Team:Nottingham/Team
Students
RUTH: I study mathematics and my role in the team is as a modeller. I wanted to take part in iGEM to have the opportunity to work with students from other disciplines and see how we inspire and learn from each other. In my spare time, I love playing sport, with my biggest achievement being playing basketball for the England u17 squad. As the basketball season is over for the summer, I am now focussing all my competitive spirit on iGEM and am determined to bring the BioBrick trophy to Nottingham! An interesting fact about me is that I am a test tube baby. I started life in the lab, so long as I’m not kidnapped by the wet lab team for in vivo experiments, I hope I won’t end it there… VARUN: I study History and American studies and my role in the team is Human Practices and Finance. I wanted to join iGEM to broaden my experience and work on a large global project, just like iGEM! My interests are in marketing and brand, which fits well with helping to manage our team’s social media pages. In my spare time, I love cooking (and eating!) as well as reading up on American politics and spending time with my friends. A fun fact about me is that I have lived my whole life in Nottingham- University of Nottingham was so great it made me want to stay in this amazing city for another 3 years! FATIMA: I study Human Genetics and I work in the lab and help with finance/fundraising. iGEM was particularly appealing to me because anything that allows me to disassemble and reassemble things instantly has my attention (not to mention, I get to scare my family with not-so-scary biology). In my spare time, I spontaneously go on long walks without any real aim. Often times, I walk for more than 5 hours without realising it- I have yet to accidentally walk into another city, though. An interesting fact about me: I can remember most of my dreams in freakish detail and that can be as many as five a night! NEMIRA: I study Biotechnology. In iGEM I am a part of Human practices and also wet lab. I believe iGEM gives me opportunity to understand what I want in life, gives me loads of practical skills, teaches me interdisciplinary and teamwork. I have several different hobbies like astronomy, music, volunteering, travelling and basically trying to do everything I can from this university experience. I am Lithuanian – that’s an interesting fact about me! DAN: I study Biotechnology and in the team, I am involved in the lab and also organising the lab book. I heard about the iGEM competition form a guest speaker in one of my lectures and saw it as a chance to expand my practical skills as well as getting the chance to work in a research environment in a team. I am interested in doing a PhD after I graduate and getting to work closely with PostDocs has made me realise what an amazing opportunity this iGEM project is. Outside of labs I enjoy sports and am part of my Football and Frisbee teams. I am looking forward to meeting with other teams around the UK for collaborations and am excited to seeing projects from around the globe at the Giant Jamboree! LUCY: I am a second year microbiology student and my role in the team is wet lab and inter-lab studies. I wanted to join the iGEM team to gain more experience working both as a team and individually in a lab as that is where I love to be. I love to travel and am competitive by nature so being part of a global science competition allowed me to combine many things that I enjoy. An interesting fact is that I contracted an illness in hospital just after being born so working on C. difficile (a hospital acquired illness) seems very appropriate for me. LUKAS: I am a biochemistry student and my role in our iGEM team is working in the lab. I joined the iGEM team to improve my team working skills, learn more about what life in a lab actually is like and gain a deeper understanding of synthetic biology and its increasing potential to solve real world problems. In my own time I enjoy running and playing the piano. One interesting fact about me is that I can speak 3 languages- English, Danish and German! HASSAN: I study Computer Science and I work within the lab to help out with the modelling and create the Wiki. I found iGem appealing because I wanted to do something interdisciplenary, and enjoyed Biology and Chemistry at A level/ Highschool. An interesting fact about me is that I have flappy hands and can clap with one hand. SOFYA: I am a second-year Biochemistry and Genetics student and spend most of my time in the lab. You can’t imagine how happy I am to be a part of Nottingham iGEM team – you get to carry out actual experiments, work on realistic problems and present your work in Boston! This does seem to me like a start of great “how I spent my summer” essay, doesn’t it? When I don’t need to run gels or pray for good results, I enjoy watching horror movies, doing Wing Chun and reading. An interesting fact about me is that I can play 4 instruments, skate and convincingly lie. I hope that I can help our team to make it to the top 3 and show the world anyone can do science that changes the world! EUN: I study pharmacy and my role in our iGEM team is working in the wet lab. I wanted to join iGEM team not only to broaden my knowledge and experience on synthetic biology but also to get involved in various human practices in science. In my spare time, I go to training for taekwondo, a martial art which contains different kicks and punches. Sometimes, I am beaten by serious fighters, but it is really great to win a sparring- and I have won a silver medal last year! An interesting fact about me is that I can distinguish origins of coffee beans by tasting the coffee. I can tell the differences of their tastes (by degree of bitterness, sweetness, sourness, and smokiness) thanks to my dad who is enthusiastic about learning different types of coffee!
