Robin Rosetta Oral History Interview, February 14, 2022

Partial Transcript: Today is February 14th, 2022 and I am here with Robin Rosetta here on zoom. My name is Rebecca Killion and we are doing this interview as part of the course The Hidden History of Women at Oregon State University.

Segment Synopsis: Interviewer introduces the interviewee, Robin Rosetta, the location of the interview (on zoom), and herself.

Partial Transcript: I will read to you the verbal consent form.

Segment Synopsis: Interviewer reads verbal consent form to Robin Rosetta and Rosetta consents to the interview.

Partial Transcript: So I thought we could start off with you telling us about where you were born, and just your childhood experiences. Grade school or family experiences?

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta was born in Texas to an Oregonian and a Texan. Rosetta grew up in Houston and Corpus, until she moved to California at age 4. She speaks about how she was shy throughout grade school in Chico, California. She had a speech impediment until she started going to speech therapy in second grade. She has close friends that she has kept in touch with since second grade. She describes this as a big helper through tough times growing up. Rosetta recounts that she had a good education throughout grade school. The schools she went to were majority white, stating that they were quite a homogenous group. She loved reading for its provision of knowledge about the greater world beyond her small town.

Partial Transcript: I had a lot of interests. By the time I was in high school, I was doing really, really well in humanities. I was thinking, maybe that's the area I'll end up in.

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta tells us about the many interests she had in high school. She succeed very well in her humanities classes in high school and also had a strong interest in electronic media. She was involved with the radio tv film production classes and refers to her high school self as a disc jockey. These became a big consideration for what she wanted to do for her professional career because she loved music. She didn't have the opportunities or funds to play instruments growing up, so she sought to be one of the people around the musicians doing cool things. She also had strong interests in foreign language. She considered pursuing it and working in foreign service or as an interpreter, however, she did not feel her language abilities were adept enough.

Partial Transcript: I ended up going to UC Santa Cruz. I had a friend who wanted to go down there and they had the beach, and redwoods... what's not to like, you know. It's a really beautiful campus.

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta tells us about how she decided to go to college at UC Santa Cruz, describing how beautiful the campus is and all the wonderful nature sceneries that were located close by. She attended to World Studies College at UC Santa Cruz. She notes how there were no grades and recalls how her humanistic psychology class was taught in a quarry/amphitheater. Unfortunately, her family could no longer afford to pay for her college, so she had to drop out of UC Santa Cruz. The university held her transcripts, so she was unable to transfer to another college or university.

Partial Transcript: So, uh, after I moved back home, I realized I just didn't want to ... you know ... it felt like a regressive thing to drop out, move back home. So when my friends moved back for the upcoming year, I decided to go move back and be a roommate with them and just find a job.

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta recalls how she decided to move back to Santa Cruz and be roommates with her friends that still attended UC Santa Cruz. Her plan was to find a job to sustain herself. She found work as a cashier at a K-Mart and would ride her bike to work. She recalls there were terrifying times when she rode back from work at night. She notes that as a female, it was very scary, because she was followed and harassed multiple times. She later found another job in a factory that made belts and wallets. She worked long and hard hours, such as from 4:30 pm to 2:30 am. She realized she wanted to go back to school, because that was where dreams could happen. She started working in a cafeteria at Cabrillo Community College as a cashier. She hoped that being in close proximity to a college would help her get back in. She found out she could take night classes without her transcript. Once she started classes, she became a continuing student, allowing her to take day classes and continue her studies in sound engineering and media. She had a coworker that was a sound engineer and musician, so she started attending and working on gigs with local bands. She notes how it was a wild, crazy, and exciting time, leading her to think that it was not a sustainable lifestyle for her. Rosetta adds that it was not an easy area to succeed in as a female. She recalls another job experience where she worked as a ride operator a the beach boardwalk in Santa Cruz. They needed a sound engineer there, so she started working for their series of bands and musicians, notably Lionel Hampton. Although she enjoyed it, she did not feel that this was the career for her. She also disliked the way the industry treated people. So, she continued college and working to sustain herself.

