Team:Guelph/Team
Roles: Co-President, Director of Research
Roles: Biosensor Project Lead, Branding and Social Media
Roles: Biosensor Project Lead, Blog Subcommittee Head, Recruitment Officer
Roles: Beerstone Project Lead, Events Coordinator, Guelph Synthetic Biology Club President/Founder
Roles: Head of Human Policy and Practices, Wet Lab Member, CRISPR Pilot Project Lead
Roles: Biosensor Project Assistant, Head of Wiki Subcommittee
Role: Head of Science Communications
Role: CRISPR Pilot Project Lead
Role: Social Media Startup Head
Kelli is a Molecular Biology and Genetics student at the University of Guelph. Advisory Role: Co-President, Director of Operations
Advisory Role: Research Coordinator
When Adam was younger he wanted to become a geneticist. He never ended up enjoying biology as much as physics and decided to go into Mechanical Engineering instead. When he was offered the chance to do some microbiology over the summer while taking courses it felt like it was worth at least applying for. He enjoyed the iGEM 101 Boot Camp, and everything they were doing and learning was interesting enough that he joined the iGEM Guelph team. Adam thinks it's incredibly interesting being a part of a scientific research team and seeing how different majors/people approach different problems. Additionally, he has mainly worked with people who were forced into cooperation due to group projects and working on a team full of people who want to be there is a much more enjoyable experience. Adam’s favourite hobby is reading. Becca is a fourth year Arts and Science student studying Molecular Biology and Genetics and Psychology as her two specializations. This is her first year on the iGEM team and she is excited to pursue research and to talk about global issues on an undergraduate research team. Becca is a member of the main Wet Lab team, CRISPRi in Plants Pilot Project as well as the ethics subcommittee. She hopes to contribute to the scientific community in a meaningful way and to continue to bring ethics and global issues into scientific discussion. Currently, she has attended the SynBio 4.0 Conference in Waterloo and Combining Two Cultures conference at the University of Guelph and hopes to attend more in the future to keep learning about the science across Canada. Outside of the iGEM lab and the Ethics Podcast, you can find Becca studying fungal pathogens in the Shapiro lab, canoeing in Algonquin park or watching Netflix. Alia was a Beerstone wrap-up team member at the beginning of the iGEM season. Catherine is in her third year of Molecular Biology and Genetics (MBG) with a minor in Microbiology. She has an interest in bacterial and viral genetics, and looks forward to pursuing courses that feature these themes in the upcoming semester. She loves sharing her passion for science with others, especially with kids. Catherine works as a camp counselor at Guelph’s STEM Camp, she enjoys imparting her knowledge onto the younger generation. Catherine is new to iGEM this year. She joined iGEM because she hoped to gain experience with independent lab work, and she wanted to meet people with similar interests. Catherine is a member of the CRISPR in Plants Pilot Project team. Catherine’s other interests include knitting, camping, hiking, and going to concerts. Christine is entering her 3rd year of Biological and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Guelph. This is her first time participating in iGEM as a Wet Lab member and the Social Media subcommittee. She decided to join iGEM because she was intrigued at the amount of applications synthetic biology has in the real world. She thoroughly enjoys working in a laboratory setting with team-oriented members that has been both refreshing and educational. Christine is unsure of her future, but she thinks that broadening one's passions will help in finding the answer. Christine has many hobbies, which include learning new languages, cooking dishes from a variety of cuisines, doing traditional and digital art, playing musical instruments and running. Daniel is a third year Biomedical Sciences student. Although this is his first year as a member of the iGEM Guelph team, he says the experience he has gained has surpassed anything he could have learned in class. Daniel joined iGEM as a way to gain the hands-on experience that really elevates his understanding of concepts which can then be applied to whatever future career paths he may follow. Daniel has really enjoyed working with other students that are new to the lab, and notes that discussions among iGEM team members are always constructive, educational and fun. Outside the lab, Daniel enjoys listening to music, especially funk, alt-rock and progressive rock and playing the drums, especially when jamming with other passionate musicians. Devin is a fourth year Biological Science major, and is a Wet Lab member as well as part of the Beerstone team. Growing up he always wondered why things are the way they are and stopped at nothing to find the answers to those questions. He joined iGEM to not only challenge his own mind, but also to meet others who shared his passion for science and pick their brains as well. So far Devin is enjoying all aspects of iGEM, however, hes particularly enjoying the opportunity to apply the concepts he has learned in the classroom all these years in a lab environment. Outside of academics, Devin is passionate about music and listens to blues, rock, jazz, funk, and rap and is constantly seeking new music suggestions to expand his musical palette. He has played the guitar for many years and would love to one day create his own music. Enzo is a second year Biomedical Sciences major. He worked this summer as an undergraduate research assistant in the Geography department to develop new sustainability practices for the university, and this semester he is working in a lab in the Human Health and Nutritional Science department as a work study student. He joined iGEM as a Wet Lab member for his curiosity and passion towards science, and enjoys working with the variety of talented and like-minded individuals that compose iGEM. Enzo aspires to become a medical professional in his later years, and is working to broaden and diversify his knowledge and skill set in his undergrad in various scientific disciplines, especially plant sciences and microbiology. Outside of school and research, Enzo is a classical pianist and works for the Sustainability Office as a coordinator for students who volunteer for different compost programs on campus. Grace is in her third year of Biomedical Science. This is her first year in iGEM and she is a member of the Wet Lab, as well as the Blog Subcommittee. Grace joined iGEM to acquire more technical skills and meet other students interested in research and she enjoys