By Miranda La Rose
Guyanese Canadian livestock specialist Dr James Wilson Smith, well-known as Dr Jimmy Smith, was admitted to the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) to pursue the certificate course in farm sciences with the objective of taking over the management of his father’s farm in the Berbice River. However, seeing young agricultural scientists while at the GSA in Mon Repos, made him want to pursue that path, so he did.
“I saw people who were young with bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the time at the Central Agricultural Station now NAREI [National Agricultural, Research and Extension Institute] and I wanted to be like them. GSA was next door to the agri station. The dorm I was in was an annexe to the main dormitory and it was in the compound of the agri station. Every day as I went to classes or to the dining hall, I passed the beautiful houses of these young agri scientists who had just come back with their degrees from the University of the West Indies. Some older guys like Dr B K Rai and Dr Ramdhin were there. Some taught at GSA so I met them there. They changed my orientation from whatever I was going to do,” Smith told Stabroek Weekend from his home in Maryland, USA. Smith is the director for International Programs in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland.