Q&A with Dr. Diane Ragone

September 29, 2025

By Jon Letman

In November, NTBG will present the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration for 2024 to Dr. Diane Ragone, founder and director emerita of NTBG’s Breadfruit Institute for her contributions to science, horticulture, exploration, and the study and conservation of breadfruit. 

Diane Ragone has devoted more than four decades of her life to the collection, documentation, conservation, and use of breadfruit for food and reforestation throughout the Pacific and around the world. After earning multiple degrees in horticulture, Diane began conducting field work centered on breadfruit, first in Samoa in 1985, and later in more than 50 Pacific Islands.

After joining NTBG in 1989, Diane held various positions including director of science, horticulture, and conservation. Her passion for conserving breadfruit varieties and the associated traditional knowledge fueled her collection and research, leading to the establishment of NTBG’s Breadfruit Institute in 2003. 

Under Diane’s leadership, NTBG curates and manages the largest and most diverse breadfruit conservation collection in the world. Her work has contributed to countless projects and collaborations around the world, helping increase understanding, interest, and commitment to this vital tropical tree crop like no one else.

Speaking from her office on Kaua‘i, Diane Ragone took time out to talk about how she began her singular career and what she is most proud of today. Her comments were edited for length and clarity.

Before coming to Hawai‘i in 1979, where did you live and what did you study?

Diane Ragone: I grew up in Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in horticulture.

Did you always want to study plants?

I thought I was going to be an English major when I went to college but in my senior year of high school I took a botany class and I just loved it. I thought it was fascinating and that’s when I decided to study plant sciences in college.

Was your first job out of college at NTBG?

No. After college I worked in various jobs in horticulture around the country, including Hawai‘i. Then I went to Australia for a year and when I came back to the USA, I decided to do a master’s degree and study horticulture at the University of Hawai‘i.

What do you recall from your first field trip in the Pacific?

When I started my work in the 1980s, I went around Honolulu and was shocked at how many breadfruit trees were being cut down. Then in 1985, when I first went to Samoa and transited in Pago Pago riding to the hotel at night, even in the dark I could see that breadfruit was the dominant tree. I was like, ‘I’m not in Kansas anymore!’ This is a breadfruit culture, and that was revelatory.

Did you immediately know you were going to focus your career on breadfruit?

It was gradual. My responsibility as a graduate researcher in Samoa was not breadfruit. I was doing other projects for a crop scientist but then I was able to start collecting breadfruit, learning how to do fieldwork, how to collect and document. Then, with a grant from NTBG, I was able to collect in the Cook Islands, Tokelau, and Tonga. As I collected more and more, I thought this is something I was going to keep doing.

How were you able to accelerate this work in the beginning?

I attended a meeting of directors of agriculture from around the Pacific — it was eleven countries, maybe more — and I presented my work. They all said that if I ever came to their country, they would help me collect. 

When you look back at your career, is there one thing that really stands out that you are most proud of?

I would say it’s NTBG’s breadfruit collection. Putting this collection together — actually doing the collecting and all the people in the region who I was able to work with and who helped me and got excited about this. After working with me, people told me, ‘I see this in a different way now.’ They got inspired to go and collect local breadfruit varieties and establish their own collections. Being able to conserve and collect so many of these varieties and see so many people I work with in the region and elsewhere re-engage with breadfruit. I think that is the most fulfilling thing for me.

You’ve stepped away from the daily operations of the Breadfruit Institute. What are you doing now?

I’m organizing and synthesizing 40 years of written archives and images and I’m writing a book. That’s my main focus, but I’m still involved in some of the outreach, tree distribution, and other aspects of our work.

Can you give us a hint about your forthcoming book?

The working title is The Book of Breadfruit: Ethnobotany, Conservation, and Diversity of a Legendary Pacific Crop which will be beautifully illustrated with numerous photographs. It will weave my story of exploration and discovery into the larger narrative of breadfruit.

Great. Thank you for talking with us.

It’s a tremendous honor to receive this medal and I am grateful to all of the people who helped make it possible.

Learn more about Dr. Diane Ragone’s work and the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration here.