Ben Parrish Email & Phone Number

I'm a recent graduate with a B.S. in microbiology and a minor in environmental science. I have industry experience as a laboratory technician in microbiology, specifically in regards to food safety testing. At Matrix Sciences, I performed sample set up, dilutions, and plating on daily food and environmental samples from clients in agriculture and food manufacturing. I also supported routine testing operations through media preparation, cleaning, and waste disposal. My other primary role was in traceability, ensuring accurate and complete documentation in our LIMS of the procedures performed both by myself and the microbiologists each day.During my undergraduate degree at UMass Amherst, I gained experience in wet lab techniques (BSL2, sterile culture, plating, culturing, microscopy), bioinformatics (construction and annotation of sequences from environmental samples, synthesis of phylogenetic trees), and environmental biotechnology (qPCR, restriction digests and gel electrophoresis, plasmid transformation, sequencing, isolation and classification of pathogens in freshwater aquatic communities).In addition to life sciences, I have also pursued skills in Japanese translation through coursework and independent practice. I have experience with literary translation and pre-modern scripts.Moving forward, I hope to use the skills I've acquired to aid others - be that in the form of supporting scientific work through an assistant position in a laboratory, or facilitating shared understanding through translation.