Claudia Stein

Visiting Scholar

Claudia grew up in a baker’s family without any idea that a career in science was even possible. So right after getting out of school she completed a three-year apprenticeship as an industrial clerk. A life spent in the office never really appealed to her though, so one day she set out from her small German town to Berlin.

“Honestly, I was just curious to see something else and experience life in a big city. My best friend and I moved to Berlin and I just tried out different things. One idea was to start a career in environmental management or environmental law, so I signed up at the Freie Universität Berlin. One requirement to complete the degree was to take botany and ecology classes, and that is how I landed in a class on chemical ecology. From the first lab session I was hooked. I learned about how plants defend themselves against herbivores by emitting volatiles that attract the predators of the herbivores. And I learned how to perform experiments to test my ideas.”

This is Claudia’s seventh summer at Tyson working with Scott Mangan on their plant-soil microbial interaction projects. Now, she splits her time between Tyson and Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama where she works as an assistant professor. However, that isn’t her only job, she also has a 4-year old daughter who also happens to be a great lab and field assistant from time to time.

“She loves to come to work with me, especially when we come out to Tyson. She doesn’t just want to sit around – she wants to help with the research. I am amazed by how many details she remembers. For example, last summer we filtered some soil extracts in the lab. After returning to Tyson this summer she got all excited when she saw the equipment again and said, ‘Oh, I used that to filter!’”

Do you have any advice to any budding ecologists?

“Most people are very young when they start college and it is difficult to know what you want to do with your life and career. My recommendation is to take the time to explore and try different things out. Longer programs and internships such as the Tyson summer program offer great opportunities to experience what the day-to-day life of an environmental scientist looks like. Making those experiences will help you realize whether you like a job or you don’t like it. It might also open your eyes to new opportunities that you did not even consider before.”

Claudia was a lead mentor for Scott Mangan's Natural Enemies team during summer 2019. Learn more about her ecosystem function research here.