Speaker 1 0:00 Jim: Hello and welcome back to Plantopia. Plantopia is the plant health podcast of the American Phytopathological Society. And I'm the host of Plantopia Jim Bradeen. I'm a professor of plant pathology and associate vice president at Colorado State University. Today we are chatting with Evelyn Platner Heidt, who goes by the name Evie. And Evie is currently a master's student in both plant pathology and entomology, Iowa State University, where she works on plant health challenges in mung bean. Along with her co advisors, professors, Darren Muller and Matthew O'Neill. before pursuing her Master's Abby earned her BS degree in agronomy, also from Iowa State University, and Abby has extensive professional experiences that have included working in a commercial greenhouse in plant diagnostics for Teva, and as a research technician. Last year, Abby published her first peer reviewed article in plant health progress, Journal of the American phytopathological society. And Evie is also very actively involved in leadership in our discipline. She is currently the president of the plant pathology graduate student organization at ISU and is actively engaged in women in agriculture in artificial intelligence also at ISU, and we'll talk about that role in just a few moments from 2020 to 2022. And he served as president of the soil and water conservation club at ISU and is a tutor for women in science and engineering. And he also has a connection with the World Food Prize, which we'll elaborate on in a moment. And as made several professional presentations at national and regional conferences. Finally, Evie has a long list of honors and awards that really underscore for academic and leadership impacts. And today we're going to talk with Evie about her passions, goals and impact. Evie, eelcome to Plantopia. Speaker 2 2:16 Evelyn: I thank you, Dr. Bredeen for that great introduction. It's so great for me to be here today. I'm quite excited about this. You know, it's a little surreal for me, I have listened to Plantopia since you know, 2021. And it's kind of a staple for me now. So it's quite exciting for me to be on here. Speaker 1 2:32 Jim: Oh, that's great. Great to know. We are recording that right. So everyone, everyone heard that. So now we are delighted to have you here. So thanks for taking time. I'm interested in you and your background. Could you tell us where you grew up? Speaker 2 2:49 Evelyn: Yes. So I grew up in Des Moines and I went to a Des Moines school just on the outside suburb. And in my high school. It was it was a moderately sized we had around 200 students. However, I was one of the only students in my graduating class that went into something agriculture related. Later on, we had one more student go into agriculture communications, but I was the only one who decided to do something that's related to crops. And I think that that is super exciting. I obviously went to Iowa State for my undergraduate degree in agronomy. And now I'm here and my master's degree for Plant Pathology and entomology. Speaker 1 3:22 Jim: Great, so did you actually grow up on a farm? Or do you have an ag background? Speaker 2 3:29 Evelyn: I do not actually know. So I grew up in a suburb urban area. My grandfather did farm so I knew what a farm was. And I've been on a farm before however, I hadn't had any experience, actually farming or growing crops. So that's why some people are so impressed. I'm in agriculture, because not a lot of people go into agronomy, specifically, which is what I did my undergrad in without much farming background. So no, in fact, I am suburb girl. Speaker 1 3:59 Jim: So I need to know what the motivation is. So how did you discover agronomy or the plant scientists more broadly? Speaker 2 4:06 Evelyn: Yeah, for sure. So to kind of get the full scope of things I'll have to hop back to when I was in high school. So I worked in a greenhouse for three years while I was there. And you know, having your first high school job, you kind of get the jobs that people don't really want, who've been working there for a while. So one of those jobs at a greenhouse was pruning, and I got to spend all my time around plants, you know, we'd get these big shipments of geraniums and begonia is from Florida and when we get them here, they'd be covered in detritus. So it's my job to kind of strip away all the parts of the plant, make it look nice for people to want to buy. While I was also in high school, I was involved with the World Food Prize and kind of got first hand experience in food insecurity in Iowa and also abroad. So that those two together they kind of meshed into well, agronomy would be a really great fit for me because I get to work with plants and I get to work with diseases which were Two of my favorite things from working at the greenhouse. But then I also get to work with food security and food stability, which is a super important thing to me, as someone who did grew up in a school from Des Moines, a lot of the friends that I did have ended up being food insecure. So it's hard for me to watch that growing up. And I wanted to kind of do something