Olivia Harriott, Ph.D.
Fairfield University
Olivia Harriott, Ph.D. is an associate professor of biology, and an Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences at Fairfield University. Harriott teaches and mentors biology majors in the microbial sciences while also engaging non-science majors through interdisciplinary and social justice teaching in the university’s core curriculum.
Harriott’s research interests include, host-microbe interactions, antibiotic discovery and microbial diversity. To support and develop diverse STEM talent, Harriott served on the ASM Committee on Minority Education from 2007-2013. She also contributed to professional development programming as a facilitator at the AAAS Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM (2015, 2018), and to several other ASM programs, including the Kadner Institute for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scientists, the ASM Presentation Institute, the ASM Research Capstone and the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Students. Most recently, Harriott served on the ASM Task Force on diversity, equity and inclusion from 2019-2020.
Harriott earned a B.S. in biological sciences and Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Connecticut, Storrs. After graduate study, she was a postdoctoral research associate and USDA fellow at the Biotechnology Center for Agriculture & the Environment at Rutgers University.
Harriott’s research interests include, host-microbe interactions, antibiotic discovery and microbial diversity. To support and develop diverse STEM talent, Harriott served on the ASM Committee on Minority Education from 2007-2013. She also contributed to professional development programming as a facilitator at the AAAS Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM (2015, 2018), and to several other ASM programs, including the Kadner Institute for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scientists, the ASM Presentation Institute, the ASM Research Capstone and the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Students. Most recently, Harriott served on the ASM Task Force on diversity, equity and inclusion from 2019-2020.
Harriott earned a B.S. in biological sciences and Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Connecticut, Storrs. After graduate study, she was a postdoctoral research associate and USDA fellow at the Biotechnology Center for Agriculture & the Environment at Rutgers University.