Carro wasn’t born into agriculture; she grew up in New York City, about as far from the farm as you can get. Her passion for agriculture grew through involvement with Sigma Alpha, a professional agricultural sorority at UD. She considers the sorority’s advisor, Pat Barber, a retired associate professor and former associate dean of Cooperative Extension, as a mentor.

Another of Carro’s mentors is Lesa (Griffiths) Massarotti, a professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, who taught Carro’s very first class at UD.

“For somebody like me who came in and didn't really understand how the University platform worked, having Lesa as an instructor and a mentor was invaluable,” Carro said. “She empowered me to identify my own career path.” 

In the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Carro also developed a passion for laboratory work.

“The opportunity to work in a lab, which I don’t think I would have had at other universities as an undergraduate, really helped me make the decision to move into a master’s program,” Carro said. “I didn’t have people in my immediate circle who understood bachelor’s versus master’s versus doctoral programs, so it was really nice to get that exposure so early on.”

That hands-on experience led Carro to pursue a master’s degree at UD after mentor Bill Saylor, UD professor emeritus, planted the idea in her mind.

“I remember Professor Saylor saying to me, ‘If you’re interested in research, you could go to graduate school,’ which wasn't even on my radar until he encouraged it,” Carro said.

During her graduate studies, Carro worked with scientists at DuPont, under Saylor’s guidance. The work informed her graduate thesis.

Carro developed an interest in environmental toxicology, the study of how toxins impact organisms in the environment. She worked for the U.S. Government, completing avian risk assessments at a Superfund site, a location contaminated with hazardous materials and requiring a long-term response.

“Those projects taught me, really fast, how important it is to collaborate in science,” Carro said. “There's not much that can be achieved without working across disciplines.”

Collaboration is key to Carro’s role as director of global regulatory sciences at FMC Corporation. FMC provides internships to Blue Hens, employs many UD alumni and supports University of Delaware Ag Day. At FMC, Carro oversees a team of 50 scientists, including experts in computational modeling, metabolism and residue chemistry, environmental fate chemistry, toxicology and other fields.

“The purpose of the team is to support FMC’s portfolio of plant protection products across both our synthetic chemistry and our plant health platforms to enable authorities like the Environmental Protection Agency to support decisions of safety to humans and safety to the environment,” she said. “That allows us to obtain registrations for our products.”

Her team’s research supports the FMC portfolio, including products registered in nearly 140 countries.

Carro values an interdisciplinary approach to solutions. She says having a growth mindset and being willing to collaborate are keys to success.

“When I was an ecotoxicologist, I couldn’t complete my responsibilities without understanding what’s happening in the environment, in exposure simulations and across risk assessment,” Carro said. “Everything we do as scientists is interdisciplinary.”

Carro sees her work aligning with the CANR mission to feed the world and protect the planet. She points out that although the human population is growing, farmland is a finite resource.

“To manage that, we need industries like the one I'm in to be creative and sustainable, and to be good stewards,” Carro said. “That’s what I find rewarding about the role that I’m in now.”

Carro feels lucky to have had great mentors and wants to offer those same opportunities to women and underrepresented communities in STEM. She participates in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and, through FMC’s outreach efforts, volunteers at career day events and mentorship programs.

The STEM fields have a profound impact on every aspect of our lives, and increasing diversity in STEM can lead to further scientific innovation. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that diverse teams lead to more effective problem-solving. Perhaps the first step in building those diverse teams, Carro said, is to support the success of first-generation college students, 50% of whom are students of color.