to help our next generation not have to suffer as much as people do now. But it all that kind of came together. But it started with some moldy geraniums and begonias back into Moines. Speaker 1 5:32 Jim: That's wonderful. You mentioned World Food Prize, tell me a bit more about what you did with the World Food Prize and how long that lasted are still ongoing. Speaker 2 5:41 Evelyn: Back in high school, my gifted and talented teacher kind of urged me to get involved with the World Food Prize, which was something that was happening in Des Moines, its headquarters in Des Moines. So not that far, it's just a stone's throw from me. As a high school, I was able to write papers and do research through the World Food Prize to learn more about food insecurity. And then I was later invited to global meetings that were held in Des Moines every year annually that had leaders from all over the world to talk about food sustainability, and how we can get to that next level with people not only in US alone, but also different countries. So it's a really great program that is able to connect high schoolers with global leaders and kind of encourage an investment from high schools into food sustainability, agricultural sciences, and so on with EU policymaking as well. Speaker 1 6:36 Jim: It's wonderful, the World Food Prize really is an extremely impactful event A in a whole series of opportunities for for really lifelong training. So glad to know that that has been such a key part and getting you where you're at today. Before we started recording, you mentioned, your your love for plants extends beyond the research that you're doing. You said you have a few house plants. Speaker 2 7:03 Evelyn: A few might be a bit of an understatement. While while working at that greenhouse in Des Moines, I fell in love with houseplants and landscaping. So in one of the rooms in my house, my husband, I don't know how he feels about it, but it's full of plants. So I've got 43 different species of plants in that room. I've got multiples of those species too. So it's just like a full jungle you know, you walk in, it's kind of humid, it smells great. And kind of relax in my little corner and get some homework taken care of or start writing. But ya know, houseplants and gardening, my favorite thing to do. I know that's very stereotypical for a plant pathologist and agriculturalists. But I think I take it to the next level Speaker 1 7:48 JIm: And that passion really comes through in that that is really something to admire. So you earned your degree in agronomy. And now you're doing a master's in plant physiology, and entomology is that you describe that as a dual degree. Are you receiving two masters? Or how does that work? Speaker 2 8:07 Evelyn: Yeah, for sure. So this is something kind of new to Iowa State University. I'm one of the first students to be completing this route. But in this degree, I will get a, I take all of the plant pathology courses, and I take all of the entomology courses. And then I've got a project which is working on mung beans as an emergent crop in Iowa. And then out of that I have an entomology component and a plant pathology component that will kind of come together relate to each other. When that I can then write about, get my thesis out, and I will end up with a co degree or dual degree. So I'll have both an entomology degree and a pathology degree. They won't necessarily be separate, you know, diplomas themselves, but it will be combined degree where I did take all the classes and I did complete the projects for both degrees, Speaker 1 8:51 Jim: you're going to be a very broadly trained scientist. What do you see as some of the professional advantages of doing a stool degree? Speaker 2 8:59 Evelyn: Sometimes I think people forget how closely related and topology and pathology can be because on good handful of plant diseases are vectored by insects. So in order to really understand that intimate relationship between those diseases, and plants, you have to understand the vector itself. So I think that this gives me a really unique advantage point where I'm able to understand, you know, the ecology, the makeup and community of different insect vectors, and then how they relate back to pathogens. It's also allowed me to network both in the APS and the ESA. So I'm involved in both of these organizations. And I also get to interact with grad students on both levels and professors on both levels, which I absolutely love all of them in both in my degree kind of disciplines. Speaker 1 9:48 Jim: It strikes me that your approach and your philosophy here really aligns with what a grower experiences. I mean, if you're a farmer or a gardener or a nursery person if there's some been damaging your your layouts, the distinction between disease and insect pest is somewhat arbitrary from the perspective of dealing with the problem itself. So it seems like your training gives you that that breadth that allows, you have to deal with problems in a very real world context. Speaker 2 10:22 Evelyn: It does. And I'm so grateful for that. I always say that farmers wear many hats, you