Committees:
Our team split into committees very early on in the summer so that we could start developing specializations and have multiple parts of the project in progress independently of one another. Every member participated in at least one committee, as well as a separate research group.
Lead: Tulsi Patel
The human practices team was in charge of connecting to the University of Oregon community as well as the international community. They maintained communication with athletics professionals and members of the UO community to ensure that our team worked towards goals which benefit our community. They also have engaged with other iGEM teams, with the goal of establishing relationships and sharing resources with other teams.
Members:
- Susana Velazquez-Huanosta
- Julia Richards
- Emily Sverdrup
Lead: Unknown
The fundraising team was in charge of raising money, writing grants, and soliciting donations for the team’s activities. These funds went towards buying lab supplies (gene fragments, proteins, petri dishes, etc.), competition registration fees and tickets, travel expenses, marketing, and more. The entire team assisted in these efforts by contacting various companies for support. The fundraising team worked closely with the social media team when managing the DuckFunder fundraising platform.
Members:
- Walker Cullins
- Luca Lippert
- Adam McNichols
Lead: Adam McNichols
The entrepreneurship team worked to create a potential plan for our therapeutic to be sold as a product. They developed a formal business plan, wrote business pitches, and contributed to the wiki by writing an entrepreneurship page.
Members:
- Adam McNichols
- Walker Meyer
Co-Leads: Emily Sverdrup and Julia Richards
The education team worked to develop and present a lesson plan on synthetic biology to local middle school students. The education team came up with an idea for a lesson and designed a lesson plan to teach middle school students about synthetic biology
Members:
- Emily Sverdrup
- Julia Richards
Lead: Waverly Wilson
The social media team was in charge of the public-facing side of our project: creating and managing our team twitter, instagram, and fundraising platform. Our social media efforts included spreading awareness about our fundraising milestones, introducing the team members, and collaborations with Knight Campus social media teams.
Members:
- Waverly Wilson
- Luca Lippert
- Julia Richards
Lead: Emily Sverdrup
The safety team was responsible for ensuring the safety of those working in the lab.
Members:
- Emily Sverdrup
Co-leads: Keane Deas & Oliver Loreto
The leadership team was in charge of managing team overall goals, and ensuring communication between the different subgroups. They set tasks, ensured they were completed on time, aligned team goals with medal requirements, and represent the team.
The leadership in iGEM strives to encourage all the students to take ownership of their work and act independently as leaders in their community as well. We hope to cultivate a team that is excited to learn, design, and build the first iGEM team at the University of Oregon. We hope to establish a solid foundation for future years of introducing undergraduate students to the world of synthetic biology and research.
Members:
- Keane Deas
- Oliver Loreto
Research Groups:
Our team also divided into research groups, to develop specializations for specific aspects of the project. These are separate from the committees, but required largely the same amount of work from each member.
The wet lab group focused on designing and performing wet lab experiments. Members of the wet lab group would work in the lab performing transformations, gels, golden gates, among many other procedures to further the progress of the project.
Lead: Keane Deas
Members:
- Keane Deas
- Tulsi Patel
The chemotaxis group was in charge of researching the function and modification of bacterial chemotaxis pathways. They gained an understanding of how bacterial chemotaxis worked and could be modified to navigate our bacteria to a target pathogen.
Members:
- Luca Lippert
- Waverly Wilson
The colonization team studied bacterial colonization and how we could engineer our strain of E. Coli to colonize the human gut.
Members:
- Waverly Wilson
Oliver Loreto — Computational Lead
Year: 2
Majors: Biology, Data Science
I am a second year biochemistry major in the honors college, and when I'm not working on SynBio I like to make complicated french pastries and ice cream!
Carmen Resnick — Mentor
Year: 4
Major: Biochemistry
Biochemistry major, theater arts minor, graduating in June! I am a climber and I play piano and ultimate frisbee in my spare time when I'm not working in the lab.
Soren Wilde — Wiki Lead
Year: 2
Major: Biochemistry
I'm currently a sophomore and a biochemistry major at the UO. Outside of school, I like to forage for wild mushrooms and play jazz guitar.
Waverly Wilson — Social Media Co-Lead
Year: 2
Majors: Chemistry
Second year chemistry major with a bioengineering minor. I enjoy reading, unicycling, skating, baking, going on picnics, and exploring the outdoors.
Adam McNichols — Entrepreneurship Lead
Year: 4
Major: Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship Major, Psychology Minor, senior and Ultimate Frisbee is life!
Emily Sverdrup — Education Co-Lead
Year: 3
Major: Chemistry
Chemistry major, bioengineering minor. Junior. Baking, reading, skiing.
Luca Lippert
Year: 1
Major: Biochemistry and Biology
I'm a first year biochem and bio double major. Outside of class, I like climbing, hiking, and cooking.
Natanya Villegas
Year: Graduate
Major: Biology
Hello! I'm a fourth year Biology PhD candidate. I enjoy running, nurturing plants, playing with my cat, and going on adventures.
Katelyn Anderson
Year: 2
Major: Human Physiology
Human Phys/Bioengineering, Sophomore, outside of school/igem I like to swim, hike, and cook.
Keane Deas
Year: 2
Majors: Biology and Biochemistry
I’m a double major in biology and biochemistry and have a strong interest in synthetic biology based applications. When I’m not dying in lab, I enjoy exercise, reading, cooking, and most importantly eating
Julia Richards
Year: 1
Major: Human Physiology
I am a rising sophomore majoring in Human Physiology with a minor in Global Health. I am also a goalkeeper for Oregon Women's Soccer and love to travel!
Walker Meyer
Year: 4
Major: Biology
My name is Walker Meyer and I am a 4th biology major at UO. When I’m not researching in the lab, I love hiking, camping, and everything outdoors.