“I didn’t want to go to medical school and I didn’t really think about veterinary medicine, but I wanted to do something that could maybe help people’s health,” Tsao said.

Tsao graduated from Swarthmore College with a bachelor’s degree in biology before she continued her education at the University of Chicago, where she completed graduate work in ecology and evolution.

An ecology class Tsao took as an undergraduate student helped her narrow down her list of possible career choices.

“I’m one of those nerds. I love everything,” Tsao said, laughing. “I would say, ‘I’m going to major in either comparative literature or chemistry or maybe double major.’”

Tsao, who grew up in a New Jersey suburb, said her parent’s knew she would decide on her future in college, but the thought didn’t prepare them for Tsao’s aspirations to become an ecologist.

“I think for them they really didn’t know what kind of job one would get in ecology,” Tsao said. “I think they still do (worry), but I think they’re getting used to the idea after 15 years.”

Although Tsao joined MSU’s faculty in 2003, it wasn’t her first time on campus. Before she began her senior year at Swarthmore College, she worked in the Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Mich., and extended her time at MSU when she became an assistant to a plant biology graduate student the following fall semester.

“I didn’t want the college experience to end and not know really where I wanted to be. I told my parents I was taking a year off and my parents almost had a heart attack,” Tsao said.

From MSU, Tsao traveled to Harvard University to work in a cardiovascular disease lab before finishing her final year as an undergraduate.

She completed post-doctorate work at Yale University, where she worked with a leading Lyme disease expert, Durland Fish.

Faculty members who work with Tsao describe her as an energetic person who goes out of her way to help her students.

Jennifer Owen, an assistant professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, said her transition to the department about one year ago was eased by Tsao’s friendliness. Owen works with Tsao in the fish and wildlife disease ecology and conservation medicine graduate specialization.

“She’s probably one of the more energetic people I know,” Owen said. “She’s very accessible to students and is very involved.”

Michael Jones, the Department of the Fisheries and Wildlife chairperson, said he and Tsao became good friends since her arrival on campus in 2003.

“She’s a very good-natured, enthusiastic and lively person,” Jones said. “She has lots of energy.”