. There are so many institutions and organizations in our communities, which can play such a vital part in helping people to grow. I’m grateful that I had those opportunities, and that we live in a country where they’re available.

Q: What makes you passionate about your field and teaching students?

A: Personally, biochemistry is a fascinating subject. Learning how a muscle contracts, or how the sugar we put on our cereal in the morning is converted to biological energy amazes me. I would like to be able to share a part of this fascination with others. I know most people might not have the same attitude towards the material that I have, but perhaps I can present it in a fashion where a student says to themselves “Wow, that’s pretty interesting, I never would have considered it that way before…”. I also know that the material is going to be really important for those students interested in a career in science or medicine. Learning a set of facts is just not enough. We all forget facts unless we constantly work with them. What I try to do is also help students with their critical thinking skills, so they can also learn how to approach a problem, and use a set of mental skills to try and solve it.

Q: What course(s) are your favorite to teach?

A: Biochemistry is my favorite, but I also like teaching courses related to the chemistry and biology of drugs, toxins and natural products (chemicals produced by living organisms). General Chemistry is another course I like teaching because it’s concerned with some of the fundamental principles that govern how the universe operates.

Q: What co-curricular activities are you involved in, and how can students become involved with you in those activities?

A: I am involved in research, where my specialty is the biochemistry and genetics of plants. I’m also involved with the local section of the American Chemical Society. The ACS works with our campus chemistry club (Corpus Christi Chemistry Club) to provide educational programs at local schools and during campus activities like the Science Fair or Island Days. If and when I have the time, I would like to see both organizations become more involved with the community, probably in the realm of expanded chemistry education-type activities, or in “PR” type of activities to let the community know just how chemistry benefits all of our lives.

Q: Outside of TAMUCC, what extracurricular activities are you involved in; what do you do for fun?

A: I love to read, especially history. I also enjoy archery, shooting and hunting when I get the chance.

Q: Who inspired you the most or had the greatest impact during your collegiate experience which directed you to your field of study?

A: I had to do an undergraduate research project as part of my bachelor’s program. I was assigned to work with Dave Sheff, a graduate student in one of the professor’s labs. Now I’m sure Dave had a lot of other things he needed to be doing besides helping me, but he was patient, a good teacher and never gave me the impression that I was a drag on his time. He was the first person who really began teaching me how to “do science”. He was also one of the most interesting people I ever met. Though he was probably only 5 years older than myself, he seemed in many way to be quite wise, and I learned a lot from him about both life and science. He’s now a professor back at my alma mater (University of Iowa).

Q: What is your greatest achievement and whom do you attribute this to?

A: Probably getting my Ph.D. because I know that’s something a lot of people start but never finish. So many people inspired this educational adventure: my mom, a high school teacher and single parent, and my older sisters, who always showed me the example of working hard, persevering and never feeling sorry for yourself, my teachers from grade school through college, Dave Sheff, Dan Dyer, my boss at DuPont who was an absolutely fantastic boss for a new BS-degree “chemist” who wasn’t at all confident in their skills, Bill Park, my Ph.D. advisor at A & M who helped me to make the correct choice in several fateful decisions. Hongyong Fu, one of Dr. Parks senior graduate students, who initially taught me a lot about biochemistry techniques, to name a few.

Q: What question does the study of Biochemestry attempt to answer?

A: Biochemistry seeks to understand how life works at the chemical level. Everything from how a double helical structure consisting of weak bases, sugars and inorganic phosphate is able to store the information required to build a cell, to how a few proteins and some organic molecules are able to convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water in sugar, and from there to all the different kinds of molecules that we find in life. We have a pretty good idea of how the basic processes work, the real effort in the next few decades will be in understanding how all these different processes are regulated an how they communicate with each other.

Q: Wouldn’t be caught dead wearing?

A: A choker necklace