William H. Farland was Betsy’s first postdoctoral fellow, in the University of California, Irvine. His work with Betsy became his foot in the door of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which he joined in 1979. The Sutherlands, Farland says, supported his exploration of such an untraditional career move.
Starting with doing health assessments, Farland rose through the ranks all the way to EPA science advisor, the highest nonpolitical appointment job in EPA’s research and development program. In 2006-13, he served Colorado State University as vice-president for research. He continues as a senior adviser to the university and part-time professor of environmental medicine.
Farland's wife, Phyllis, was a professional horse rider and trainer. She died in 2014.
“We had a very nice relationship with Betsy and John. We were guests in their home frequently. We enjoyed being with them and their dogs. They were just terrific people,” Farland says. “When you’re a young scientist, it’s nice to have the kind of support and encouragement they extended to me.”
William H. Farland was Betsy’s first postdoctoral fellow, in the University of California, Irvine. His work with Betsy became his foot in the door of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which he joined in 1979.
The Sutherlands, Farland says, supported his exploration of such an untraditional career move. “Betsy and John encouraged me to look at different options and carefully evaluate the unique opportunity with EPA.”
Starting with doing health assessments, Farland rose through the ranks all the way to EPA science advisor, the highest nonpolitical appointment job in EPA’s research and development program. In 2006-13, he served Colorado State University as vice-president for research. He continues as a senior adviser to the university and part-time professor of environmental medicine.
Farland's wife, Phyllis, was a professional horse rider and trainer. She died in 2014.
“We had a very nice relationship with Betsy and John. We were guests in their home frequently. We enjoyed being with them and their dogs. They were just terrific people,” Farland says.
“When you’re a young scientist, it’s nice to have the kind of support and encouragement they extended to me.”
Betsy was a very dedicated scientist. She was always thinking of the next step, the next experiment. She was always encouraging us to look for opportunities to improve the way we did our science. I learned a lot of techniques from her, from human cell cultures to the biochemistry around DNA damage. We learned a lot of the analytical techniques and the physics by collaborating with John’s lab. It was a great learning experience.
