Happy plants burst from the corner while bright red fish swim peacefully in their tank. Outside her office, Misha Boyd, undergraduate adviser at the Odum School of Ecology, has put two feeders that attract a variety of bird species that advisees help her identify. For Boyd, this is all part of her unique and wildly successful advising strategy.
“Being in this position has been such a fantastic experience,” said Boyd, who became an academic adviser in 2001. “I meet curious, scared, excited students as they begin at the University of Georgia. To help guide and nurture them into more confident and well-rounded individuals when they graduate is an unbelievably rewarding experience.”
Boyd strongly believes in an open-door policy, as well as a holistic approach to advising. She said that being in a small unit gives her the opportunity to cultivate relationships with the approximately 90 undergraduates she advises. This helps her make recommendations on courses and potential research mentors that best match the students’ interests.
“A few years ago, there was a student interested in modeling and systems, and I knew a postdoctoral student with that expertise. So, I asked the postdoctoral student to do a directed reading with the student,” Boyd said. “This really inspired the student, which resulted in him engaging in Chiléan research that led him to be named a CURO scholar. Now, that student-Will Collier-is pursuing his master’s degree at Yale University.”
She also speaks with pride when discussing the Ecology Club, of which she serves as adviser. This dynamic group composed of students in a variety of majors is behind recent recycling efforts on South Campus during football season, as well as several campus sustainability initiatives.
And the students are certainly appreciative of her involvement in their successes.
“Misha is one of the most amazing people you will ever meet-she can always bring a smile to your face, is completely involved in the lives of all the students and no task is too big or too small for her to take on,” said Christina Faust, an undergraduate student and Ecology Club member.
Boyd also works closely with James Richardson, the Odum School’s undergraduate coordinator. She speaks enthusiastically about their working relationship, and credits Richardson with recognizing the need for undergraduate student space.
“The student lounge has helped foster such creativity and cohesion among our undergraduates,” said Richardson. “Misha’s office is right off the lounge, creating an ideal environment for students. She meets with them throughout the day and knows when to encourage more achievement and when to back a student away from burnout and exhaustion. It is hard to imagine our undergraduate program without her direction and dedication.”
Because of this warm environment, students constantly drop by Boyd’s office with updates.
“I got an A in 3500!” one squealed.
Boyd stops what she’s doing, congratulates the student and asks him about the rest of his classes. And as she walks down the hallways of the Odum School, she asks students about everything from how they did on their last calculus test to the outcome of a racquetball tournament the night before.
Boyd’s relationships with the students she advises is not one way. She credits them with making her more environmentally conscious. Although she has always been environmentally aware, she has developed a deeper respect for nature and has become an avid cyclist. She said watching students bike everywhere inspired her to take up the sport and serving as a chaperone on Ecology Club field trips has exposed her more to nature than ever before.
“I grew up on a farm and was always around animals, but my appreciation for plants and insects has definitely grown. I even have an appreciation for snakes now,” Boyd said.