know, they have to be, they have to be a plant, or they have to be a pathologist and an entomologist, and an economist and so many different things at the same time. So with both of these degrees, it allows me to begin to start to relate to that complex relationship that's going on between all those different disciplines. And then farming. Speaker 1 10:46 Jim: That was one of the first students to go through this dual program, though, I'm sure there are some bumps as well, what are some of the challenges that you're running into to, to really be in two different disciplines? Speaker 2 11:00 Evelyn: For sure. So I absolutely love taking all of the classes. But oh, boy, sometimes does it start to kind of get crazy. So classes sometimes are offered and only certain years and certain semesters just so the professors are able to teach multiple courses at the same time, or multiple courses within their teaching ability. So sometimes I get really loaded up in the spring on like, I'm taking three pathology courses and an entomology course on top of that, when normal students might be just taking that entomology course. So that's definitely been a little bit of a struggle. But I honestly thrive with challenges and I love to learn. So it's kind of been refreshing for me in a way where I'm able to constantly keep busy and also have different different study material where I can learn a lot about entomology and then relate it back to pathology, because there is a lot of over crossing remarks and all of these classes that I am taking. So it's it's quite nice to you know, learn about maybe this vector in an entomology class and then walk into a pathology class, and oh, wow, we're talking about that disease. So it's been great. Sure, there is a lot to kind of balance and juggle at the same time, but I think it'll be worth it in the end, for sure. Speaker 1 12:18 Jim: So one other challenge that you've certainly it's impacted your master's I think, also your undergrad degree, that that was the COVID pandemic, that was another pretty big challenge that you faced, what was that like as a student to to deal with a pandemic and your own personal advancement? Oh, man, Speaker 2 12:39 Evelyn: ya know, for sure. So I started my undergraduate degree and 2019 back fall. So if you remember the timeline, that next semester, my spring semester, COVID hits, so I only got one semester of in person classes and like, networking opportunities in my first year of undergrad, which was honestly kind of devastating for me, I mean, all your life, you're told by pop culture, your parents, family and friends that like college will be the best part of your life, so you better enjoy it. Like I reminisce about my college days all the time, you know, we get those comments. And then my generation and I guess I, my heart goes out to the high schoolers who missed their senior year, but those few years of students, you know, we didn't, we didn't get that same experience. And let me tell you, it is so much more complex in I guess, just different altogether to be sitting in class with all of your classmates, and a little block on Zoom, and your professor just kind of droning on because there's no classroom participation, everybody's cameras are off. It's just not the same. I mean, we obviously did the best that we could with what we were given at the time. But man, it was just really, really hard to make that transition of going to class and getting to meet people in person. And then all of a sudden, you're sitting in your room by yourself watching this camera, and like taking frantic notes, but I was lucky enough to have met some really stellar people that first semester, and I was able to continue to at least have some connection, but it did impact my mental health a ton not to be able to be involved, I guess, to the point that I was hoping to be classes were also certainly quite hard. I mean, I had to take some biology classes that were supposed to be laboratory based biology classes on the computers. So you can imagine how different it is to dissect a pig on the computer when you're supposed to be dissecting it in real life. It's not you know, tap click drag the mouse it should there's a lot more to that type of stuff. So it definitely you had to adapt and change your learning styles in order to kind of succeed in the pandemic year, but that followed me throughout my entire undergrad and just recently, they said pandemic is over, I saw that announcement from the government. But I had to do my entire undergrad through the pandemic and the first year of my master's degree through it. And it was just it was isolating, to be completely honest with you. So it's nice now that we're able to once again meet in person in, go through classes and actually get to network with people get to know them more than just screen to screen level. But no, it definitely was a huge challenge for me, my peers, and the people below me coming into this degree to Speaker 1 15:35 Jim: I appreciate you talking so frankly, about that. And you're really take to heart your comment about the impact on mental health, certainly, but