Team:Alberta/team

I was born in Toronto, Ontario but have spent nearly my entire life in Edmonton. I aim to contribute my knowledge and abilities in this field to the U of A iGEM team. I look forward to being a part of a team that offers its students a chance to participate in the scientific community and to contribute to the burgeoning field of synthetic biology. My outside interests are: sport (soccer, rock climbing), music (playing kit drums, listening to nearly all genres), and languages (fluent in one, nearly-functional in three more, and can say at least “thank you” in about 30 others). I sincerely hope to help ensure that the U of A team continues to prove itself as an organization in the vanguard of scientific innovation. I also love to laugh…ha ha.

This is my first year in iGEM. I joined iGEM because of the opportunities it presented in learning about research, synthetic biology and the applications of computing science to these fields. I am interested in mathematical modeling, genetics and molecular biology and I would like to pursue these interests by obtaining my doctorate and doing research into mathematical modeling of biological systems. I am originally from Red Deer, Alberta and in my free time, I enjoy travelling around the Canadian Rockies doing activities such as backpacking, canoeing and biking. I look forward to solving problems and working with and meeting new people through the course of this project.

This is my second year being involved in iGEM. While Biochemistry is my major, I have many interests including Genetics, Immunology, Cell Biology, Bioinformatics, and Microbiology. In my spare time I can be found playing sports like soccer, volleyball, or squash, as well as playing piano, listening to music, and playing video games. In the future, I hope to continue into a graduate program in Biochemistry, Cell Biology, or Synthetic Biology. iGEM has been an amazing opportunity to gain additional skills in a variety of fields and I greatly look forward to another year in the competition!

I was born and raised in the city of Edmonton. I plan on continuing on to do my masters at the University of Alberta this following year. I hope to spend my career doing research in the field of immunology or developmental biology. During my free time I rock climb, dance, play Ultimate Frisbee. In the summers I love to camp, hike and spend time at lakes. I also take as many opportunities as I can to travel. This coming fall I will be backpacking around Europe. I joined iGEM because I believe that it will be an interesting experience in a field that I have little experience in and I hope to spend the summer tackling all the difficult problems that come our way.

I hope to continue on with my studies in the Health Care Field. I grew up in Lethbridge, Alberta and moved to Edmonton for the increased research opportunities. I enjoy working in a lab and solving problems. I spent last summer working in a research lab and will work there again this summer while volunteer in the iGEM program. I enjoy singing, playing sports with my friends, speaking Spanish and playing both the guitar and piano. This is my first year in the iGEM program and I enjoy the challenges that it brings.

After I finish my degree, I plan to continue into medical research. I’ve always been interested in how things work- my primary interests are in Physiology and Pharmacology. I’m motivated by challenges, and I’m glad to be joining the university's iGEM team this year. I find Synthetic Biology to be incredibly fascinating. I have high hopes for the field and our part of it this year. Though I was born and raised in and around Toronto, I came to Edmonton to get another perspective on the great big country that I live in. I’ve also always wanted to see the Northern Lights. I’ve learned many things in my time here, and I’ve truly grown to hate the cold. In my free time, I enjoy running, playing the piano, and flossing (dental hygiene is important!).

My interests are diverse (evolution, music, visual arts, robotics, artificial intelligence, and more) but at the root of them all is my interest in creativity. I am constantly in awe of the creative power of evolution and the astounding diversity of the life on our little planet. What better way to learn more about the the inner workings of the living things around us than to tinker with them and reassemble their parts in new and strange (hopefully useful) ways? I very excited to be a part of the IGEM team and participate in the development of new tools and methods in the field of Synthetic Biology. I hope to continue researching in this area beyond my undergrad, and ultimately use these tools for the creation of microbial robots.