Shea Gardner ’91

Shea died Feb. 21, 2016, in Oakland, Calif., of metastatic lung cancer.

She came to us from Bellingham, Wash., participated in club sailing and gymnastics, and graduated with a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology. After Princeton, Shea earned a Ph.D. in population biology from the University of California, Davis, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Imperial College London.

Highly regarded as both a population biologist and bioinformatics scientist, Shea worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Her work had an impact on both biodefense and human health at large. She produced major open-source software contributions, and the polymerase chain reaction assays she developed in 2003 are in use by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as the new gold standard for hepatitis-A virus detection tests for food safety.

Shea was known for her love of the outdoors. Her hobbies included hiking; snowshoeing; cross-country skiing with her dog, Pooshka; as well as taking swimming, snorkeling, and sailing trips with her family. Shea visited more than 50 countries, and she especially enjoyed exploring ancient ruins and castles.

Shea is survived by her husband, Erik Yip; her mother; and her sister. Her father predeceased her. Shea honored our class and Princeton through her work in the nation’s service and in the service of humanity. We lost her too soon.