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The Team

Welcome to our wiki! This is the 2019 USYD iGEM team! We’re a group of final year Science students with a wide spectrum of interests. We’re a fun-loving bunch who are all super passionate about our project this year. We each have our own roles and responsibilities but pitch in to help each other whenever we can. Scroll down and hover your cursor over our faces! :D

Fahad Ali - Team Leader

Fahad Ali is a final year Science student with a dual major in Genetics and Genomics and Quantitative Life Science, and a research assistant in a molecular genetics lab. As team leader, he’s responsible for overseeing all the different aspects of the project, but he’s most at home inside a wet lab.

Outside the lab, Fahad is a writer and activist. He led the University of Sydney’s first entry in the Sydney Mardi Gras and founded Muslims for Marriage Equality during the Australian same-sex marriage campaign. His work has been featured in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, and ABC Radio Sydney, and he has been recognised as an honorary citizen of the City of Bethlehem for his peace advocacy work in the Palestine solidarity movement.

If Fahad could have any superpower, it would be the ability to calculate a dilution factor in his head. But, failing that, he’s happy to take on X-ray vision.

Nathan Hawkins - Head of Collaboration

Nathan is a final year science student with a major in molecular biology and genetics. An avid fan of all things biotech, Nathan is drawn to unique and creative uses of molecular biology with a curiosity inspired by a desire to learn the details of his own immunological deficiency. He loves the power of productive teamwork and works to promote a healthy work-life balance in the team by dragging them away from the lab and assisting in all areas of the project.

When he's not attempting to learn and explain anything and everything biology Nathan feels most at home in a studio practicing his locking dance grooves or on the couch playing some Smash Brothers and resetting his brain with the Simpsons.

If he could choose any superpower he'd probably pick telepathy. "I want to know what my new goldfish are thinking."

Isobel Magrath - Head of Outreach

Isobel is in her final year of a Bachelor of Science, with a double major in Molecular Biology & Genetics and Microbiology. She’s in charge of the team’s outreach efforts, which involves helping educate the wider community about science. She’s also responsible for the team’s publicity and social media and works in the wet lab, too.

Isobel’s passions include talking, reading and thinking about science. In particular, she’s fascinated by weird and wonderful microbes (her favourite is Deinococcus radiodurans), fluorescent proteins and synthetic biology. Outside of science she enjoys spending time with her fantastic friends, reading, drinking good coffee and beer, and travelling.

If Isobel could have any super power she’d like to be able to teleport, but she’d also just settle for being able to focus a microscope properly for once in her life.

Emma Todd - Head of Integrated Human Practices

Emma is in charge of our Integrated Human Practices work. She is in her third year of a Science degree, majoring in Microbiology and Genetics. She spends the bulk of her time researching the ins and outs of psilocybin legality and is fairly sure that her Google searches have now put her on some kind of list.

Outside the lab, Emma loves to cook, paint, and she does a bit of casual boxing — don’t get on her bad side; she has a mean right cross!

If Emma could have any superpower it would either be to fly so she could visit any country in the world at any time, and easily get between home, classes, and the lab... or to be invisible in embarrassing moments!

Merrie Caruana - Head of Wet Lab

Merrie is in the final year of a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) majoring in Biochemistry and Plant Science. She is in charge of planning and organising the team’s work in the wet lab.

Merrie is a big science geek and has an inexplicable love for enzyme kinetics. She also loves indoor plants, hiking, and 90s punk rock.

If Merrie could have any superpower it would be the ability to manipulate time so she can get more done.

Benj Gonzaga - Head of Website Design

Benj is in his final year of Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Microbiology and Biochemistry. He’s in charge of coding and designing the 2019 iGEM website, a task he is a feversihly learning and enjoying to do, all the while allowing his creativity to run free. Although most of the time he’s banging his head against the desk trying to find out why his code isn’t working. He’s also right at home spending hours on end in the lab working with microbes, an embodiment of his dream job.

When Benj is actually at home, he likes to unwind by playing video games, watching youtube videos on any topic he finds interesting, cooking large meals for his family, and listening to audiobooks.

If Benj could have any superpower he would have ALL OF THEM because no one said he couldn’t.

Merlin - Group Mascot and Cuteness Ambassador

Merlin the Magic E. coli is in charge of maintaining group morale and inspiring the group's day to day activities. Merlin was so excited to come into the lab that he made himself a lab coat but currently has not been for fear of being sent to the autoclave. Merlin is not a big fan of the idea of having a high temperature pressurised power shower.

Outside of the lab, when he's not practicing his magic tricks he sits on Emma's shelf or a desk in the lab building. His favourite food is mushroom risotto. He really wants to go on a massive trip! ...around the world as he's heard he has relatives in food carts world-over and would love to visit them, even though he's heard they can be a bit nasty.

If Merlin could have any superpower it would be to be able to participate in a massive clinical trial on the therapeutic value of psilocybin he makes, or, to be recognised as a legal therapeutic agent in Australia and around the world.

Dr Nick Coleman - Our Supervisor

Nick is a microbial ecologist by training, who is also interested in microbial biotechnology and synthetic biology. His roles include making sure the iGEM team doesn’t destroy the beautiful new LEES lab and cracking the whip every now and again when the team gets too focused on the social aspect of iGEM and isn’t putting enough hours into the lab! He has also taken a keen interest in the Vivid G-block part improvements as he loves fluorescent proteins. When not microbiologizing (Yes this is definitely a word) things, Nick likes gardening, hiking, and playing Magic the Gathering (NERD ALERT!). If Nick could have any superpower it would be the ability to give bacteria verbal commands instead of e.g. having to add IPTG.

The man is wearing previous year's team shirt. A traitor and a scoundrel I say!