One of Dr. Crystal Johnson's Ph.D. advisors managed to master having a research –intensive lab and an outreach-intensive lab, taking on nearly every student who showed interest. What Crystal learned from this was: (1) it's possible and, (2) it's good for you to make research important to regular people. "He also took on a lot of minority students and that always impressed me," says Crystal. "In fact, I nominated him for an award."

Crystal grew up in a small town in Mississippi, not having any idea what a scientist was supposed to look like or what it meant to work in a lab. She also likes to tell people that she was not a straight A student, but was excited about doing research and was a hard worker. "You don't have to be a 4.0 student and don't have to go to private high school," she says. "You can go to public high school and do fine."

Crystal was told she would never get a Ph.D. – which of course just lit a fire under her, and made her work that much harder. Her experience frames her approach today. "When I interview potential graduate or high school students I don't just look at their grades," she says. "I interview them personally to see if they have that fire."

Sharon Walker, Ph.D., COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico Principal Investigator COSEE's role in Crystal's outreach efforts