Rachel Olive

I am a recent graduate in microbiology from California State University, Chico, with a bachelor's degree. I am engaging in post-baccalaureate research at CSU Chico while applying to Chico's Biological Sciences master's program. I've always had an interest in the intersection of lab science and field science. I graduated from CSU Chico with my bachelor's degree in Microbiology in the fall of 2025. During my undergraduate studies, I received extensive exposure to various fields of science through all my classes. I learned valuable lab skills, how to collect samples in the field, how to culture bacteria, and how to understand research papers. In the spring of 2025, I took hematology, and I knew that was the field that I wanted to pursue.

For the last year, I have had the privilege of working on a deer malaria project in the laboratory of Dr. Nicole Kilian at California State University, Chico. I joined the project under the guidance of another student and eventually took it over upon that student's subsequent graduation. In this research, I have been able to refine my laboratory skills and engage in field work, collecting samples and analyzing them in the lab.

Now that I have graduated with my Bachelor's I am looking to utilize this data to provide the groundwork for a master's thesis, should I be accepted to Chico's master's program in the fall. I believe that this project has the potential to reveal so much about the hemoparasitic activity in white-tailed deer residing in the Shenandoah Valley.

January 2026