Shaun Townsend is a senior researcher in hop breeding and genetics at Oregon State. In this interview, he discusses growing up in central Illinois, his education and research experience in agronomy at Montana State and New Mexico state, and how he came to work at Oregon State University in the hop program. He describes his passion for research in crop science, and how his career has fulfilled that. In addition, he discusses the transformation of the OSU hop breeding program to fit the needs for variety in the craft brewing industry and how he collaborates with local growers and brewers to produce optimal varieties. The interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton on November 3, 2014 in the OSU Valley Library in Corvallis, Oregon. It is a component of the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection (OH 35), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries.