What did you do before this?

I worked on research in metabolic engineering in S. cerevisiae as a post-doc in Kristala Prather’s lab at MIT.

Why did you come here?

During grad school I saw one of the founders speak about their work to create an automated strain engineering platform that allowed anyone in their company, not just molecular biologists, to build strains. I was absolutely blown away. It was a classic moment of: “I’m doing everything wrong and I need to be doing that.” As soon as I finished my post-doc, I applied to work at Zymergen, and I’m so happy to be here.

What’s your work at Zymergen really like?

Overall my time is roughly split 50% labwork, 40% planning/data analysis/reporting, and 10% client management. Some days I plan and execute strain construction cycles on our high throughput platforms. Other days I do low throughput development work to bring a new organism or technique to the company.

What do you like most about your role?

I love the direct connection my work has to real world consequences. Through our partners we work on organisms that produce some of the largest fermented products by market size. Knowing that the strains I build today will sit in million liter fermentors in a relatively short amount of time is the best reason to come to work.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I have a two-year-old son who wants to spend all his time at the beach so we enjoy heading to the coast on the weekends. I also help run a collective promoting art, community and the occasional party. Being a molecular biologist has also made me a pretty good cook, so I try to prioritize making dinner with friends as much as possible.