People

Principal Investigator

Prof. Michelle A. O’Malley
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, UCSB

USDA-NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT/Broad Institute (2009-2012)
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware (2009)
B.S. Chemical Engineering; B.S. Biomedical Engineering,
Carnegie Mellon University (2004)
[CV]
Email

Postdoctoral Researchers and Specialists

Dr. Xuefeng (Nick) Peng
(co-advised with Dave Valentine)
Ph.D. Geosciences, Princeton University (2015)
Isolation and Characterization of Anaerobic Consortia [CV]
Email

Dr. Susanna Seppala
Ph.D. Biochemistry, Stockholm University, Sweden (2011)
M.Sc. Molecular Biology, Stockholm University, Sweden (2005)
Membrane Protein Biogenesis
[CV]
Email

Dr. Doriv Knop
CNSI Elings Fellow
Ph.D. Hebrew University (2016)
Characterization of Fungal Cellulosomes
[CV]
Email

Graduate Students

Justin Yoo
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University (2013)
NSF Graduate Fellow
Receptor Engineering for Detection and Diagnostics
Email

Igor Podolsky
B.S. Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University (2015)
Email

Jennifer Brown
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Toledo (2015)
Engineering Stable Anaerobic Consortia
Email

Michael Vigers
(co-advised with Songi Han)
B.S., Chemical and Biological Engineering, Montana State University - Bozeman (2016)
Email

Sean Gilmore
B.S. Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology
Tufts University (2013)
NSF Graduate Fellow
Synthetic Consortia & Cellulosomes
[CV]
Email

Candice Swift
B.S. Chemical and Biological Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison (2010)
NSF Graduate Fellow
Email

St. Elmo Wilken
(co-advised with Linda Petzold)
M. Eng. Control Engineering, University of Pretoria (2015)
Email
[CV]

Khanh (Kendrick) D. Nguyen
(co-advised with Songi Han)
B. S. Chemistry, University of New Orleans (2016)
Biophysical Study of G Protein-Coupled Receptor
Email
[CV]

International Visitor

Dr. Mike Theodorou
Professor of Anaerobic Digestion & Fermentation Technology
Harper Adams University, UK

Ph.D. Biochemical Plant Pathology, Imperial College London
Email

Current Undergraduate Students

Mohan Saxena
UCSB Chemical Engineering 2019

Samantha Lee
UCSB Microbiology 2018

Patrick Kolence
UCSB Molecular Biology 2020

Lab Alumni

Fomer Postdoctoral Scholars

Dr. Kevin Solomon
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, MIT (2012)
B.S. Chemical Eng & Bioengineering, McMaster University (2006)

Currently: Assistant Professor, Purdue University
[webpage]

Dr. Charles Haitjema
Ph.D. Microbiology, Cornell University (2012)
B.S. Microbiology, Indiana University (2007)

Currently: ProteinSimple

Dr. Jessica Sexton
Ph.D. Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis,
Washington University (2004)
B.S. Biology, Boston University (1996)

Currently: Apeel (UCSB)

Dr. Monica Rieth
Ph.D. Chemistry, Lehigh University (2014)
M.S. Chemistry, Lehigh University (2007)
B.S. Biochemistry, University of Delaware (2003)
GPCR Structure-function

Currently: Assistant Professor, Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville)

Former PhD Students

Jennifer Guerrero
(co-advised with Patrick Daugherty)
B.S. Chemical Engineering, UCLA (2010)
NSF Graduate Fellow
Engineering the Protease Substrate Specificity of Human Kallikrein 7

Currently: Amgen

John Henske
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University (2012)
Mellichamp Sustainability Fellow
Engineering Regulation in Anaerobic Gut Fungi During Lignocellulose Breakdown

Currently: Finch Therapeutics

Nicole Schonenbach
(co-advised with Songi Han)
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Montana State University (2011)
NSF Graduate Fellow
Engineering G-protein coupled receptor oligomers
[CV]

Former Undergraduates

Josie Tressl (2012-2013), currently Boehrigner Ingelheim
Elisa Ovadia (2012-2013), currently PhD Student Chemical & Biomolecular Eng, University of Delaware
Meredith Green (2012-2013), currently Merck
Briane Kiliman, McNair Scholar (2012-2013), currently Intel
Brian Owens (2012-2013), currently TriSep
Jessica O'Day (2012-2013), currently Kite Pharma
David Chau (2013-2014)
Jiehao (CJ) Chen (UC-Berkeley), INSET (2013), currently Genentech
Kane Nania (UCLA) (2013)
Marla Nyamdori (2013-2014), currently a makeup artist
Chris Euchus (UC-Irvine), INSET (2014)
Erich Brodbeck, Amgen Fellow, ICB URAP (2013-2014), currently MS Materials Program UCSB
Wen-Kang Chou, ICB URAP (2014-2015), currently PhD student ChE, Princeton
Natalie Banakis (2012-2015), currently Meissner
Sarah Maxel (2013-2015), currently PhD Student Chemical Engineering, UC-Irvine
Herman Ching (2015-2016), currently PhD Student Chemical Engineering, UC-Irvine
Charlotte Abrahamson (2013-2015), currently PhD Student Chemical & Biomolecular Eng, Northwestern
Daniel Yur (2014-2016), currently PhD Student Chemical & Biomolecular Eng, University of Delaware
R. Andres Parra Sperberg (2014-2016), currently PhD Student Bioengineering, Stanford University
Francis Cunningham (2016-2017), currently PhD Student Chemical & Bimolecular Engineering, UC-Berkeley
Jessica Hauk (2015-2017), currently Chemetry
Randall DeGroot (2015-2017), currently Zymergen
Winston Hsu (2016-2017)
Zach Cogan (2015-2017)