Olivia Shaw

Undergraduate Fellow

Most days Olivia tries to keep a consistent schedule. She spends the first half of her day doing image analysis of the plant photographs from last summer. In the afternoon she takes to the outdoors to delve into the landscape near her to survey Plantago species.

Is it nice having a consistent schedule rather than the intense flexibility that being remote has provided?

“I was expecting a much more structured summer at Tyson, but now that everyone's at home, I was worried that I would either feel like I didn't have enough to do or I never knew what I should be spending my time on. However, the fact that we have clear tasks set out that complement each other, half inside, half outside, is good.”

What does a normal day surveying look like?

“I carry a clipboard, wear a Tyson t-shirt, and every meter I lean over and take notes on a new plant. Then, I get home, I put all that data into the spreadsheet.”

What's been your favorite day thus far?

“Last Friday I went out to survey with a grad student who works with Tyson. We drove to nine different parks in the St. Louis region. We started downtown and then gradually moved out to Ladue and we surveyed plants. I have a convertible, so the roof was off my car, the weather was sunny, and it was really fun!”

How will this fellowship translate into a career that you want in the future?

“Through this program, for the first time, I can see myself applying to PhD programs and trying to take that path in life. That's never been something that I've had the confidence to even think about as an option for myself, but now even though we're only a few weeks into the program, it has made me warm to the idea of different graduate programs or career options in the field.”

Olivia worked with Rachel Penczykowski’s Plant Disease team during summer 2020. Learn more about their host-pathogen coevolution research here.