From biologist to poet: Mosto takes a path less traveled

May 27, 2008

Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal for Pat Mosto, Rowan University's interim associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, to have her work published.

Her most recent endeavor, however, is a bit of change of direction for the biologist from Argentina. Her first book of poetry, Senderos de Anoranzas, which means "Paths of Longings," was published last fall and will be available in the United States this summer.

"I've been writing poetry since I was 13 years old," says Mosto, an experimental scientist who specializes in water quality and pollution. "I never submitted my poems anywhere because I didn't think they were good enough to publish."

When she finally let a colleague--Dr. Tony Robb, an expert in female Latin American writers--take a look, he convinced her otherwise. With Robb as editor, the two quickly found a publisher. Mosto enlisted another Rowan professor, Susan Bowman, to handle the design.

For Mosto, poetry is an escape, a chance to embrace another side of herself.

"I have hundreds of things published in biology, but this is a personal accomplishment," she says.  "This is  has nothing to do with biology. And I love it."