collaborating with her teammates and having fun in the lab. She plans to pursue a career in medicine and aspires to be a physician in the future. Currently, she has attended the SynBio 4.0 Conference in Waterloo and hopes to attend more events in the scientific community to learn more about research. Outside the iGEM lab, you’ll catch Grace at the Shapiro lab, studying for the MCAT, or watching Netflix. Griffin’s major is Biomedical Engineering. He joined iGEM Guelph because upon first hearing about it, it seemed like an amazing way to get applicable hands on experience. Not only supplying experience on how to start a project from the ground up and follow it through to the end but also, simply providing him with the chance to take the theoretical knowledge from classes that was of great interest to him and apply it to real world applications and further his learning. Being in Engineering, iGEM really is helping Griffin to broaden his horizons into the research field, something he may not have been able to dive into as easily anywhere else. He really likes how the projects are all student-led as well, making it really feel like a collaborative work and something that you don’t have to be an expert in the field to be able to join. Hannah is in her third year majoring in Microbiology with a minor in Biochemistry. This is her first year in the iGEM community. Hannah is a member of the CRISPR Pilot Project, and is part of the events subcommittee. Her responsibilities include laboratory work and event planning and creation. Hannah is especially interested in disease control and prevention. Outside the lab, you will not see Hannah because she is antisocial and at home 24/7. Marcus is a Wet Lab member studying Animal Biology Major, going into his third year. He wanted to learn new things about science and see/experience things that he would not be able to in a normal university course setting. He wanted to take part in the whole lab work and planning of a project as it is very exciting to be a part of. Marcus loves that everyone involved in iGEM is so passionate about the projects and about iGEM itself. He really likes that iGEM brings together people from different majors and subjects. All of the returning members are always there to help and eager to teach new things to the new members and are always encouraging everyone to get involved in some way. Finally, everyone has great ideas that they can contribute to the team. Niamh is in her fourth year of Animal Biology with a minor in Molecular Biology and Genetics. This is her first year on the iGEM Guelph team, and she is thoroughly enjoying working on the Biosensor project as a Wet Lab member, as well as helping run the teams’ social media accounts. Niamh first joined the team to gain applicable lab experience and meet like-minded people, and in doing so, she has also found a passion for research that she hopes to pursue further in the future. After graduating she will likely continue on to Grad school where she hopes to combine her love of animals with her keen interest in genetics and epidemiology. Outside of iGEM and school, Niamh enjoys working at a local vet clinic, spending time with friends and family, travelling, and hanging out with her deaf cat Jumbalaya. Nikola is a third year Biomedical Science student. This is his first year with the iGEM team as a Wet Lab member, CRISPR Pilot Project member, and part of the Events Subcommittee. His previous work experience includes lifeguarding and warehouse work so he is blindly jumping head-first into the world of synthetic biology. Nikola loves trying to tackle problems from different angles and points of view to find the best solution, so he’s fitting right in with the synthetic biology crowd. He is enjoying the laboratory setting and hopes to gain more experience in research positions and expand his knowledge on what is possible with the use of synthetic biology and its benefits to the world. Sahel is a fourth year Molecular Biology and Genetics major with a minor in Microbiology. Growing up in Sri Lanka, he was always interested in biotechnology, but unfortunately sciences of this kind were not readily available there. Moving to Canada opened up a plethora of opportunities for him, and iGEM was one of the most important. Now, Sahel not only gets to study the science, but also to apply to solve real-world problems and understand it better than ever before. Sahel’s ambition is to pursue pharmaceutical biotechnology and one day operate his own company, and he believes iGEM will play an important role in his future. He appreciates what iGEM has provided and is very excited to further collaborate with the team. When not involved in academics, Sahel loves to play the violin, train Krav Maga and snowboard. Sathyajith is a third year Biomedical Engineering student and is also a wet lab member for the biosensor project. He decided to join iGEM because of his special interest in the real-world applications of synthetic biology. Sath was extremely excited for the iGEM 101 event which allowed him to gain hands-on experience in a lab that his program would otherwise not have covered. Through iGEM Sath was able to discover the true depth of scientific study and gave him the opportunity to meet a variety of like-minded individuals who share his passion in scientific exploration. Besides school and lab work, Sath enjoys playing sports, travelling and loves binging television as well. Tharane is a third year Environmental Science student majoring in Ecology. She is part of the CRISPR Pilot Project team. Her interest in the science of plants started early on when she gardened vegetables at home and later grew when she started taking plant science courses. She joined the CRISPR team because of its focus on the environmental aspects of the project. Through iGEM she hopes to learn about genetic engineering and gain more knowledge about the cool stuff plants can do. In her free time she volunteers at a local community garden and teaches children to play the piano and violin. Vivian is in her third year of Molecular Biology and Genetics. It is her first year with iGEM, and she is a Wet Lab member and part of the CRISPR Pilot Project. Vivian joined iGEM to gain lab experience and meet people studying science as well. Outside the lab, she enjoys volunteering at a local retirement facility, cooking, and reading mystery novels. 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 2019 project year. 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 current major research projects are steroid degradation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other bacteria and microbial enzymes involved in lignin degradation and aromatic environmental pollutants. Dr. Seah is one of our team’s faculty advisors for the 2019 project year.
