Biology and Wildlife 

I enjoy spending my time outside of the classroom ice climbing and mountaineering. My research interests include Onehealth, Carbon Cycling and Mercury Cycling. Students have described Olson as attentive, inclusive, and kind while working with students in the classroom.   

I am broadly interested in the role of microorganisms in the environment and how environmental changes alter the structure and function of microbial communities. My research addresses questions related to the responses of microbial populations, communities, and ecosystems to changes in their environment. Specifically, I ask questions related to how the supply and diversity of resources alters the composition and function of communities, and how the traits and species interactions link structure and function. To answer these questions, I use a mixture of field, lab, bioinformatics, and theoretical approaches. 

Photo Credit: JR Ancheta