{"605450":{"#nid":"605450","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Will Overholt: Ph.D. in Bioinformatics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWill A. Overholt spent the first 11 years of his life in Kenya, one of the malaria hotspots of the world, rife with mosquitoes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen he was eight he heard a rumor that pinching the skin around the area where a mosquito was biting would make the mosquito explode. So, he tested his hypothesis. After enduring several hundred bites (without taking malaria prophylaxis), he concluded the rumor was false. He couldn\u0026rsquo;t make a single mosquito blow up.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOverholt had always been curious about the natural world. Growing up in Kenya allowed him to go on countless safaris and spend many nights camping in the wild, immersed in nature. At age five, he voraciously memorized field guide books to identify the birds of Kenya.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis curiosity drew Overholt to\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fsu.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EFlorida State University\u003C\/a\u003E, where he graduated with a B.S. in Biology; to Malawi, where he taught mathematics and science as a member of the Peace Corps; and then to Georgia Tech, where he is graduating with a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bioinformatics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EPh.D. in Bioinformatics\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe chose Tech for two reasons. First, he had realized that to specialize in microbial ecology he would have to learn bioinformatics, a field upon which microbial ecology increasingly relied. Second, he had started working in the lab of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/joel-kostka\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJoel Kostka\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;at Florida State on manipulating bacteria to assist in uranium containment at a nuclear waste site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I was hooked,\u0026rdquo; Overholt says, \u0026ldquo;During my last two years as an undergraduate, I spent much of my free time in the lab.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen Kostka transferred to Tech in 2012, Overholt followed. That was two years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Overholt was drawn to a project to investigate the ecological consequences and fate of the oil discharged in the Gulf.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Overholt heads to Germany to continue studying nature, memories from teaching in Malawi \u0026ndash; far from running water and electricity \u0026ndash; stay vivid. He remembers staying up late one night, struggling under weak candle light to finish grading exams. It had been a trying day, and he felt he was failing in his goal to teach students to apply knowledge to solve a problem.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs he prepared for bed, he heard a knock on his door. It was a student, excitedly waving a piece of paper covered with scribbles. The student had continued working on the problem through the night, finally solved it, and couldn\u0026rsquo;t wait to tell the teacher.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I was as exuberant as he was,\u0026rdquo; Overholt says. \u0026ldquo;In that moment I felt the reward of teaching, the joy of seeing the spark of understanding shining in another\u0026rsquo;s eye.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the most important thing you learned at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI gained a better understanding of the scientific process, which has encouraged me to continue working in science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has exceeded my expectations, from state-of-the-art courses to the excellent guidance and support from my thesis adviser, committee members, faculty, postdocs, and fellow students. It has been wonderful to be a part of this supportive and collegial community. Everyone has gone out of their way to help when I have encountered problems in my classes and my research.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech has exceeded my expectations, from state-of-the-art courses to the excellent guidance and support from my thesis adviser, committee members, faculty, postdocs, and fellow students.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are your proudest achievements at Georgia Tech? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMy proudest moment was right after I defended my dissertation. The outpouring of congratulations and support from friends and colleagues was humbling.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA very close second was when I heard back from a journal that my first first-author publication was accepted!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhich professors or classes made a big impact on you? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca name=\u0022_Hlk511044054\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/joel-kostka\u0022\u003EJoel Kostka\u003C\/a\u003E, my advisor, has been an incredible mentor. His guidance, advice, and help on my research were boundless. His background and experience in biogeochemistry and microbiology provided the foundation for my work.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt hasn\u0026rsquo;t just been professional though. His guidance on health, happiness, fulfillment, and handling stress has been invaluable. He has encouraged, supported, and challenged me at every step. I am fortunate to have worked so closely with him all these years.