Partial Transcript: I started thinking, what would I do that is healthy? What do I like to do? We spend so much time working. What do we like to do, you know? You spend your life doing something you like to do, and hopefully it's helpful and you get paid for it. Those are things that are really cool to combine.

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta started to contemplate what she wanted to do for her career, something that she would love to study and could support her financially. She really enjoyed gardening and realized that this was something she could pursue. She started taking horticulture classes, and she said this was a bingo moment for her. Jobs in this area mainly had day hours, meaning she would no longer have to work night shifts. The spark happened for her as she learned more about horticulture, she realized this was something she really wanted to do. She sought to find a specific area where she could be a more rare commodity because a lot of people were interested in gardening. She found great interest in integrated pest management; it was very real, science backed, and offered great alternatives to the harmful use of pesticides. She expresses how it was such a good fit for her because she could work in various places and she felt it was an area where she could help change the world for the better. She described how she really liked the aspect of biological control, where natural enemies of pests were harnessed to suppress the pest populations. She continues to explain how she received her A.S. degree in Horticulture and Electronics from Cabrillo College in 1987.

Partial Transcript: I got that A.S. degree and I was told that you're good to go to [Grad School]. I needed to go to Berkeley, Irvine, Riverside, or Davis.

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta describes how after receiving her A.S. degree, she needed to start applying to a Master's program. She chose to attend UC Davis in 1987 because it was familiar to her and was a more boring place compared to Santa Cruz, so she felt she would be able to concentrate more in her studies. She backtracks and tells us about how she met her husband in Santa Cruz when they were roommates. After moving out, they later met up again and he needed a roommate again. She reflects that they were just destined to be roommates. She describes that her years in Santa Cruz were very exciting and after graduating, she felt the need to reign it in and settle down. She and her husband had originally planned to find jobs with their bachelors' degrees, however due to the recession, as well as other driving forces, she decided to go back to school to get her master's degree. She specialized in Entomology at UC Davis, which she found surprising due to her fear of bugs. She recalls how the different jobs she had taught her what she liked and didn't like, leading her to realize that she desired more variety and intellectual stimulation. Rosetta continues to describe how she did a lot of work study at UC Davis, including working at the conservatory. This was a dream come true because she got to work with seemingly endless types of plants. As she worked more in entomology, she began to find insects fascinating, noting that they did everything! She describes the insect world with their different societies, dominating female roles, and the different strengths of all organisms. She recalls that throughout childhood, she was always a do-gooder. She always wanted to fix things, which she notes could have been due to the dysfunction in her family. She reflects how it was difficult growing up with an alcoholic father, leading her to wonder how to fix the broken. She tells us about how for a lot of her life, she attempted to control the uncontrollable. This led her to always strive to succeed, which was evident in her excelling grades throughout school. She was also told from a young age that women could not do as well as men, leading her to strive to prove otherwise. She continues to reflect on some of her experiences in community college and the forces that drove her towards entomology. She came into the master's program at UC Davis as the top entomology student in the top entomology program ranked in the world.

Partial Transcript: I ended up getting two jobs to get my way through. One was working at the Arboretum at UC Davis in their nursery area. And the other was working with the University of California integrated pest management publications unit helping with some of the research projects.

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta describes how during her master's program, she worked at two jobs as a post graduate researcher. One in the nursery area at the arboretum and one in the University of California integrated pest management (IPM) publications unit. Between these two jobs, she learned what IPM could be: working outside in the field, looking and counting insects. At her jobs, they emphasized IPM and lowering the toxicity of pest management. Rosetta describes one example of a more sustainable alternative: the use of insecticidal soap and horticultural oils to manage common pests. She further explains how this managed the residual effects of the pesticides. While working in the arboretum, she tried to implement a project on biological control. Rosetta goes on to explain the inner workings of this project and its benefits for IPM. She recalls how exciting it was to start research trials, that she sometimes designed herself, and take a problem and see if she could answer and fix it. She believes this was the trail that got her to where she is now: a retired professor.

