Protecting Crops With Molecular Biology: Rebecca White’s passion for science brings her full circle back to agriculture
By Amy Wu
Rebecca White is the Chief Executive Officer of Pebble Labs Inc. a biotech company that has developed a technology to protect crops and livestock from pests and disease. The company based in Los Alamos, New Mexico produces the Directed Biotics™ Platform, a technology that uses molecular biology to create RNA molecules in crops and livestock that protect them from pests and disease. White, 42, is no stranger to agriculture.
She grew up on a family farm outside of Quail, Texas, a small farming community in the Texas Panhandle. White joined Pebble Labs Inc. in February 2020 as the Chief Technology Officer and was promoted to CEO in 2021 from Trait Biosciences. Growing up, White was always interested in science, but never imagined she would bring that passion full circle back to agriculture. However, as she has progressed in her career White has seen how important it is to improve the way we grow things, and how much science has to offer in terms of driving us to better solutions for feeding the planet. White comes with 15 years of experience working in leadership positions in bioscience and biotech companies including pioneering efforts to commercialize algae as an agricultural crop.
Prior to joining Pebble Labs, she served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Trait Biosciences a biotech research company focused on cannibinoids and hemp. She previously served as Vice President of Operations for Qualitas Health, Inc., makers of iwi®, a company that produces algae-based nutrition products. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of North Texas and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Texas A&M University.
In September 2022, she was named an Unreasonable Fellow as part of the Unreasonable Impact Americas Program. Unreasonable Impact is a global movement dedicated to scaling up growth-stage entrepreneurs operating at the nexus of advanced technology, global impact, and profit. Barclays and the team at Unreasonable co-founded this global initiative with one goal in mind — leverage capitalism as a tool to create a more just, sustainable, and equitable future. White is also a member of Chief, a networking membership only organization for women working at the “C” level. We recently caught up with White to learn more about her passion for working in the food ecosystem.
Q: Tell me about your company and product.
A: Pebble Labs is based in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and we have 26 employees. We are developing a novel, sustainable, and broadly applicable biological platform focused on plant and animal health for food production. Our technology, Directed Biotics™, delivers safe and effective biological solutions to sustainably protect crop yields and quality by targeting formidable pests and diseases. The key to our Directed Biotics™ technology is delivery: our microbes are precision engineered to provide RNA-based protection safely and effectively against the diseases and pests we are targeting. Our first Directed Biotics™ products are applications in agriculture, targeting food crops.
Q: Describe your current role as a founder? What is a typical day like?
A typical day for me is spent working with various teams in the company to push or work forward - that could be technical or scientific discussions, regulatory discussions, or financial discussions. Because we are an early stage start up, I also spend a fair amount of time talking with investors and other interested external parties.
Q: Does agriculture run in the family?
A: Agriculture runs in the family. I grew up on a farm where my grandparents farmed cotton, cattle, and peanuts, and my ️siblings and I are all involved in the ag industry, albeit in very different ways (my younger brother farms, and the rest of us are in services to the industry or science for the industry). I went off to school to study microbiology and have come full circle now applying microbiological principles to develop novel crop protection products.
Q: What problem does your innovation tackle and specifically how it provides a solution to farming challenges or a challenge?
A: Agriculture is the world's largest industry. It employs more than one billion people and generates over $1.3 trillion dollars’ worth of food annually. However, losses to diseases and pests in food production are substantial; globally, it’s estimated that up to 40% of crop yields are lost every year. These losses directly affect food security, farmer livelihoods and national economies, and inhibit our progress towards Zero Hunger – all of this is made worse by climate change. We believe the future of farming is climate responsible and sustainable, and that future will be driven by biologicals. Pebble is engineering microbes from the microbiome of crops to help make those crops disease and pest resistant, enhancing yields and quality. We partner with agribusinesses to develop and deploy our products; our first products target diseases potatoes, tomatoes, and soybeans using RNAi.
Q: What is one of the biggest challenges you faced when first starting the operation and how did you tackle them?
A: One of the biggest challenges any start up faces when developing novel technology is understanding the regulatory path and how to navigate it. In particular for Pebble, we are one of only a handful of companies using engineered microbes; we are working with others in the field and actively talking with the agencies and trusted partners (like CERSA) to make sure we are doing sound work with a constant focus on stewardship and good science.
Q: What are some of the milestones here that you’re most proud of? And why?
A: We are set to start our first field trial later in Q1, and I am so incredibly proud of all the work that has gotten us to this point.
Q: Being a founder is tough and I’ve compared it to climbing Everest. What keeps you going?
A: Lots of things in life are hard; running a company isn't in my top 3. Having said that, you must love what you do, and have a good perspective on what other things are important in your life and make sure you give those things time and attention. No company is worth your mental or physical health, your relationships, or the things that make you happy.
Q: Have you ever faced any hurdles anything challenges because you are a woman?
Inherent and unconscious bias is still a huge problem - mostly because it's unconscious and therefore people aren't aware of it. Rather than focus on the challenges or hurdles, I focus on helping others become aware of these biases, and how we can work together to address them. Black people and people of color are grossly underrepresented in farming and agriculture, and in agtech, and we need to change that. Women are as well, but in my experience that is a more obvious problem and one that is addressed more openly, especially through groups such as Women in Agribusiness and the USDA's Women in Agriculture Initiative.
Q: What would it take to get more young women into the “field?”
A: Funding, funding, funding. Startups run by men take in 82% of VC funds* even though companies led by women perform better in general*. Because we see so few women in leading roles in ag (and across all other industries), the inclination is to assume that a woman won't be good in that role – something called pattern matching.* We need more representation at funding organizations, and more of a concerted effort to get funds to founders who don't fit the typical mold to break the pattern. *Reference
Q: What advice would you give a girl or young woman who are interested in emulating you?
The best definition I've heard of the word "entrepreneur" is "to take into one's own hands.” Your life, your career is what you make of it - whether that's as a CEO at a company you founded, or as a scientist at a research institute, or as a farmer. Set your sights on something and then figure out how to make it happen and get to work.
Q: What can you be found doing when you’re not working at your company?
A: You can usually find me with my nose in a book. I love reading books of all kinds. I also love hiking or exploring the beautiful mountains and surrounding areas of New Mexico where I live, and the places I've had the privilege to visit.
Q: What is the latest book you read and why did you enjoy it?
A: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab – I love how the protagonist learns to make her mark on the world, despite her circumstances. It resonated with me because so often the work that I have done isn't big, or splashy, or well known, but if I look around at the people I've worked with or the areas I've worked in, I can see the fingerprints I've left behind.
Q: What is a quote that inspires you and why?
A: “Time is what we want most but what we use worst.” –William Penn
Time is our most precious resource, but we don't treat it that way. I try to be ruthless in determining what is worth my time and what isn't. Living a full and satisfying life simply comes down to how you spend your time.