Dr. Hyrum Gillespie received his PhD in Integrative Genetics and Genomics from the University of California, Davis. His PhD work focused on the pathology of Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium that infects a host of very important agricultural crops like grapevines, alfalfa, orange, peach, and olive trees. During his time at UC Davis, Hyrum received a fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF), was a Science Business Fellow through the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, and was a Science Communication Fellow. Overall, Hyrum focused on interdisciplinary training, and learning to convey difficult scientific information to the public. In fact, he and his team won an NSF competition for their animated work in this area. Hyrum took a job as the sole science teacher for 9-12th graders at Uintah River High School, a high school on the Ute Native American Reservation. Hyrum taught there for just over three years before moving nearby to Roosevelt Junior High School where he currently teaches 8th grade Integrated Science. Hyrum gets out of the classroom by coaching and refereeing soccer. He and his wife run the Hyasha Soccer camps and clinics in the area. He also enjoys teaching his kids sports and reading.
