Dr. Jose Barbosa answers audience questions at the third annual Spotlight on Faculty Excellence celebration in the University Center Auditorium. Photo by Noah Camacho.
Dr. Jose M. Barbosa, professor in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science, was recognized at the Spotlight on Faculty Excellence series on Thursday, April 4, in the University Center Auditorium.
The annual event, sponsored by the UTC College of Arts and Sciences and the CAS Access and Inclusive Excellence Committee, honors outstanding faculty members in the college.
Barbosa presented a lecture about his career mentoring students through his research projects investigating the biochemical and metabolic response of plants and yeast to environmental stresses.
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Pam Riggs-Gelasco and Associate Dean Nikolasa Tejero introduced Barbosa.
“There is a saying in Chinese philosophy that says if you want to plan for one year, plant rice,” Barbosa said at the beginning of his speech. “If you want to plan for 10 years, plant trees. If you want to plan for over 100 years, plant people and educate the children. I hope to live by that standard.”
Dr. Jose Barbosa and members of the ANGELS camp work in the Teaching and Learning Garden near Holt Hall during the summer of 2023. Photo by Angela Foster.
Barbosa, who hails from Cape Verde in West Africa, began his collegiate journey after receiving a scholarship to study agronomy at the Central University “Marta Abreu” of Las Villas in Santa Clara, Cuba.
His main goal, he said, was to understand plant physiology and how plants produce in stressful environments such as a water shortage.
“I come from a country where drought is a big problem,” Barbosa said prior to the event. “I was always interested in how I could contribute to food production, how to overcome the harsh environment in terms of rain that you get and how to increase food production.”
He worked with tropical food crops like sugarcane and bananas and, after graduating, brought his studies to the National Institute of Agricultural Research and Development—where he worked as a research agronomist.
In 1994, Barbosa received a scholarship to Auburn University for his master’s in agronomy and plant physiology and a doctoral degree in plant sciences.
After completing his Ph.D., he continued his stay at Auburn University as a postdoctoral research fellow, extending his time there to 12 years.
Some of his research consisted of developing technology to detect Bacilli spores (the infectious particle that causes anthrax) and other bacterial pathogens.
“Before I came here,” he said, “I worked with a consortium of about 30 different scientists working on aspects related to the anthrax issue, all using my molecular background.
“That group of scientists was so amazing. While I was there, I got the opportunity to come to Chattanooga. The rest is history.”
Barbosa joined the UTC faculty in August 2007 and has taught classes such as genetics, cell biology and plant physiology.
If you have seen the L.L. Roper Teaching and Learning Garden behind Holt Hall (formerly behind Engel Stadium), you’ve seen a passion project of Barbosa’s.
“When I came to Chattanooga, I was motivated by what I had seen by a professor at Auburn. He had something similar to the urban garden that I have here,” Barbosa said.
Though he came to UTC with the intention of starting a garden, it was 2016 before he secured a piece of land.
Since then, the garden has provided a place for students across multiple disciplines to learn about gardening while helping the community.
“Everything we produce here in the garden goes to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen,” Barbosa said. “Giving the students the opportunity to get involved in that process, I have seen the difference it has made.
“Seeing it actually produced by our own students, it’s quite remarkable.”
Jose Barbosa stands in the greenhouse near Holt Hall. Photo by Angela Foster.
Teaching in the garden allows Barbosa to educate his students about the increasing importance of urban gardening, especially in a city where food insecurity exists.
“We live in an area that is highly affected by what’s considered to be a food desert,” he said. “There are areas in Chattanooga that the only access people have in that vicinity is some convenience store in the corner of the block.”
In the near future, he said, it is expected that urban gardening may contribute a large percentage of the fresh fruits and vegetables people consume.
“That’s why I believe that the more people you teach to produce their own food, it may actually help contribute to better food security,” he said.
In addition to understanding the importance of sustainable food practices, Barbosa’s students are provided with a therapeutic escape while in his class.
“It has been proven that gardening activity helps to alleviate stress,” he said. “Last semester, I had a student tell me, ‘Every week, I look forward to coming to this class because this is a stress release. When I come here, I feel different. All that stress I have goes away.’”
Not only do his students get hands-on learning in the garden, but they do in the lab as well.
Many students Barbosa has trained in the lab have continued their education by pursuing doctoral degrees.
“They were my students,” he said, “but someday they’ll be my colleagues. You want to maintain a great human relationship with those people because they will be the ones that one day will determine what I do. They will be my doctors, my nutritionist. They will be the ones deciding how I live my life.
“I want the best people to take care of me. So I feel that it’s my responsibility to prepare the best people.”
The lecture followed with a video tribute featuring past and present students of Barbosa’s thanking him for his contributions to their studies and lives, along with a Q&A session and reception.
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