What Made You Join iGEM?

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President: Dan Lipworth

Dan is in his fourth year of Biological Engineering at the University of Guelph, having already completed a Bachelor of Business Administration at Wilfrid Laurier University. He also completed two years of BSc Biology at York University before transferring to engineering. Dan plans to be in some form of undergrad program for the rest of his natural life.

DAN! WE NEED A DESCRIPTION OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS THIS YEAR! :)

In addition to iGEM, Dan is on the executive council of the Canadian branch of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Canada (SEDS), the largest student commercial space advocacy group in the world. When not in school, Dan is playing keyboards, working out, and thinking about all the other undergraduate programs he could one day attend.

UPDATE THIS TITLE: Jehoshua Sharma

Jehoshua is in fifth year of Microbiology with minors in Molecular Biology and Genetics as well as Philosophy at the University of Guelph. His responsibilities ranged from securing lab space and materials to lots of primer designing and avoiding ethidium bromide contamination in our gel work. As a microbiologist, he did a lot of the growth and isolation work, with a highlight for him this year being an 8 segmented plate he was able to get isolated colonies from. He has aided in the development of lab protocols, obtaining funding for the team and generating interest of Guelph iGEM at the faculty and student level.

Both inside and outside of the lab, he is known as Khal Jehosho, knower of all, avoider of ethidium bromide, designer of primers, transformer of e coli and modeller of lab coats. He hopes to one day be the king of bacteria and has a keen research interest in antibiotic resistance and alternative antimicrobial compounds such as lysins and antimicrobial peptides. When he isn’t heralding the doom of society as we know it he also has experience studying yeast epigenetics and a minor in philosophy with the aim of shaping public ethical assumptions in the field of biology.

Co-Director of Wet Lab: Nykole Crevits

Nykole is in her final semester of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Guelph, and a graduate of the Biotechnology Technician program at Conestoga College. She is currently employed as a Transgenic Canola Research Assistant at the University of Guelph and Saturn AgroSciences, and upon graduating will become a full-time employee in January 2019. Her main responsibilities within iGEM include laboratory work, experimental design, assisting in lab inventory and ordering, mentorship of other lab team members with technical tricks of the trade. She has also been helping the team with fundraising, awareness efforts, recruiting, social media, literature reviews and coding the wiki.

Outside of the lab, Nykole has somewhat of an eclectic collection of hobbies. She does all sorts of crafts from drawing to wood-burning, digital art to jewelry-making, you name it! She works part-time at an engraving shop to help pay for her other hobbies. She is an avid (and competitive!) player of Catan, as well as a variety of other board and video games. She holds a world record for a Staphylococcus aureus protein fold in the game ”foldit” and is recognized in a published journal for one of her contributions to a protein solution. Did we mention she’s a bit of a nerd?

EDIT TITLE: Nicole LeBlanc

This is the other Nicole, AKA "Little Nicole". She is in her third year in Molecular Biology and Genetics with a minor in Statistics. She has a passion for synthetic biology and an plans to pursue her PhD in a related field. Nicole assisted with the lab work throughout the summer. She also lead the creation of the Guelph Synthetic Biology Club to help spread the word about synthetic biology to our campus and community.

While not in the lab, she is the president of the Guelph Synthetic Biology Club. She also lawn bowls for Canada's national team and enjoys playing sports.

EDIT TITLE: Nathanael Willms

Nathanael is in his second year of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Guelph. He joined iGEM Guelph in order to gain experience in biotechnology laboratory skills, as well as knowledge of synthetic biology and genetic engineering and exposure to that academic field. He is interested in the molecular mechanisms by which genetic information is expressed as phenotypic traits, and their evolution. In the future, he wants to pursue a career in genetic modification, or in molecular genetics research. ADD TEAM TASKS
WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN, NATHANAEL??

Wet Lab Member: Ruth Dedman

Ruth is in her third year of Animal Biology with a minor in Molecular Biology & Genetics. She is very interested in livestock genetics and using selective breeding to increase production. She hopes to either complete her Masters in a related field or obtain her DVM through the Ontario Veterinary College. Ruth is a member of wet lab and worked in the lab this summer. She also helped found the Guelph Synthetic Biology club, an initiative to engage students on campus with the field of synthetic biology.

In her spare time, Ruth enjoys working with the cattle on her parents’ farm.

EDIT TITLE: Eleanor Cloves

Now introducing Eleanor. She is in her second year of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Guelph. She is passionate about human genetics, and one day hopes to work in pediatric genetics in England. ADD TEAM TASKS

She also has interests in playing sports such as soccer, volunteering with children and playing the piano.

EDIT TITLE: Larsen Iorgovits

Larsen is a second year Microbiology student studying at the University of Guelph. Larsen joined iGEM Guelph in hopes of gaining valuable laboratory and leadership experience. Especially within Wet Lab and outreach events. He is the most recently-recruited member of the iGEM Guelph team member this year. As for his interests, Larsen is very curious about the field of parasitology. He also enjoys fitness, and does rock climbing and mountain biking in his spare time.In the future, Larsen is still unsure of what he'd like to do as a full time career. The scientific world is huge and there are so many options. He hopes that he'll have a better idea when he begins his first Co-op term this summer.

Dr. Rebecca Shapiro

Dr. Shapiro is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph, but prior to that she has also worked at McGill University, the University of Toronto, and MIT. Her current research focuses on microbial fungal pathogens and understanding their pathogenesis and biology using CRISPR-based technologies. Dr. Shapiro is one of our team’s faculty supervisors for the 2018 project year.

Dr. Stephen Seah

Dr. Seah is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph and has also studied at the National University of Singapore and the University of Sheffield. His two major research projects right now are steroid degradation in Myobacterium tuberculosis & other bacteria and microbial enzymes involved in lignin degradation & aromatic environmental pollutants. Dr. Seah is one of our team’s faculty advisors for the 2018 project year.

Dr. Cezar Khursigara

Dr. Khursigara is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph and has previously studied at Ryerson University, McGill University, and the National Institutes of Health. He is currently working on elucidating the structure and function of macromolecular assemblies governing bacterial cell division, cell-to-cell interaction, biofilm formation, motility, and chemotaxis with the aim of identifying new drug targets to combat multi-drug resistant strains. Dr. Khursigara is one of our team’s faculty advisors for the 2018 project year.

Marissa Dahari

Marissa is an undergraduate teaching coordinator and laboratory demonstrator in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph, where she also serves on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. Marissa helped our team find lab space and access the resources we needed.

Deb Flett

Deb is an undergraduate teaching coordinator and laboratory demonstrator in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph. Deb also helped our team with lab space and resources.