Partial Transcript: After you got your master's at UC Davis, what did you do after that? Between that and moving to Oregon?

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta describes how the time between her master's program and moving to Oregon was relatively short. Her husband was finishing up his master's program and she found a job working as a post-graduate researcher in a virology lab. Rosetta explains how she used the skills she learned in undergrad and graduate school into this job. She describes how she really enjoyed this job. It was a lab that certified plant material as being virus free. She recalls how interesting her experience working in the lab was, as well as the difficulties in managing the student workers. Although she enjoyed working in the lab, she realized she was happiest when working outside in the fields. So, when her husband finished up his program, they decided to move to Oregon, where Rosetta had relatives, and look for jobs. Rosetta continues by describing the challenges she faced in finding jobs after moving.

Partial Transcript: So, yeah we came up here and I think my husband's aunt and uncle thought we were going to stay at the breadline there too long. So they arranged for us to live with a neighbor that was handicapped.

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta describes how after moving to Oregon, her husband's aunt and uncle arranged for them to live at a neighbor's house who was handicapped. The neighbor hadn't gone down to her basement for several years and told Rosetta that they could live there and only had to pay for the added utility fees. Rosetta tells us about how after finding a place to live, her and her husband began the process of finding a place to work. She had heard about Oregon State University (OSU) and decided to go down there and speak to someone from the entomology department. Rosetta recalls how she was connected to a man working in that field who showed her what he did. This allowed her to start networking and hear about the open position at OSU. She describes how the position offered consisted of two different position combined due to budgeting. It included both working in integrated pest management for the nursery system and small fruits. She notes how she was vaguely familiar with small fruits, due to limited experiences and the growing differences of small fruits between California and Oregon. Rosetta goes on to tell us about how it took six months between hearing about the job and actually being hired, as well as the challenges her faced during this time. She additionally explains the strength of curiosity in her career, allowing her to provide innovation into her field.

Partial Transcript: So while you were at OSU, teaching and doing research, what were some of your experiences and what you did in research?

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta describes how her job at OSU changed over time. She started off focusing on small fruits and small nursery crops, which she notes was a big stretch and each was difficult on its own. She discusses the challenges she faced in managing different disciplines in her profession. Although she really enjoyed her profession, the job itself had seemingly endless demands of her, especially since she had multiple bosses with different expectations. Despite this, she recounts how thrilling it was to have her own office and goes on to describe her experiences navigating her first profession without someone always overseeing her work.

Partial Transcript: How do you recognize these pests? That started building my whole career. I did the research, but also, I felt like people needed to just even see what things looked like.

Segment Synopsis: Rosetta explains the importance of just being able to see and recognize what pests and plants looked like for those who worked in similar fields. She integrated this realization into her career. As the internet and digital cameras became more popular, she utilized them to easily and effectively capture and share findings in her research through her website. She gained a large audience through the media she provided and shared, evolving her regional reach to a national (and sometimes international) influence. Similarly, she describes how she used social media, such as twitter, to share photos of pests that could benefit so many others. Rosetta also shares an anecdote about a time she captured and shared photos on her website of the courtship ritual of limax maximus (leopard slugs). Rosetta concludes this segment by describing in depth some of the research she has conducted on limiting the amount of pesticides, as well as the lessons she has learned throughout her career.

Partial Transcript: That's amazing, such an wonderful story.

Segment Synopsis: Interviewer thanks Rosetta for sharing her wonderful experiences and recollections. Rosetta concludes by sharing with us some of her insight: it is not always the plan, as a lot of things might happen, but as long as you can cultivate a certain level of adaptability and keep the dream alive, you'll be able to refine the dream as you go. She emphasizes the importance of persistence and hopes that overtime, people can do what they like to do. Rosetta ends the interview by describing how magical OSU has been for her and her colleagues.