MS Student Defended

Shiwani Sapkota defended her MS on Callery pear

Remember Shiwani? Sure you do. Those last 2 years went REALLY fast, in part owing to the pandemic. All things considered, Shiwani's project was not an easy one to start with.

Shiwani's MS dealt with molecular analyses of the invasive Callery pear, Pyrus calleryana. She started from the high note in August 2019. Her accomplishments are many, starting with the UT Student-Faculty Research Award in October 2019, poster presentation at a National Conference 5 months after joining the lab - at USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species, Annapolis, MA January 2020, and first paper from her MS Thesis published as Feature Paper for Special Issue of Life - Biological Invasions and Biodiversity. Shiwani is preparing the second (better yet!) paper from her MS thesis, and slowly closing her part of the project.

I am very pleased to share that following her Exit Seminar a week ago (Zoom shot below and at Dr. David Coyle's Twitter), student Shiwani Sapkota defended her thesis. Shiwani is wrapping up the thesis submission, to graduate later this semester.

I could not wish for a better first MS student to advise, and certainly hope that the skillset Shiwani developed in the lab will bring her to a successful career in the future.