also the way you learn really needing to adapt to new modalities. The same is true on the instructor side, as well as figuring out how to really utilize technology effectively. When you think about the pandemic, and how are our teaching and learning changed in that period? Are there aspects that you think really have that are better now than than before? Speaker 2 16:10 Evelyn: One of the things that I've certainly noticed is that we've been able to add more technology based applications into our learning here as students, especially at Iowa State University, no longer will bad weather technically cancel or all classes we're able to now hold them on Zoom professors are more open to meeting on Zoom, which opens up different timing availabilities, especially for people who have jobs or non traditional students who may also be living at home or taking care of a family now that they been more open to zoom, we're able to connect easier with professors also with our classmates online. It's it's been a really nice change in pace. And I do really think that it has helped a good majority of students this change. So I do think that there was some great things to come out of it. Speaker 1 17:01 Jim: Yeah, thank you so much for your perspective on that it definitely difficult period to get through and hopefully we are more resilient and better able to face what what comes next. I went out and pivot now talk a little bit about your your master's research. And you've mentioned mung bean a couple of times, and I've had mung beans, routes, I think on the salad bar before, but I really don't know very much about their crops. So could we start there? Could you tell us what mung beans are and how important they are to Iowa or the US? Speaker 2 17:34 Evelyn: Yeah, certainly. So yeah, I get so excited when somebody says that they've had mung beans before. A lot of people have actually eaten mung bean and they're not even aware of it. So that makes me super happy to hear. So mung beans are a legume. They're kind of similar to soybean in looks, they have the same stature, their leaves are just a little bit bigger, more broader, a little more lime green. But the biggest difference between mung bean and soybean just physically is soybeans produced pods along the center stem. While mung beans this is super cool, we'll produce their pods above the canopy and like like a hand or a star like shape, and those pods are a lot more elongated. The scenes are a little bit smaller and they're green. But the big, big difference, I guess, in general, from soybean and mung bean, is that mung bean is a direct human food crop while soybean is used for oils that can be used for feed. Um, it does show up in food sometimes, but mung bean doesn't have that application mung bean has grown majority in the US for direct consumption. So if you've ever had like an Impossible Burger, or like a plant based meat alternative, you've probably eaten mung bean. If you've had vegan eggs, you've probably eaten mung bean. Like you said, mung bean sprouts microgreens have become a huge thing here in the US. So most of them happen to be mung beans. So there is a lot of Hmong beef consumption going on in the US right now. People just might not necessarily be aware of that. Speaker 1 19:08 Jim: Can you give us a sense of how big of a how important of a crop mung beans is in in Iowa? Speaker 2 19:13 Evelyn: Yes, so there's no acres currently being grown in Iowa and commercial use of mung bean. However, it's pretty big in Oklahoma. There's also some spots in Canada and Kansas, but the main growers of mung bean are in Southeast Asia in southern Asia. So it's a very big cultural food for these areas. It's something that is traditionally found in a lot of cuisine over there and other dishes. So we are trying to start that here in the US. Just because mung bean is a lot more drought tolerant than soybean is so with a changing climate that a lot of farmers are starting to experience. We don't have to put up irrigators or we will be able to plant maybe mung bean instead of soy given in those areas, just due to its ability to be more okay with less rain Speaker 1 20:05 Jim: than your master's research focuses on managing both disease and insert problems and mung bean, what, what are some of those challenges that we're seeing in in Iowa or in the US? Speaker 2 20:18 Evelyn: For sure. So there has not been a ton of research done on mung bean diseases and mung bean insect pests, so we're kind of in that exploratory disease and insect community analysis stage. Right now we're determining what it is text feed on mung beans, how severe those could be, and then ways to control those if they happen to appear in outbreak years. For diseases, we're also kind of taking the same approach where we're figuring out what is on mung bean, what could potentially be destructive and serious on mung bean, and then ways that we can go about managing these diseases. So just this year, we have found a few first reports in quotations, just diseases that have shown up on soybean before but I've been to also show up on mung bean are determining how