Anna Thomas and Daniel Hull

High School Apprentices

Is there anything that you have learned here in your research or maybe in communicating with others that you didn't think you could learn in a classroom?

A: “I've been keeping track, writing down what I'm doing every day in my notebook that they gave us. I wrote down the information that Claudia explained to us. I don't think I would have learned about this research anywhere else."

D: “I think classrooms focus on more of a global perspective, but the stuff here at Tyson is very focused on the Missouri ecosystem. So I like that.”

We see you both down at the labs shoveling dirt or we see you sorting through things or counting seeds, and even helping Luiza in the hoophouse; how do you guys stay motivated throughout the day?

D: “Sleeping at night! You just have to take it day by day because the work is really hard, just knowing that the end result is going to be something meaningful if you do it right. And in the short term, taking rides with Ivan in the Polaris! That's really a motivator: dig holes all day and you get to ride in the Polaris."

A: “And Reese’s. They give you a Reese's cup for every hole you fill and that's fantastic.”

Anna and Daniel worked with Scott Mangan and Claudia Stein's Natural Enemies team during summer 2018. Learn more about their plant-microbial communities research here.