Below you will find our Spring 2024 Newsletter Spotlights for our Graduate Students!
YUANXING LIAO-GRADUATE STUDENT
1. Tell us a little about yourself.
a. When do you graduate?
b. What motivated you to come to UK’s department of biology?
c. Where are you from?
I came to University of Kentucky the fall of 2021 and plan to graduate in 2026. I came to UK’s department of biology to pursue my passion for evolutionary biology research and for understanding the processes underlying the diversity of life. I am from Nanchang (南昌), China, a city with exciting histories and rich cultures.
2. Do you have any mentors or professors who significantly impacted your life in biology?
Yes, he was my undergraduate mentor in University of Toronto, Canada, where I did my undergraduate study. His name is Dr. Luke Mahler. His course of Herpetology was very intriguing and sparked my interest of doing research on reptiles. He also introduced me to a volunteer job in the Herpetology department of Royal Ontario Museum, in which I learned so much about museum collections, ecological and evolutionary research. For those, I am forever grateful.
3. Describe your journey here in the department so far.
a. What are you most proud or excited about?
b. How did you overcome challenges that you may have faced?
What I am most excited about is always what’s to come in the future. The journey and the research here have granted me a new perspective on the natural world. I am therefore always excited about going to the fieldworks in the future, learning about animals and plants I may encounter, and sharing my journey with my family and my dearest friends.
A lot of my research requires the usage of various computer programs with specific command languages, and the challenges have been to make sure they behave the way I intended them to behave. The way I overcome them is the simple trial-and-error method. I would keep trying different solutions until I found the right ones.
4. What are you currently researching?
a. Who’s lab are you working in?
b. What do you hope to gain from it?
I am working in Dr. Phillip Skipwith’s lab and I am hoping to gain knowledge and experience while I am here. Simply, I want to be good at my research and want to develop a mind that is able to ask interesting questions.
5. What could you have benefitted from in the department that you feel you were missing? For example, if the department could provide you with an additional resource to better your training here, what would it be?
So far, I couldn’t think of anything
6. Describe any highlights or memorable moments here in the department.
Honestly, being asked to be the graduate student spotlight in the newsletter is definitely one of the moments that I could blatantly brag about to my friends.
7. Who do you look up to and why?
I look up to the people that are around me, not only the professors I know or the scientists I read about, but also my friends and people I met along the way. Every one of them has qualities that I can learn from and has talents I can only dream of.
8. How do you spend your free time?
I like hiking, playing video games and reading books.
9. What are your plans after graduating? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
I wish to continue to do research after I graduate, and I wish I could become a professor in the future. I sometimes see myself in the lab, talking with my colleagues or my students about our research and our lives.
10. If you could give advice to an undergraduate biology student, what would that be?
Learn as much as you can. Enjoy as much as you can.
11. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I would choose Chinese food.
12. If you could meet one famous person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Actually, I could not think of a famous person I particularly wish to meet.
13. If you could share one statement about your experience as a UK Biology graduate student so far, what would it be?
I really like it here.
14. Is there another question we could be asking in an interview like this?
What is one of your favorite organism? One of my favorite is Capybara. They make me laugh.
SHEA CARR-GRADUATE STUDENT
1. Tell us a little about yourself.
a. When do you graduate?
I will graduate next month!
b. What motivated you to come to UK’s department of biology?
I completed my undergraduate degree at UK in Animal Science with a Biology minor. I really enjoyed my undergraduate research experience here and felt like it would be a great fit for me as a graduate student.
c. Where are you from?
I’m from a small town in northern Kentucky called Verona.
2. Do you have any mentors or professors who significantly impacted your life in biology?
Jacquie Burke and Dr. Jennifer Osterhage have both been great supporters for me. Jacquie has helped me through some pretty big hurdles throughout graduate school and is just a wonderful person. Jennifer took me on as her first graduate student when my previous advisor left the university and has been a really great mentor! I’m very thankful for both of them.
3. Describe your journey here in the department so far.
I started in the program as a MS student in Fall 2018 but after realizing how much I liked teaching and research, decided to change my degree path to PhD. I have TA’d a variety of courses throughout my time here but have really enjoyed teaching BIO 303 with Dr. Linnen and BIO 350.
a. What are you most proud or excited about?
I’m the most proud/excited about the fact that I just passed my defense and secured a tenure track position starting this fall!
b. How did you overcome challenges that you may have faced?
I’ve had some pretty serious challenges both professionally and personally throughout
graduate school. To overcome these things, I’ve had to learn how to advocate for myself and seek support from the department.
4. What are you currently researching?
a. Who’s lab are you working in?
My research focuses on understanding student motivation within the context of online learning. I work under Dr. Osterhage in the Biology Learning and Motivation (BLAM) Lab.
b. What do you hope to gain from it?
I’ve gained a lot from this research! I’ve gained skills in quantitative and qualitative
research with humans and a better understanding of everything that goes into designing and delivering effective courses.
5. What could you have benefitted from in the department that you feel you were missing? For example, if the department could provide you with an additional resource to better your training here, what would it be?
I think the main thing I would’ve benefitted from was a course on teaching/pedagogy in STEM. I believe Dr. Osterhage is planning to teach a seminar on this which will help fill this gap.
6. Describe any highlights or memorable moments here in the department.
I’d have to say the biggest highlight was passing my defense! My advisor brought me back
into the room and re-introduced me to everyone as Dr. Carr, then brought out some cake to celebrate.
7. Who do you look up to and why?
Definitely Dr. Osterhage, she is a great educator, mentor, and researcher.
8. How do you spend your free time?
I spend my free time hanging out with my husband Daniel and our pets!
9. What are your plans after graduating? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
This summer I plan to take a little time to relax before starting my job as a tenure-track assistant professor of biology at Centre College this fall. Over the next 5-10 years I hope to mentor many undergraduate researchers there, gain tenure, and adopt more dogs :)
10. If you could give advice to an undergraduate biology student, what would that be?
My advice for undergraduate students is to pursue what makes you happy. Life is too short
to be unhappy with your work! And whatever you choose to do, be sure to carve out a work/life balance.
11. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Thai food!
12. If you could meet one famous person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Steve Irwin. I grew up absolutely loving him and I feel like he would be so fun to have a conversation with. The world lost him way too soon!
13. If you could share one statement about your experience as a UK Biology graduate student so far, what would it be?
It has been a long road, but I believe it was a journey worth taking. I’ve met so many wonderful people along the way and gained valuable experiences both in and out of the lab.
14. Is there another question we could be asking in an interview like this?
I can’t think of anything else!