Team:CSL Pittsburgh/Attributions

Attributions

Our iGEM Team, (also known as The Pollinator Savers) consists of students representing a number of high schools in the city of Pittsburgh who spent much dedicated time past year to complete our project at The Citizen Science Lab. Because of our advisors, instructors and funders, we were given many resources in order to complete our project, and for that we are very thankful. For a lot of us, this was the first time that we were given the opportunity to actually apply the molecular techniques that we had been taught prior to joining. This has been an amazing learning experience and we are excited for the iGEM Jamboree in Boston! We would like to say thank you to our advisors and instructors for mentoring us through this process, being patient with us, and ensuring our success. We would also like to thank our mentors at The Citizen Science Lab, the University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University.

Team Members

Donald Poindexter, Jr. Central Catholic High School, Senior; Wet Lab, Research, Wiki Development, Beehive Engineer

.

Donald was an important part of the research phase, especially in helping to identify promising candidates for paratransgenesis. He also worked as a member of the wet lab team conducting the digestions and ligations. Finally, with his knowledge of coding and web development, Donald was the primary editor and designer of our Wiki page.

Jensynia Baynes, Pittsburgh CAPA High School, Senior; Wet Lab, Design, Beehive Engineer.

Jensynia is a part of the experimental team and completed a lot of the work done in the wet lab, specifically the culturing and transformation steps. She also designed the team banner and helped with creating our team logo.

Alexis Crichlow, The Ellis School, Junior; Wet Lab, Research, Beehive Engineer.

Alexis was instrumental in our initial research concerning the effects of imidacloprid on honeybees and how we can genetically manipulate the bacteria to uptake the gene for imidacloprid resistance. In the lab, she conducted the digestion and ligation steps; as well as worked at Duquesne University to conduct the electroporation.

Heavlyn Jennings, Westinghouse Arts Academy Charter School, Sophomore; Wet Lab, Design, Beehive Engineer.

As a member of the design team, Heavlyn drew our team logo. She conducted the ligation and digestion, as well as plasmid preps in the lab. Heavlyn was also instrumental in working with the bees by feeding them and recording the results from treating the bees.

Advisors and Mentors

Dr. Andre Samuel, The Citizen Science Lab; President and CEO

Dr. Samuel recruited students for our CSL_Pittsburgh iGEM team. He taught fundamental lab techniques and helped to design the project; as well as provided lab equipment at The Citizen Science Lab to complete experiments.

Dr. Jackie Shane, The Citizen Science Lab; Microbiologist/Molecular Biologist.

Dr. Shane advised the experimental team by teaching necessary laboratory techniques and guided the team on the overall experimental design. She wrote and optimized most lab protocols and oversaw the in-vivo bee experiment because of her knowledge of entomological research.

Cynthia Thomas, The Citizen Science Lab;STEM Coordinator.

Cynthia supported the experimental team with her knowledge of protocols and lab techniques for setup and troubleshooting. Being familiar with the iGEM program, Cynthia also provided relevant insight and guidance during the preparation for the competition.

Cecilia Lapp Stoltzfus, The Citizen Science Lab;Program Coordinator

Cecilia supported the team’s efforts around acquiring and maintaining honeybees for laboratory experimentation, outreach to the local apicultural community and assisting with organizational processes.

Alex Winschel

Alex is a local beekeeper who was generous enough to donate bees to us for our research in the in-vivo trial. He assisted in the transition of the bees to our hive and how to retrieve our bee of choice.

Brandon Keat

Brandon is a local high school teacher, beekeeper, and member of Pittsburgh’s urban beekeepers association: Burgh Bees. Brandon shared his knowledge and skills around hive maintenance, pest monitoring, and general beekeeping practices with our team.