Rate My Professor Sara Olson

Sara K. Olson is an Associate Professor of Biology and Co-Chair of Biology at Pomona College, where she has served on the faculty since 2012. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, and a Bachelor of Arts from Lawrence University. Prior to her appointment at Pomona College, Olson completed an NIH IRACDA postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. Her areas of expertise include cell biology, developmental biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and glycobiology. Olson's research investigates the role of the extracellular matrix during fertilization, eggshell assembly, and formation of permeability barriers in early embryonic development, employing the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism. She utilizes fluorescence microscopy, biochemical approaches, molecular genetics, and CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing techniques to elucidate conserved and divergent features of these processes across species, with potential insights into mammalian embryogenesis and therapeutic targets for parasitic nematode infections prevalent in regions like Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia.

Olson has received numerous awards and grants recognizing her research and teaching excellence. These include the National Science Foundation CAREER Award (Award #1846563, $827,962, 2019-2024) for her project on remodeling the egg extracellular matrix at fertilization; NSF RCN-UBE grant (Award #2120417, $499,218, 2021-2026) for integrating CRISPR-Cas9 into undergraduate classrooms; Beckman Foundation Beckman Scholars Program grants as co-PI (2020-2023 and under review as finalist); and Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award ($51,370, 2014). At Pomona College, she was honored with the Wig Distinguished Professor Award for Excellence in Teaching (2015) and the 7C Claremont Colleges Faculty Diversity Award for Teaching (2018), along with internal research grants. Key publications encompass "Hierarchical assembly of the eggshell and permeability barrier in C. elegans" (Journal of Cell Biology, 198:731-748, 2012), "CBD-1 organizes two independent complexes required for eggshell vitelline layer formation and egg activation in C. elegans" (Developmental Biology, 442:288-300, 2018), "Loss of the seipin gene perturbs eggshell formation in C. elegans" (Development, 147:dev192997, 2020), "Caenorhabditis elegans early embryogenesis and vulval morphogenesis require chondroitin biosynthesis" (Nature, 423:439-443, 2003), and "Identification of novel chondroitin proteoglycans in C. elegans: Embryonic cell division depends on CPG-1 and CPG-2" (Journal of Cell Biology, 173:985-994, 2006). Through course-based undergraduate research experiences, collaborations with the Pomona College Academy for Youth Success program, and CRISPR workshops, Olson provides authentic research training to diverse students.