Front Row: Lindsey Schenten, Laura Schaerer, Emma Byrne, Rehab Alhajjar
Principal Investigator
Stephen Techtmann, Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
I am interested in the biotechnological applications of environmental microbes. In particular I’m curious about how we can extract meaningful information from environmental microbial communities and leverage that information for enhanced environmental monitoring and processing of organic pollutants such as oil and plastic waste.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Lindsay Putman, PhD
I am interested in microbial community dynamics in natural environments. I aim to understand how changes in the physical/chemical environment alter microbial community composition and function. I am particularly interested in thinking about how we can harness the unique capabilities of these dynamic communities to aid in the clean-up and maintenance of our natural environment and help us maintain sustainable and renewable sources of energy and materials.
Prajakta Kokate PhD
I am interested in microbial evolution. Specifically, I am keen to understand biogeographic patterns in microbes and the potential causative factors. I am seeking to genomics and bioinformatics to understand microbial evolution and response to environmental change. I’m also working on development of tools for rapid assessment of safety and toxicity of alternative proteins.
Graduate Students
Laura Schaerer (PhD Student Biological Sciences)
I am primarily interested in using microorganisms and data science to solve everyday problems. The focus of my current research project is using natural microbial communities to up-cycle plastic waste.
Yogita Warkhade (PhD Student Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
I am working on biochemical characterization of carbon monoxide dehydrogenases and alkane monooxygenases identified in metagenomic datasets
Isaac Bigcraft (PhD Student Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
I am primarily interested in bioinformatics and exploring the applications of computer and data science in biological research with a focus on machine learning applications for studying microbial communities
Alexzandra Merkle (PhD Student Biology)
Microbial community dynamics in wastewater treatment lagoons and plant microbe interactions in floating treatment wetlands.
Isabel Valencia (MS Student Biology)
Microbial interactions in plastic degrading consortia. Synthetic microbial communities for plastic upcycling.
Undergraduates
Leah Harazin (Environmental Engineering)
Allison Olson (Environmental Engineering)
Morgan Hallberg (Environmental Engineering)
Lab Alumni
Graduate Students
Luke Moore – MS Student Biological Sciences
Rehab Alhajjar – PhD in Biological Sciences – Currently a postdoctoral fellow in Chemical Engineering at Michigan Tech
Ryan Ghannam – PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – Currently Senior Scientist at Ann Arbor Pharmacometrics Group
Emma Byrne – MS in Biological Sciences – Currently Environmental Quality Analyst at Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
Lindsey Schenten – MS in Biological Sciences
Waad Aljohani – MS in Biological Sciences – Currently a PhD student at University of Sheffield
Aziz Alrashdi – MS in Biological Sciences – Currently Molecular Biology Specialist at Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agiculture.
Timothy Butler MS in Biological Science- Currently Application Scientist at Agilent Technologies
Undergraduates
Emily Wood
Christian Holmstrom
Nathan Ostlund
Kayley Roche
Kirstyn Corder
Paige Webb
Cacie Clifford
Kirstyn Corder
William Christian
Elise Cheney-Makens
Anna-Catharine Wilhelm
Quinton Kreuger
Andrew Baldwin
Jeremy Pepin
Andreas Koerner
Amber Dwyer