Hale is the Principal Investigator of the GREAT project. A molecular biologist by training, she has worked for the John Innes Centre, CIMMYT, and the University of East Anglia, School of International Development. Hale joined International Programs, Cornell University in 2012 to manage the NEXTGEN Cassava project, for which she developed the NEXTGEN Cassava “Gender-Responsive Cassava Breeding” initiative to capture needs, priorities and challenges women and men face in cassava production, to prioritize gendered traits in breeding program design and implementation. Her current research focus is linking qualitative cassava trait descriptors with breeding and food science variables on station. For the GREAT Theme 1 course, she is presenting sessions on types of gender responsive research, gender responsive research questions and participatory research methods.