Adnan Shaik
High School Apprentice
“One of the main things I’ve noticed so far is that the attitude of the general science community here at Tyson is much lighter than I expected. They’re all normal people. Scientists are humans too.”
For a kid that grew up uninterested in ecology, Adnan’s experience here at Tyson is, as he puts it, ‘a complete 180 turn’.
“Going out to Shaw last year, I actually enjoyed what I was doing. The observation part was the best. We would observe ants responding to different variables like cheese and sugar, which was really cool. There’s so much that goes on around us without us knowing. Now I’m here at Tyson, and it’s great.”
Adnan is headed into his junior year of high school so time is on his side as far as figuring out what he wants to do. In the meantime, he’s still working out how to keep up with the more experienced hikers here at Tyson, which although he’s an athlete, will likely take some time.
“One of my favorite moments was when Katie Westby, our postdoc, was leading us through the woods to find a tree hole where you could get mosquitoes. I’m a kickboxer, cross-country runner, and I play volleyball but she destroyed me the way she was going through the trees. I was a good five minutes behind her!”