Tyra Olsen: Black History Month Campaign Story

CBC Continues to celebrate Black History Month by sharing stories of our students.

Tyra Olsen is a second-semester sophomore double majoring in Chemistry and Political Science! She is currently in the Ultrafast Nonlinear Spectroscopy Group led by Dr. Vanessa Huxter, where their primary focus is understanding the underlying mechanisms of photoredox catalysis. Since joining, Tyra has contributed to the preparation of organic dye samples to study their differences in absorption, emission, and excitation spectrums. 
When asked why the U of A, Tyra replied, “I chose the U of A to not only stay close to family but also to take advantage of the university's extensive research programs and opportunities that will be an asset in my chosen career path!” After graduation, she intends to get a PhD and work as a career FBI agent/forensic chemist. Tyra has always loved detective and crime shows, and science has always been one of her passions, so she hopes to be able to fuse the two together. Down the line, Tyra says, she would love to work in government as a senator and/or President and bring a firsthand scientific perspective to American politics!

“My mother, Dr. Dara Norman, will forever be my main inspiration. As one of the very few black women in Astronomy, she has pushed the limits of what I thought were ever possible and shown me not only the value of science but what black scientists bring to the table as well. I hope that I will follow in her example and create progressive changes in the scientific field because - to quote Maya Angelou - "Nothing will work if [we] don't." `Tyra Olsen