Doctor Serova was a Hekaran scientist and warp field theorist who believed that the use of high warp drive was damaging the fabric of subspace in specific areas around her homeworld.
She convinced her brother, Rabal, that there was truth in her theories, but their report submitted to the Federation Science Council was dismissed for lacking conclusive evidence. Strong-willed and driven, she was deeply invested in her work, to the degree that she was ready to break the law and risk innocent lives to prove her point.
Growing impatient, and unwilling to wait for proper research to be conducted, she eventually mined the Hekaras Corridor with warp-disabling verteron probes. After attempting to plead her case to Captain Jean-Luc Picard and those aboard the USS Enterprise, and finding no success, Serova was further enraged. This culminated in her suicide by causing a warp core breach of her ship in the Hekaras Corridor, resulting in the formation of a dangerous subspace rift.
Ultimately, the Federation imposed a speed limit for its vessels in that specific area until the limitations could be overcome. However, the rift that Serova had created could not be closed and it began to have negative effects on her homeworld, the very thing she had sought to prevent through her research and actions. (TNG: "Force of Nature")