Maddie Westenberg is an Undergraduate Researcher pursuing a degree in biochemistry. She is working on a computational project to model the PURE system in synthetic cells. Her interests include synthetic biology, astrobiology, reading, hiking, and playing the clarinet.
Contact: robi1368@umn.edu
Abbey graduated from the University of Missouri in 2018 with her B.S. in Biological Sciences. During her undergraduate years, she worked as a researcher in Dr. Troy Zars’ lab studying thermogenetic tools in Drosophila.
In 2019, Abbey joined the Adamala lab as a graduate student in MCDB&G. Her interests include tool development, astrobiology, and environmental biotechnology. In her free time she enjoys cooking, traveling, and hanging out with her dog, Blue.
Contact: christot@umn.edu
Postdoc, expert in microfluidics.
Judee received her B.S. in Microbial Biology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2014. Although she did do research in her undergraduate years, she didn’t find her true interest in environmental microbiology and its applications until she began researching at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and start-up companies like Pivot Bio and Wild Earth. In 2018, she made the move to the University of Minnesota’s graduate program in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics where she joined the Adamala-Engelhart Lab. She is interested in furthering the functionality of synthetic cells for use in environmental biotechnology applications. Likewise, she would like to use synthetic cell mechanisms to consider (or reconsider) the origins of life on Earth or potentially in extraterrestrial systems. When she’s not in lab, she likes to read, watch The Office, backpack, and drink beer.
Contact: sharo112@umn.edu
Wakana received her B.S. in Agriculture at Hokkaido University, Japan in 2018. She began her research career as an undergraduate under Dr.Takasuka, studying biomass-degrading enzymes, and Dr. Kato, studying the discovery of bioactive natural compounds.
In 2018, Wakana started graduate school at the University of Minnesota, and joined Dr. Kate Adamala’s lab. She is interested in enzyme engineering for natural product synthesis and gene-based tool development for biocomputer.
Contact: sato0055@umn.edu
Chris Deich graduated from the University of Eau Claire-WI in 2016 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He spent two years working at the Veterinary Diagnostics Lab on the UMN St. Paul campus before moving to the Adamala lab. Research interests include protobiology and using synthetic minimal cells as bioreactors. In his free time he enjoys reading science fiction, listening to music and camping on the weekends.
Works on projects jointly with Engelhart lab.
Contact: deich010@umn.edu
I am working on a B.S. in Genetics, Cellular Biology, and Development at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and I am expected to graduate in spring 2020. After graduation I plan on going to grad school. Some of my research interests include diseases, drug therapies and delivery, vaccines, stem cells, and synthetic biology. Some of my other interests include shopping, Netflix, and hanging out with friends.
Contact: stoke102@umn.edu
Contact: bfbachan@umn.edu
Contact: pawla019@umn.edu
I am working on my B.S. in Biology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and expected graduation is spring 2019. After graduation, I am unclear of my career path. My undergraduate research career started at the Adamala and Engelhart Lab working alongside Brock Cash beginning January 2018. Some of my research interests include; medical research, biosynthetic research, and evolutionary biology. In my free time, I enjoy music, drumming, computers, video games, travel, and working out.