Self-described “science person” Shelby Gruss decided to apply her specific interest in genetics to agriculture. From her family’s small farm in Ossian, Indiana, she spent two years at Indiana-University-Purdue University Fort Wayne — the universities have since separated — before transferring to the University of Illinois to study biotechnology and molecular biology. She then earned a master’s degree at Illinois in an agricultural production program that combined science with business. Gruss was leaning toward doctoral study in Florida when a friend in agribusiness introduced her to some of his Purdue contacts. Those interactions led to her starting her PhD program in Agronomy in January 2018 under the guidance of Mitch Tuinstra, professor of plant breeding and genetics and Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research. Gruss has used a wheelchair since a snowboarding accident her senior year of high school left her paralyzed from the waist down. Adaptations such as wider row spacing in the greenhouse and field enable her to focus on her research instead of her disability. “In my lab, Andy our lab tech has been great about adjusting anything that needs to be adjusted,” she says. “Everybody been proactive about helping me be a success here.”