Congratulations to PhD candidate Olivia Asher for being selected for the 2026 American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) and Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) Public Policy Fellowship! This fellowship gives early-career scientists hands-on experience in science policy in Washington, D.C. Well done, Olivia! Read more here.
Olivia Asher has been accepted into UGA’s GradLEAD leadership development program for graduate students. GradLEAD supports emerging leaders through training in communication, teamwork, and career readiness. Congratulations on this exciting achievement!
Olivia Asher is part of the 2025 Diplomacy for Scientists Cohort. The program is a partnership between NSPN and the Meridian International Center. Over six-weeks, these rising leaders will strengthen their diplomatic skills and explore how to bridge science and international engagement. The program culminates in an immersive, in-person experience in Washington, D.C., where science meets global policy in action!
Olivia Asher was featured by Science Machines for her exciting research on how fungi and microbes help plants get essential nutrients—work that could lead to more sustainable agriculture. Her research is supported by the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship and conducted through UGA’s Institute of Bioinformatics! Way to go, Olivia!
Olivia Asher won the Institute of Bioinformatics 3MT Slide Design Award (April 2025)! Her clear, creative, and effective slide design stood out in this year’s competition—great work! Way to go!
Kudos to Olivia Asher, recipient of the Institute of Bioinformatics Community Builder Award (April 2025). This award recognizes her outstanding contributions to building connection and community within the IOB. Well deserved, Olivia!
Olivia Asher is one of four students from the University of Georgia Graduate School selected to attend the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering workshop. The CASE workshop provides students an opportunity to learn about science policy and to engage with their elected officials on Capitol Hill. This year’s workshop will be held April 6-9, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Congratulations Olivia!
Olivia Asher was an author on a recently published paper in mSphere titled “Signatures of Mollicutes-related endobacteria in publicly available Mucoromycota genomes". Congratulations, Olivia!
Congratulations to Ben Long for receiving Top Graduate Student Poster at the 2022 Plant Center Retreat in December 2022,
a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG), and a Plant Center Metabolomics Mini-Grant! Well done, Ben!