Professor leaves UA to fight bioterrorism

Written by Jessica Lee
Photo: Will Seberger/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Reprinted with permission, April 7, 2004

In four months, Don Bourque will close the door to his research lab, pack up his violin and string bass and leave for Washington, D.C., to help combat biological terrorism.

A biochemistry and molecular biophysics professor and string bass player in the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Bourque will be a scientific adviser at the Office of Proliferation Threat Reduction in the State Department’s Bureau of Nonproliferation.

Bourque has been named a William C. Foster Fellows Visiting Faculty Scholar, a one-year position. The program recruits half a dozen scientists from universities every year to help the State Department with its mission of U.S. arms control.

With top-secret clearance, Bourque will bring his biological and chemical knowledge to the department to combat existing or developing weapons of mass destruction programs. Bourque says he may travel to the former Soviet Union.
“(The program’s) goal is to have on site, for a while, people in the sciences from established universities with established careers in science that can advise (the State Department) on matters,” Bourque said.

Bourque said he became interested in germ warfare after reading the book “GERMS: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War,” given to him by Tom Ervin, a music professor.

“There is a long section of this book about what we’ve learned about biological weapons in the former Soviet Union,” Bourque said. “The book was interesting, scary and important. I was intrigued by it.”

One month later, Bourque received a department e-mail that announced the William C. Foster Fellows Visiting Faculty Scholar program was looking for individuals with expertise in biochemical sciences, agriculture-related sciences and pesticides.

“I felt, ‘Gee, I can do that,’” Bourque said.

Bourque thought he was interviewing for a quiet desk job in Washington, D.C., yet he found out the job could entail traveling to potentially dangerous countries on the other side of the planet and meeting with scientists who are involved in making biological and chemical weapons, such as anthrax, sarin gas and plant viruses.

Part of Bourque’s job involves “redirecting” scientists who have been involved in biological weapons manufacturing into more peaceful occupations.

“I will actually be sent to these places where they live, help them bolster their own economies, local scientific infrastructure and scientific development,” Bourque said.

While Bourque said there are approximately 50,000 scientists from the former Soviet Union who worked on weapons research, he would not be surprised to end up in other parts of the world.

“I’ll be going … places where they haven’t had much done in them. Maybe the places that are farther away from Moscow, places like Iraq and Libya,” Bourque said. Bourque describes these places as “the good, bad and the dangerous.”

Scientists could be redirected into areas such as microorganism research, treating diseases and biotechnology applications of all types, Bourque said.

Bourque’s appointment will reflect on his department and the UA.

“It is always an honor when one of our faculty (is) chosen to do something like this,” said Thomas Baldwin, biochemistry and molecular biophysics department head.

Some of Bourque’s biochemistry students did not know the details of his new job.

“That’s awesome,” said Scott Cheney, a molecular and cellular biology senior. “I had no idea he was so politically motivated.”

While Bourque’s extensive biochemical background will aid his new mission, his musical experience will also come into play.

“Don is a real humanist,” Baldwin said. “He is a very fine scientist, but he is also a humanist. He is a musician and will relate to musicians. That makes him more suited for this type of job.”

Susan Franano, the executive director of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, agrees.

“Performance at the level of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra also demands extraordinary abilities to think and function on many levels at once, to be very flexible and, of course, to be able to perform under a lot of pressure,” Franano said.

Bourque, who makes $85,490 per year, will take a leave of absence from the UA. He will be paid by the State Department.

Accompanying him to Washington is his soon-to-be wife, Susan Knowlton, whom he will marry Saturday.

While Bourque will miss out on a year of teaching and research, which involves protein synthesis and genetic engineering in plants, he feels he is fulfilling a duty.

“I am doing this because I think this is an important problem for humanity — that in fact, anyone who can help to solve these problems should,” Bourque said. “Because if you’re still alive in 10 years, or I am still alive in 10 years, it could in fact have some relationship to what I do or don’t do on this job.”