severe those are going to be on our mung bean cultivars. And then kind of making recommendations, maybe spraying different planting dates such and such to kind of manage those diseases. Kind of a fun side story is I had three locations of mung beans in central Iowa this year. And one of them had almost a 50 to 75% mortality rate in one of those fields because of rhizoctonia. So we did not but seed treatment on mung bean just because that's what we had not planned to do for our project where we were testing frogeye and septoria. rates on mung beans. But turns out that rhizoctonia this year, the conditions must have been great. It was in a perfect spot. I mean, the soil was Sandy, it was on a slope. rhizoctonia was like, let's go. So you don't really know what's going to happen. Sometimes with mung beans just because of how new it is to this area. That's not something that we kind of foresaw. It's a lot different having to walk into your PI's office and be like, hey, guess what, a lot of my mung beans are dead, but we have a new disease, we can now study in this field. So it's been great. It's not for everybody, but it's definitely for me, that's for sure. Speaker 1 22:20 Jim: Yeah, and that's called biology is sometimes those those chance encounters that really influenced our understanding of and often the direction of our research. I'm curious for commercial growers in the US are there what are the disease management opportunities? Are there many pesticides that are approved for use mung bean, for example? Speaker 2 22:44 Evelyn: For sure, so we don't have a lot right now that have mung beans specifically listed, we do have some ones digna, which is the genus that can also include urbaine, and beans related to that. So there are some that are labeled, but not a ton. So labels can be changed. And that's what we're trying to do is understand, I guess, more the interaction between the different sprays, which ones are going to control these diseases more and which ones that we might recommend in the future if mung bean does become a big crop in the US, because that's very true. I mean, you're not going to be able to grow anything without any I mean, with no insecticide or fungicide that's able to be legally sprayed on it. So that's something that we're working with is just determining what we could use to control these populations. And again, mung bean is not huge in Iowa yet, this is more of a distance thing. But that's, that's kind of our scope. And what we're wanting to do is to encourage people to invest in mung bean and in order for people to want to invest in mung bean, we have to guarantee ways to have some solid crop protection. Yeah, and Speaker 1 23:50 Jim: What about the genetic diversity? That crop? Are there many varieties? Are there any that are bred specifically for US production? Speaker 2 23:58 Evelyn: Yeah, so there are a lot on the mung bean breeders here at Iowa State University have so many different plots, that they're working on different cultivars that they're trying to develop. I work with two cultivars, two of the ones that are commercially grown here in the US, Oklahoma 2000. And Burke, and these were both produced from Oklahoma State University, I believe, and put out until like two decades ago now, so there's a lot to be done with mung bean. And there's a lot of genetic variability. Now. It's just figuring out which ones have the better trades, which ones we can put together and what makes the best varieties sometimes I do feel though, that disease and insect traits sometimes get overlooked just for yield value. So it's very nice for me to be able to be working on this and to have mung bean breeders on the committee's Hi could be like, Hey, I think you know, rhizoctonia is going to be a really big problem for mung bean in the future. It's not for soybean, but it's going to really be for mung bean. So what are What are our options for this? I just want you to be aware, is this is it something for breeding? Or is it something for us to manage type thing. So it's been exciting, to say the least. Speaker 1 25:12 Jim: Yeah, and to work in a period of time where the climate is so variable and you'll see one disease pressure, one insect pest in one season and not the next, that's maybe going to be a lot more common. So it's great that you've got that you're doing this work at this point before it is a major crop. But also that you've got that genetic diversity that you can can really test and utilize at this point. I'm gonna ask that crystal ball question now. So if you're, you're looking ahead 1020 25 years from now what what is mung bean production look like in the US? Speaker 2 25:51 Evelyn: I definitely think there is a huge application for mung bean, especially in areas that are currently growing soybean because mung bean is harvested, it is planted, stored and sprayed with the same exact equipment that you use for mung beans. So the switch I mean for the Jews for soybean. So the switch from soybean to bung bean is super convenient for farmers. So I do hope to see that in the future. We there the market is developing, we have an