Students

Allison Howell

Allison is a rising senior studying microbiology with minors in pharmaceutical sciences and health, environment, risk, and science communication. Her favorite part about iGEM is how it challenges members to approach the life sciences from an engineering perspective and emphasizes the human practices and real world implications of the projects that teams develop. Her favorite animal is a hedgehog, and she has wanted one as a pet for the last 5 years. She can almost always be seen with a coffee in hand and believes strongly that iced coffee is a year round drink.

Avery Brewer

Avery is a sophomore double majoring in Sustainable Plant Systems and Chemistry with a Philosophy minor. Her favorite part of iGEM is its interdisciplinary nature and having opportunities across a range of disciplines. Her favorite animal is a crow or a raven, because even though they can seem dark, they’re usually just messing around. One of her greatest vices is her addiction to Bang energy drinks. While she is ostensibly pursuing science, nobody would be shocked if she suddenly disappeared into the woods.

Christopher Kimmel

Christopher is a junior majoring in Math. For Chris, the best part of iGEM is meeting like-minded nerds from around the world. His favorite biologist is currently George Church. When he’s not working on iGEM or homework, he likes to jog. He can even run a six minute mile, but is still usually 30 seconds late to class. If Chris were a tree he would be the banana tree, because Chris is definitely not a dicot.

Jacob Riina

Jacob will be a senior Molecular Genetics major this year with a specialization in plant cellular and molecular biology. He loves that iGEM encourages the use of the vast scientific body of knowledge and its many available tools to solve tangible problems. His current interests include developmental genetics, biological computing, and metaphysics. When not studying, he can often be found baking or at a concert.

Jason West

Jason is a rising senior studying Pharmaceutical Sciences with a focus in Drug Discovery and Development. His favorite part of iGEM is being able to work with people in other scientific disciplines and solve problems based on combined knowledge and experiences. In the future he wants to pursue a Master’s or Ph.D in medicinal chemistry. His favorite activity outside of class and lab is being a member of the Ohio State University Marching Band.

Peter Menart

Peter is a sophomore majoring in Physics and Math. He participates in iGEM because likes learning about the math involved in modelling synthetic biology, and it gives him a reason to do graphic design. One of Peter’s favorite snacks is sour patch watermelons, although sour patch kids are good as well. If Peter had to live his life as an animal, he would be a dog, because they don’t have to deal with html. Peter’s favorite part of iGEM is the memes.

Phoebe Huang

Phoebe is a sophomore studying Pharmaceutical Sciences with a minor in Epidemiology. When she is not thinking about iGEM, she’s thinking about how iGEM presents an opportunity for people of all avenues of college career can come together and collaborate on a solution to a real world problem. When she isn’t thinking about the previous two, she’s scrolling through instagram watching cat videos and drinking orange juice with (some) pulp. Phoebe also definitely doesn’t have a playlist full of Russian rap.

Prajwal Hegde

Prajwal is a rising senior majoring in Microbiology while dabbing in Philosophy. He appreciates the free-flowing nature of iGEM, and the high degree of creativity it permits. His favorite animal is the common wolf, and he enjoys munching on white-fudge Oreos and Mountain Dew. If he was a piece of lab equipment, he would definitely be a centrifuge, because he finds himself spiraling at incredibly rapid rates for extended periods of time.

Mentors

Brian Ahmer

Brian Ahmer is a professor in the College of Medicine at Ohio State University. His lab works on Salmonella quorum sensing and physiology. He loves bacterial genetics and teaching students which makes him a natural fit for iGEM.

Anice Sabag-Daigle

Anice Sabag-Daigle is a Research Scientist in the lab of Brian Ahmer. She has been elucidating the fructose-asparagine utilization pathway in Salmonella and is currently undertaking high throughput drug discovery assays for antimicrobials that target this novel metabolic pathway. Her worst lab mistake was setting her ethanol jar on fire. Her favorite part of iGEM is working with the fantastic students at OSU and watching them develop into budding future scientists.

Andrew Schwieters

Andrew is a graduate student in the lab of Brian Ahmer. He studies quorum sensing in Salmonella and other enteric pathogens. His favorite aspect of iGEM is mentoring undergraduate students and helping them think critically about microbiology and genetics.

Erin Connors

Erin Connors is a second year graduate student in the lab of Brian Ahmer. She studies the toxicity mechanisms of 6-P-fructose-asparagine, a metabolic intermediate, in Salmonella. Her favorite animal is her puppy Bella and her worst lab mistake has been using elution buffer instead of binding buffer in her miniprep. She enjoys playing recreational soccer. Her favorite thing about iGEM is watching the interactions between the outreach school and the iGEM students.

Robert Ward

Robert is a PhD student with the STIP group at Georgia Tech. He studies how the structure and dynamics of organizations and networks influence the production of scientific knowledge. His favorite part of iGEM is watching the team grow as scientists and leaders. He also liked that time when Jacob and Phoebe made him lemon cupcakes.

Team:OhioState/Team