Gaining global recognition for sustainability efforts

Sustainability is a common thread in Lisa Anderson’s ’09 career. As the stewardship and sustainability leader at DuPont Liveo Healthcare Solutions, it’s at the core of what she does every day. 

The Cadillac, Michigan, native has been nationally recognized for her sustainability efforts, but among her awards is one that hits a little closer to home: In 2017, Anderson became a recipient of the Young Alumni Award at Albion College. 

Choosing the right path

When Anderson was deciding her next steps after high school back in 2005, Albion College originally didn’t make the cut.

“I was accepted into Michigan State’s natural science program,” Anderson explained. “Softball recruiting came along in the spring after I’d already accepted Michigan State. I told everyone at my open house after graduation that I was going to Michigan State,” she recalled with a laugh. “Then that summer, I actually flipped my decision.” 

For Anderson, it was the promise of more at Albion College that drew her away from the larger crowds at Michigan State University and toward small town life in Albion. She realized that she could be an athlete and a scientist rather than being boxed into one category.

Majoring in a STEM discipline was a no-brainer for Anderson, regardless of where she went to college. But it was the connections she made at Albion that helped her refine her path and her passion.

“My sophomore year, I did a research internship with Cliff Harris,” she said. “He was such a great mentor for me. He’s really what got me into research, because I was leaning toward pre-med when I first started; both of my parents were in medical professions, so I was leaning toward what I knew.”

With the encouragement of Harris, professor of organic chemistry, Anderson applied for a couple of summer internships doing lab work and research, excited about the possibilities that lay ahead. When she didn’t hear back from the hiring staff at first, it was Harris who stepped in to help.

“I wasn’t hearing back, and [Professor] Cliff was like, ‘Let me get on the phone.’ He called the program director for one of them and said, ‘Okay, I have this really great student. I think she should work for you this summer.’ And they said, ‘Let’s make this work,’” Anderson said. “So, I was able to go to New Mexico for the summer, and that got me into the lab full-time. It also resulted in a research publication–which as an undergrad is not very easy. I think that set me up well for grad school.”

Finding her next steps

For Anderson, the process for determining where she would go for graduate school differed immensely from choosing her undergrad. Whereas she picked an undergraduate school based on how much she was able to do, she picked her grad school based on its specialization. 

“There was this hot new hot research area in biofuels, and I was like, ‘Wow that sounds so cool. You can use algae to grow to make biofuels.’ So, I was specifically looking for programs that would allow me to do that,” Anderson said. 

Despite her conviction in what she wanted to study, she went out on a limb when she visited University of California, Davis–again at the encouragement of Harris. A California native, Harris recommended that Anderson visit schools on the West Coast. She didn’t see much about biofuel research when looking into programs out in California but decided to take the next step in the process, anyway: She applied to UC Davis and planned a visit. 

“They were going to offer me a fellowship, and I remember visiting and seeing things about biofuel research on a door when I was walking around,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘They have this going on here?’ And then I fell in love with Davis and the campus.”

The love continued–in more ways than one–when Anderson officially started her program. While she was pursuing the next steps in her career, Anderson also met her husband, John Oliver, also a doctoral student at UC Davis at the time. The two completed their PhDs together and married in 2017.

While at UC Davis, Anderson received the Greenovation Champion Award from Kimberly-Clark in 2014  for implementing a laboratory-glove recycling program, reducing waste by about two tons annually. After graduating, Anderson went on to be a postdoctoral scholar in metabolic engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During her time at MIT, Anderson served in leadership on committees supporting environmental initiatives and received the New England BioLabs Passion in Science Award for Environmental Stewardship in 2016. She then spent time as a bioanalytical scientist at Amyris in Emeryville, California, before accepting a position with Dupont in 2021 and moving back to Michigan–where her story began.

Coming full circle

Years after she decided to pursue Albion and the promise of more, Anderson continues to prove that she is more than just one thing. She is globally recognized in her field, and she is a mother. She is an award-winning scientist, and she enjoys running races and competing in triathlons. She is an innovator, and above all else, she is humble.  At the core of her work,  she is looking to make a difference and improve the lives of those around her.

In her free time, Anderson enjoys spending time in nature, whether that means running, yoga, or tending to her garden. She and her husband John reside in Midland, Michigan, with their two sons.