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn my first year, I took two bioinformatics courses with \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/king-jordan\u0022\u003EKing Jordan\u003C\/a\u003E. I\u0026rsquo;ve never learned so much in such a short time. Jordan and his students always helped me when I was stuck. Jordan went above and beyond his professional duties to support me through unexpected challenges, for which I am extremely grateful.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your most vivid memory of Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe times I spent at my desk talking with my lab mates and advisor about various topics \u0026ndash; cultural differences, politics, newest scientific findings, successes, failures, etc.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI also have fond memories of spending time with other students at biology social hours and the Cherry Emerson coffee hour.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did Georgia Tech transform your life?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has shaped me personally and professionally. I\u0026rsquo;ve learned to keep working when nothing seems to be working. I\u0026rsquo;ve made connections with colleagues and friends that will last for life. I\u0026rsquo;ve been inspired by science and comforted by the knowledge that the skills I\u0026rsquo;ve learned will help make the world a better and more understandable place.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat unique learning activities did you undertake?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI participated on four oceanic expeditions in the Gulf of Mexico, collecting samples of seafloor sediments. These trips were exhausting as we tried to collect as many samples and conduct as many experiments as possible. I regularly pulled 36-hour shifts and took only catnaps between multicore deployments, sleeping only while we motored from one location to the next. What was great about these trips was the close contacts with others and how we pulled together during stressful times.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat advice would you give to incoming graduate students at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETake time for yourself outside of Georgia Tech. It is easy to be overwhelmed while trying to balance classes, research, and teaching. Having a hobby and making free time for myself was critical to my mental health.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany resources are available to students \u0026ndash; intermural sports, clubs and student-run organizations, amazing health care at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/health.gatech.edu\/home\u0022\u003EStamps Health Services\u003C\/a\u003E, and mental health resources. Reach out to faculty or other students for guidance or help.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDo not lose sight of the big picture. It is easy to get bogged down on small details. Spend a few hours a week to put efforts into perspective. Focus your time on high-priority projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERecognize that graduate school is a long process. It\u0026rsquo;s okay to feel as if nothing is working. I\u0026rsquo;ve learned as much from failed experiments as from those that succeeded.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere are you headed after graduation? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u0026rsquo;m starting a postdoctoral research position at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.uni-jena.de\/en\/start.html\u0022\u003EFriedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany\u003C\/a\u003E. I\u0026rsquo;ll be part of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aquadiva.uni-jena.de\/\u0022\u003EAquaDiva collaborative research center\u003C\/a\u003E under \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.geomicrobiology.de\/Group+Members\/Kirsten+K%C3%BCsel.html\u0022\u003EKirsten K\u0026uuml;sel\u003C\/a\u003E, studying microorganisms in the terrestrial subsurface and their roles in governing carbon transformations and flow within aquifers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech provided the qualifications I needed to be a strong candidate for this position. I\u0026rsquo;m so excited to move overseas to experience a new scientific culture and to transition to new research questions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Having lived and worked in Kenya, Malawi, and the U.S., this globe trotter now heads to Germany "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, Will Overholt was part of a supportive and collegial community, with everyone going out of their way to help.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Will Overholt is receiving a Ph.D. degree from Georgia Tech\u2019s interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Bioinformatics"}],"uid":"34651","created_gmt":"2018-04-24 15:56:40","changed_gmt":"2018-04-24 19:12:07","author":"mrosten3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-05-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-05-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"605315":{"id":"605315","type":"image","title":"Will Overholt","body":null,"created":"1524164023","gmt_created":"2018-04-19 18:53:43","changed":"1524164031","gmt_changed":"2018-04-19 18:53:51","alt":"","file":{"fid":"230793","name":"2018 Overholt_Will.tall250.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2018%20Overholt_Will.tall250.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2018%20Overholt_Will.tall250.png","mime":"image\/png","size":132811,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2018%20Overholt_Will.tall250.png?itok=ioHTY0E5"}}},"media_ids":["605315"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"170147","name":"Will Overholt"},{"id":"177773","name":"Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Bioinformatics"},{"id":"20131","name":"Joel Kostka"},{"id":"5268","name":"King Jordan"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi, Ph.D\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}