Shannon B. Olsson (born Bice, 18 July 1977) is a scientist working on chemical ecology and sustainability, particularly in the context of Indian ecosystems. Olsson is the founder and Global Director of the echo network, a science with society network crossing 45 countries. She also serves through the echo network's international hub as Special Scientific Envoy to India with the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV) in close collaboration with the Innovation Centre Denmark in India (under the auspices of the MFA Denmark and the Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Denmark)). She previously served as a project leader at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, and then a faculty member of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bangalore, India.
Early life and education
Olsson was born Shannon Bryn Bice to Norman Allen Bice and Joyce Elaine Parish in De Peyster, New York. Olsson was educated at Heuvelton Central School in Heuvelton, New York. She went on to study at Nazareth College (New York) where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry with secondary science education in 1999. Olsson was awarded a PhD in 2005 in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University with a specialization in Chemical Ecology under the supervision of Professors Thomas Eisner and Wendell L. Roelofs. Her dissertation research examined the chemosensory basis for sympatric host shifts in Rhagoletis pomonella. She was awarded the "Distinguished Alumni Award" from Heuvelton Central School, the "Graduate of the Last Decade" by Nazareth College, and her summer research at Clarkson University with Professor Yuzhuo Li was featured at the United States Capitol for the Council on Undergraduate Research “Posters on the Hill” event. She married Petter Olsson from Borlänge, Sweden on November 25, 2000.
Chemical ecology
Research career
Following her undergraduate studies, Olsson was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Lund University where she performed research in neuroethology under the supervision of Professor Bill Hansson. Afterward, she began her graduate studies at Cornell University, and in 2006–2007 performed postdoctoral research at the University of California, Los Angeles in the laboratory of Professor Richard K. Zimmer on the chemical ecology of marine invertebrates in California kelp forests. In 2007, she started her career as a Project Leader for the EU-funded program "Biosynthetic Infochemical Communication" at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany.
Naturalist-inspired chemical ecology
In 2014, Olsson joined the faculty of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bangalore, India. At NCBS, she promoted chemical ecology across Indian ecosystems through multiple efforts. At NCBS, Olsson also started the Naturalist-Inspired Chemical Ecology (NICE) Group, which uses a wholistic approach to combine naturalist approaches with modern tools from chemistry, molecular biology, ecology, and neuroscience. The NICE Group examines how organisms use chemicals to interact with each other and identify relevant objects in their environment. She has noted that "love, hunger and fear" unite all organisms in their struggle for survival, and chemicals play a fundamental role in these processes.
Indian chemical ecology
Olsson's science is committed to laying the foundation for a sustainable India, and her studies have addressed topics as diverse as chemical communication in the Indian antelope blackbuck ecological agriculture in India's coffee plantations, the impact of air pollution on our wild animals and insects, the effect of environmental change on our ecosystem services, a global study linking COVID-19 with smell and taste impairment, and a multimodal virtual reality arena for insects.
Awards and recognition
For her scientific work, Olsson has been awarded a United Nations Pinning for Research Excellence by Ghandian Scholars and is a Ramanujan Fellow. Olsson's research has been featured by CNN, Nature (journal), Science (journal), Inverse (website), Haaretz, USA Today, Chemical and Engineering News, The Conversation (website), and The Hindu, among many other international news outlets.