During graduate school I worked as a Teaching Assistant for Advanced Biomanufacturing and Biocatalysis at the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center at NC State. This course gives students an overview of four main modules in upstream biomanufacturing: antibody therapies, vaccines, cell and gene therapies, and biocatalysis.

During graduate school I worked as a Teaching Assistant for Yeast Metabolic Engineering in the Biotechnology Department at NC State. This course allows students to metabolically engineer yeast with the Yeast Golden Gate method to allow for beta-carotene production. The class spans the entire metabolic engineering process, from initial transcriptional unit construction to metabolic analysis of the resulting strains. My main responsibilities include assisting with the labs, performing preparatory work, participating in experiments alongside students, aiding in lesson planning, and grading assignments.

During graduate school I worked as a Metagenomics Teaching Assistant for the Biotechnology Department at NC State. This course exposes students to metagenomic analysis of microbiome data from various sources including compost and sink drains around campus. My main responsibilities include assisting with the labs, performing preparatory work, participating in experiments alongside students, aiding in lesson planning, and grading assignments.

Worked as a Production Deployment Associate in the Operations Management Department at the Pfizer Sanford site. My main role was helping with the execution of strategic corporate initiatives in lean manufacturing across multiple disciplines of the drug manufacturing process. One of my projects was planning and deploying 5S principles in the material supply and quality control areas. I analyzed equipment utilization data to determine overall equipment effectiveness and provide recommendations in quality control. Furthermore, I was able to guide the efforts of a cross-functional team in creating an innovative and sustainable training and learning program to complement the growth of the Sanford site. To continue the development of my technical skills and pursue my interest in upstream biomanufacturing, I was given the opportunity to help with the execution of fermentations utilizing S. pneumoniae T3 in defined media with the Manufacturing Science and Technology (MSAT) department.

Skills gained:

• Project Management
• Lean Manufacturing
• 5S
• DMAIC Problem-Solving
• Data Analysis
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Public Speaking
• Influencing Others
• Voice of Customer
• Fermentation in 300mL bioreactors
• Aseptic Technique

Worked as a Strain Development Intern at Arbiom, a company transforming wood into a high-protein ingredient for aquaculture and animal feed. My main role is within the Strain Development Department, tasked with improving the company's strain of yeast, Candida utilis, with non-GMO methods. My responsibilities range from method development, experimental planning, performing experiments, literature review, and equipment procural.

Concurrently while working in Dr. Schal's lab, I worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant in Dr. Ralph Dewey's lab in the Department of Crop Science. I assisted in two research projects while in Dr. Dewey's lab (see Research Projects Section below) and gained several technical skills in the sphere of genetically modifying plants and plant tissue cell culture. My main responsibilities included: aseptic media preparation, weekly sterile transferring of plant tissue cultures, DNA extractions of plant samples, and maintenance of tobacco plants in the greenhouse.

German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) are a common indoor pest. While the function of endosymbiotic bacteria in German cockroaches is well known, little is known concerning the growth dynamics of these endosymbionts. In this project, I am investigating the effects of German cockroach population, age, sex, and diet on Blattabacterium growth kinetics. This project involves the rearing and maintenance of German cockroach populations, along with molecular techniques including DNA extraction and qPCR.

Nicotine is a stimulant and alkaloid found in products containing tobacco. While nicotine is not considered a carcinogen, several of its derivatives are. This research project aims to decrease the carcinogenic nicotine derivatives in tobacco plants, by transforming tobacco plants. I am performing Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of tobacco plants, including transformation, sterile media preparation, and weekly sterile transferring of plant samples to new media for regeneration of transgenic plants.

This research project involved transforming root protoplasts to quantify transient expression and analyzing subcellular localization of GFP fused proteins. The methodology involved included seed sterilization, media preparation, plating seeds on cell culture plates, transformation of root protoplasts, and confocal microscopy to visualize protein expression.

One prominent health risk associated with cockroach infestations is an increase in allergies and asthma. I am assisting on a large-scale project to determine the efficacy of various management strategies to reduce German cockroaches and their allergens from the home. This project involves field sampling and allergen quantification using ELISAs.

Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are common ectoparasites found in close association with humans. Along with their bites, bed bugs were recently found to produce histamine, a pivotal modulator in the mammalian immune response. Even worse, histamine was recently determined to accumulate in household dust and could pose a serious risk to human health. I am investigating the effects of time since feeding, developmental stage, and mating on histamine production in bed bugs. This project involved histamine extraction, derivatization, and quantification using GC-MS.