Being an industrial scientist has both positive and negative sides. Jim Hayward, who later founded Applied DNA Systems, noted both plusses and minuses to his time working at Estée Lauder. He noted that the science gets done quickly — the pressure of a product development timeline can be salutary in some ways — but in the end, he decided that he “could do more with that science outside of Lauder than I could at Lauder.” He left for his own company, the Collaborative Group.
Plants need nitrogen to grow, but a significant portion of the nitrogen in fertilizers is not absorbed by the soil or used by the growing plants. Rather, it washes away into waterways, rivers, and the ocean. This in turn has had devastating effects on marine life. In some areas, excessive nitrogen in the oceans has caused algae blooms that kill wildlife, make it dangerous for people to consume fish or shellfish or in some cases even swim in affected waters. This problem isn’t limited to poorer countries. Nitrogen pollution is a serious problem here on Long Island. In our case, the nitrogen comes primarily from septic tanks and cesspools, although nitrogen from agricultural fertilizers also plays a role. Nitrogen pollution in the waters around Long Island has hampered fishing, made it dangerous to eat seafood from some areas, and caused environmental changes that make coastal areas more prone to flooding.