Olivia Asher (she/her) received her PhD at the Institute of Bioinformatics at the University of Georgia. Her research focused on fungi that live in 80 percent of land plants and can be used to promote plant growth. Olivia used DNA sequencing and high-performance computing to better characterize these fungi and their microbiomes. Olivia was also a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellow. As part of this fellowship, Olivia conducted research at Los Alamos National Laboratory on Mollicutes-Related Endobacteria and on optimizing enzymes for digesting plastics. In her free time, Olivia has taken on leadership roles in the Coalition of Athens Scientists, University of Georgia’s Graduate Pride organization, the Bioinformatics Graduate Student Association, and the Plant Center Spring Symposium Planning Committee. Public service is one of Olivia’s core values, and she regularly volunteers with local organizations including Science for Georgia, Campus Kitchen, Concrete Jungle, and Sandy Creek Nature Center.