Careers in Agriculture

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Svetlana’s work requires knowledge of agricultural
practices, laboratory practices, sampling techniques,
and environmental and analytical chemistry. She often
surprises her colleagues with her agricultural knowledge.
“One can think that, as a residue chemist, you only
need to know analytical chemistry,” Svetlana said. “And
yet, to be successful in my job I need to understand
the environment, including our natural resources and
wildlife,” Svetlana said. “Working in this discipline every
day, I design scientifically sound studies that help us
understand the behavior of organic compounds in the
environment. This includes conducting residue analysis
of complex plant, soil, water matrices, and developing
analytical methods and sampling techniques.”
While Svetlana Bondarenko was pursuing a graduate-level
degree, she found herself fascinated by residue chemistry.
“It is like looking for a grain of sand in an
Olympic-sized swimming pool,” Svetlana said. “The
particle of sand can even be masked, making it even
more difficult to find. By knowing different separation
and extraction techniques, and understanding gas and
liquid chromatography, spectrometry, mass spectrometry
and other different analytical methodology, I am able to
successfully seek and analyze microscopic residues.”
Svetlana has worked as chemist with Valent USA in
California for several years, recently achieving a
promotion as Manager of Residue Chemistry. She takes
pride in her work, knowing that she is using science to
protect the environment.
“As a residue chemist, I conduct field residue studies
to ensure the safety of agricultural products to people and
cross-functional disciplines, such as plant physiology or
the basics of agronomy.”
Relating her career to playing “different instruments
in an orchestra,” Svetlana enjoys the variety of her day-
to-day work. She works with various residue levels,
develops new analytical methods, designs residue
studies, and works with multiple departments at Valent.
Challenges in Svetlana’s work include working with
small sample sizes, avoiding sample contamination,
identifying unknown compounds, and developing new,
complex methods.
“More complex challenges often arise in this
profession, and range from the impact of weather on crop
residue studies to the impact of the political climate on
our study of the environment,” Svetlana said.
Because of these challenges, Svetlana recommends
this career path for anyone who enjoys solving puzzles,
learning about organic compounds, and loves agriculture
and the environment.
“I found my passion in solving intricate problems
through residue chemistry at Valent,” Svetlana said.
“Find your passion, and you will be successful.”
“Find your passion,
and you will be successful.”
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