elevator in Oklahoma, that does take mung beans, we're hoping to expand that to different places across the US because if nobody takes them, nobody's going to plant them. So that's kind of where I see our biggest roadblock right now. There's also a lot to be done with developing management programs for mung bean. That includes insect disease planting recommendations. I mean, we do have this research, a lot of it is out of other countries. So there are different climates. I mean, climate varies between these regions. I'm mean, something that might work for China or might work for India might not work for a Nebraskan farmer or an Iowan farmers. So kind of fine tuning these management programs to fit the region that we're in the climate that we're in is going to be very important in these upcoming years. Speaker 1 27:07 Jim: It's exciting. Well, we'll touch base again in 10, or 15 or 20 years and see really, but it does sound like a really promising crop. And the work you're doing is really incredibly exciting. I want to mention, too, that you you published your I think your first peer reviewed article in 2022. This was published in plant health progress, screening, mung bean accessions, for susceptibility to soybean, fungal diseases and iOS. And we'll include a link to that article on the plant topia, podcast.org landing page for this episode to know in other aspects of agriculture that you've been involved in is, is through women in agriculture and AI, artificial intelligence. What is women in agriculture in AI? Speaker 2 28:01 Evelyn: Yes, so this was a group that was started by Dr. Artie Singh. So she's also on my committee. She is an amazing mung bean breeder. But this group focuses on bringing in underrepresented communities into agriculture, and then also showing them the application of technology and how this could be a really like innovative path for students. So like the name says, It's Women in Ag and AI. So it's mainly directed towards people who present themselves as female. However, we do have a very wide, wide span of people that we do connect with, we have been to some elementary schools to talk to students about like, look, corn is so cool that like look at the drone that we can use to like fly over and determine what diseases could be out there. We also have this little rover that can like drive through the soybean plants and identify insects that are sitting on there. I mean, you should see these kids as eyes light up when you show them this technology. So I personally think that this is a very important aspect of universities because as a student that came from a very urban area, I didn't have any sort of interaction with agriculture as a student. I mean, I knew what a farm was, I lived in Iowa. So I've seen corn before. But I had never really knew how important it is and how many different disciplines can like intertwine with agriculture. So as a student that did experience that I love being a part of this where I get to talk to the next generation. I mean, how cool is that I get to help influence what students might be interested in in, hopefully steer them towards agriculture and technology, because that is going to be a huge frontier here. Speaker 1 29:37 Jim: And so you're teaching you've taught to guess it several different levels, the university level, but what you're talking about here really is to children the K 12 space, how do you adapt your teaching approaches to be accessible for these very different audiences? Speaker 2 29:56 Evelyn: For sure, so I have been a TA for multiple classes here at Iowa State University, that stuff gets very technical, you know, these students are at high levels. So to go from very technical classes about plant physiology, and how plants work to working with fourth, fifth sixth graders who this may be one of their first time seeing like a soybean is challenging, but very rewarding these students, I mean, they're smarter than people give them credit for a lot of the times, they're teaching me some things, which is so cool. I love it when that happens. But you do have to alter your style. So they stay engaged. And I think that's sometimes the hardest thing for people in my area is going from talking about these very high complex in like developed ideas and bring it down to a level that a student is going to understand or that might interest the kid. So instead of talking about, you know, like, all these complex relationships between corn and insects, you got to be like, Oh, what do you think a this leave? Oh, it was a grasshopper. That's so cool, isn't it now. So it's just, it's a lot, a lot different. But kids, they're smarter than we give them credit for, they catch on to a lot more. And they ask some really, really deep questions. So it's been great. I love love working with younger students. Speaker 1 31:16 Jim: Wonderful. It sounds like a very, very impactful program. Well, you're you're midstream, I guess, in your master's degree. And clearly, you're very passionate for plant health, whether we're talking insect pests or diseases, where do you see your career going to? Where do you want your