While not generally active in the lab, Bowser is always there providing much needed moral and emotional support to the team. He spends most of his days lounging under his favourite heat lamp in Nykole's apartment. As for his interests, Bowser is very curious about the field of cricketology. He also enjoys rock climbing, jazz, blueberries, and the works of Cormac McCarthy and Bob Ross. Though keen to maintain his identity as people, Bowser is regularly mistaken for a bearded dragon. In the future, Bowser plans to continue doing exactly what he is doing now, just louder.
Executive Team
Jehoshua Sharma
Jehoshua is in his fifth year of Microbiology Co-op, with minors in Molecular Biology & Genetics as well as Philosophy. He is currently a research assistant within the lab of Dr Rebecca Shapiro. There, he uses CRISPR to study the genetics of the drug-resistant pathogens, Candida albicans and Candida auris. He is also one of the founders of iGEM Guelph since 2016. He works on giving students access to the tools that they need to conduct research independently and communicate their research on a wider scale to the public. His current research focus is on the discovery of compounds that can either enhance the activity of known drugs or that can disarm the pathogen of the mechanisms that make them harmful to the human host.
Through talks and outreach events, Jehoshua has made it clear that a significant aspect of his work is scientific communication. He believes the idea that if the public can understand us, we can advance faster. He aims to do this by making cutting-edge scientific research publicly accessible and show us that there are emerging solutions for our current antibiotic resistant crisis.
Connor Gianetto-Hill
Connor is currently in his last year in the Microbiology Co-op program. After multiple co-op work positions and the declaration of a Biotechnology Minor, Connor found interest in pushing the limits of what biological systems can do. This interest led him to join iGEM Guelph as a project lead creating a biosensor capable of detecting tetracycline. Through iGEM, Connor has learned skills and abilities that would not have been possible through the traditional classroom or instructional lab settings. In his free time, Connor enjoys making graphic design art pieces and watching the same three shows on Netflix on repeat.
Nathanael Willms
Nathanael is in his second year of iGEM, and his third year in Molecular Biology and Genetics, with a particular fascination towards how the expression of microscopic genes can correspond to macroscopic phenotypic changes in an organism. He led the creation of The Micron, a science-popularizing blog that publishes articles written by iGEM Guelph members. He also served the team in February in his capacity as Recruitment Officer, coordinating iGEM Guelph’s winter recruitment campaign, which saw the team membership increase from 8 to about 35 in 2019. He has had the privilege to attend the 2019 SynBio Canada conference in Toronto and SynBio 4.0 in Waterloo this year, where he has learned a lot about the professional world of synthetic biology and the role that iGEM is playing in it. Nathanael’s hobbies include curling up at home with sci-fi/fantasy, reading about history and politics, inventing languages, and going on the occasional adventure.Nicole LeBlanc
Nicole is in her fourth year of Molecular Biology and Genetics with a minor in Statistics. She has a passion for synthetic biology and plans to pursue her PhD in a related field. As the Beerstone Project Lead, she trained and supervised newer members in the lab as well as planning out the project. As Events Coordinator, she oversees a team of members planning community outreach events and an Ontario iGEM team conference. She also led 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 lawn bowls for Canada's national team, plays tennis, and cares for her two guinea pigs, Sophie and Stella.Eleanor Cloves
Eleanor is entering her third year of school. She is studying Molecular Biology and Genetics. Her role as Head of Human Policy and Practices has a role in making sure the subcommittees of iGEM are functioning easily and efficiently. It involves sitting in on meetings, helping to set goals and keeping members on task. The subcommittees being overviewed in the 2019-2020 year are wiki, blog, social media, ethics, and events. The Project Lead role in CRISPR project involves keeping the Director of Research and iGEM Execs informed on the work being done. It also involves preparing and executing lab work, as well as the lab work for the rest of the team. Eleanor really enjoys the work that they do for iGEM, which is inspiring the forward movement of synthetic biology. It helps her see the progress in the field in real time. She attended the 2019 SynBio Canada Conference. Larsen Iorgovits
Larsen is a third year Microbiology Co-op student. This summer, he had started his first Co-op work term at Corteva Agriscience, working in Canola production, by helping create Doubled-Haploid plants. This is his second year competing in iGEM with the University of Guelph team. His responsibilities this year include laboratory work, assisting in lab ordering, team management, and wiki creation. In the scientific community, Larsen is very keen on continuing his career in synthetic biology and hopes to one day merge his enjoyment of parasitology with the field. He has attended the SynBio 3.0 and SynBio 4.0 Conferences, and hopes to continue in attending more events as he readies for iGEM 2020 competition. Outside the lab, you might catch Larsen at his local climbing gym or biking on the trails.
