Aberdeen native and soon-to-be junior Breanna Lyle loves working with people and helping them overcome their fears and misconceptions about spiders.
Lyle, who is known in some circles as the "Spider Lady," has liked spiders all of her life. In fact, the biological science major remembers using a peanut butter jar to catch and observe spiders when she was only three years old.
Her love of tarantulas truly began when she saw one during a school Halloween carnival in the first grade. And she now has 15 of them as pets. She also has five black widows, two brown recluses, several species of jumping spiders, and a few wolf spiders.
She still likes to catch, observe and identify different kinds of spiders and insects, and she also enjoys spending time with her tarantulas.
Lyle hopes to go on to graduate school and focus on entomology, so she can pursue a career in medical and forensic entomology or some type of Extension entomology work.
But even her dream job revolves around spiders.
"As far as a dream job goes, I'd love to run a tarantula rescue where I'd help tarantulas that had been in bad situations find good, loving homes," she said.
This summer, Lyle will be a staff member at MSU's Basic Insect and Plant Ecology Intergenerational Camp, better known as Bug Camp.
"I met many of my friends and professors through the camp, and they helped me get on the path that I'm on now," she said.
Lyle also helps out at Bug Fest, a two-day event held each fall at the Crosby Arboretum in Picayune. For the past few years, she's taken her Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula, Audacia, to help participants learn about spiders.
"This helps people get over some of the myths they believe about the large, docile spiders," Lyle said.