career to go? Speaker 2 31:37 Evelyn: For sure. So I do have two loves both of them. Plant Pathology, the other one, entomology diagnostics has been a huge part of my life. Since my undergraduate degree, I've been involved in a lot of diagnostic clinics for plant diseases. And I hope to be a part of that, again, in the future, especially now with the knowledge that I do have, I can bring in insect diagnostics as well. I also use a lot in my mung bean research, you know, outside in the field, it's like, Oh, what is this, let's bring it back to the lab and figure out. So I hope to somehow be involved in that again, in the future, I also do not want to lose my insect background that I have. So I'm really hoping to find a job that kind of marries both of these maybe in some sort of IPM role. I love working with students. So I'm hoping that that kind of shapes into maybe extension in the future. Speaker 1 32:24 Jim: I'm sure of one thing, you've got a very bright career of head of you and your passion, your breadth of trainee is going to serve you and our profession in the world really, really well. You mentioned involvement in APS, as well as ESA, first of all, for our listeners, APS, the American phytopathological Society, which is the International Society for plant biology, and ESA, as the entomological Society of America. So really the insect counterparts to to EPF. Would you elaborate a little bit on what your involvement then and why you think these professional organizations have been important in your own development? Speaker 2 33:05 Evelyn: For sure. So I have just gotten back for I guess, a few months ago from the north central and south of Western Branch meeting for the ESA, where I was able to do a 10 minute oral presentation on mung bean insect pests and maybe what to expect in the future. So it has connected me to a whole bunch of professionals that are like, you know, I haven't really heard of mung bean before, would you be able to kind of talk to me more about it. So it's been great for networking. For me. I also for the APS had done a poster presentation when it was online for COVID. So that looks a lot different than it will now. And I will be here again at the National APS meeting in Denver here coming up. So just the ability to present my research to a bunch of different scholars and researchers and also people from industry has been highly impactful. And then it's also been really, really great to have access to the different publications that the APS puts out many a time have I referred to a compendium, especially in my diagnostic background. So that has been super influential in my I guess, career path. And I really hope to continue to attend these meetings because I have gotten so much out of them, especially just from getting to collaborate with different people getting to meet different graduate students and so on. As the I am the president of the plant pathology GSO here at Iowa State University, and we've been able to reach out to different universities through the APS to kind of connect to their DSOs as well. So kind of having the ATS help us bridge that it's been it's been great. We've been doing it to the North Central Division. So it's awesome that they're able to help facilitate those bonds and then we get to know people and students from different states. And then when we're at those meetings, you can be like oh my goodness, I know you this is this is great that we get to see each other years. So it's been great. Speaker 1 35:02 Jim: Exciting. Yeah. And I think throughout your entire career, you'll find that these organizations that networking, that support that, that our professional societies provide really can be a very important aspect. Not only as a student but but really, as you continue to grow as a scientist throughout your career. So Abby, my last question for you is, what advice do you have for other students or folks that are interested in plant pathology or etymology or maybe working in both fields? Speaker 2 35:35 Evelyn: For sure, my biggest thing is to say, yes, there are so many great opportunities that are going to come up to you. And you might be a little hesitant because they might kind of be daunting. But sometimes those challenging experiences are the ones that you're going to value the most when you're done. So certainly, don't discount yourself. Be sure to take those opportunities when they come up. I always say I'm an opportunist. If something kind of falls into my lap, of course, I'm going to take it. So I want people to also do the same for them because there are some really great outcomes out there. Speaker 1 36:08 Jim: Really excellent advice. This has been a really fun conversation. Thank you so much for being on Plantopia. Unknown Speaker 36:14 Evelyn: Thank you so much for having me. This has been great. Speaker 1 36:17 We just had a conversation with Evelyn Plattner Heidt. Evie is a master's student at Iowa State University studying both plant biology and entomology in a dual degree program. I'm Jim Bradeed, the host of Plantopia. Thanks so much for listening, and we will talk to you next time.