When she went to the US in 1996 to begin her doctoral studies, she originally thought to continue working on the subject of her MA thesis: the crab-eating mongoose. But because she came to admire the work of the ursologist David Garshelis, she suddenly decided to become his student and thrust herself body and soul into the very difficult field of bear research.
1996 年黃美秀赴美攻讀博士時，原本打算延續碩士研究的主題──食蟹獴，卻因仰慕另一位熊類專家大衛．賈塞利斯的治學風範，而毅然投身門下，並一頭闖進難度極高的黑熊研究領域。