Sarah Pravato
Sarah is a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences. She graduated with a minor in Neuroscience and completed an undergraduate thesis in neuropharmacology. Sarah joined iGEM summer of 2019 after being convinced there would be others that enjoy nerding out about the world as much as she did. Throughout her undergrad Sarah was the resident "art kid" in most of her classes alongside biomedical students. In her final year, Sarah found her niche of expressing cutting-edge research effectively using design and art, throwing her into the world of science communication. Sarah enjoys using iGEM as an outlet and a community to talk science and experiment with different avenues of science communication. In the future, Sarah aims to pursue science communication as a career that allows her to continue to travel and collaborate with bright and interesting people. When Sarah isn't mildly procrastinating you can find her lost in your local greenhouse, having "casual" beers with her friends, or researching her next opportunity to travel. Sarah is a huge advocate of maintaining a happy work-life balance and prioritizing mental health and hopes to encourage others to do the same.
Layla Alibabai
Layla is a first year Master’s candidate. Her thesis is centered on determining possible therapeutic targets for tumour cell metastasis. Although her current research focuses on cancer biology, she joined iGEM as a way to continue to broaden her understanding of plant biology, a topic she is still very interested in. Outside of school and iGEM Layla loves to read, bake, have fun with friends, or play with her kitten! If you have any questions or just want to chat she is always available!
Kelli Sokoloff
Advisors
Dan Lipworth
Dan is in his fifth 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 is currently serving as Co-President/Director of Operations for the 2019 season. He wildly underestimated how busy he would be, but is relishing the level of entrepreneurship required to go from a small team of 8 people to a juggernaut of 35. Responsibilities include liaising with the various departments at the school, fundraising, managing subcommittee leads, managing finances, conflict resolution, materials ordering and inventory, event planning, and innumerable other small but critical tasks.Nykole Crevits
Nykole is a recent graduate of Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology and Genetics, and possesses a Biotechnology Technician Diploma from Conestoga College. She is a Transgenic Canola Research Technician with Saturn AgroSciences. A member of iGEM Guelph since 2017, she now acts in an advisory role as Research Coordinator, iGEM Guelph's resident "Plant Person", Wiki consultation and troubleshooting, as well as the team’s unofficial Punmaster Supreme. In her role as Research Coordinator, she was instrumental in managing the team's three research projects including the "Beerstone" and "CRISPRi in Plants" project, before consolidating and unifying the team around the Biosensor Project. She originally joined iGEM because it was the first extracurricular activity she found that intensely sparked her interest, and because it was an opportunity to work with a team of like-minded individuals. Nykole most enjoys working with such a diverse team, especially the brainstorming sessions and discussions that lead to “AHA!” moments amongst the world’s next generation of amazing scientists. She attended the 2017 Giant Jamboree on behalf of iGEM Guelph, and the SynBio 4.0 Conference in Waterloo this year. Outside of the lab, you can find Nykole and her bearded dragon Bowser doing their best to master every new skill possible, be it woodcarving, printmaking, playing the mandolin or trumpet, board games, digital art, you name it!Team Members
Adam Jutzi
Becca Stevens-Green
Alia Myers
Catherine Fust
Christine Thou
Daniel Hinds
Devin Nagami
Enzo Baracuhy
Grace Kim
Griffin Smith
Hannah Parente
King (Marcus) Hei Tam
Niamh Butler-Carroll
Nikola Tasic
Sahel Gamage
Sathyajith Pinikeshi
Tharane Banugoban
Vivian Versluis
Primary Investigators
Dr. Rebecca Shapiro
Dr. Stephen Seah
Bowser
Next: Collaborations
