Matthew Soesanto Email & Phone Number

Philadelphia, Pa, Us

Philadelphia, Pa, Us

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Here in the Ornithology Department, I am involved in multiple projects:1) My current project studies the genomics of California Condors and their feather lice, asking the question "Do Louse Genomes Reflect Bottleneck Events of Host Bird Populations?". The project involves: - Imaging the lice specimens through focus stacking. - DNA extractions and preparing it for Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) - Data analysis by running programs such as aTRAM, BBDuk, and Spades2) Screened Birds from Argentina for Haemosporidian Parasites. - Screened more than 1200 avian blood samples for Leucozytozoon and Haemoproteus - Prepared positive samples for Sanger sequencing - Edited and cleaned all DNA sequences - Organized results into an excel sheet for collaboration with a post-doc from Brazil.3) Genomics of Mimicry in Ramphastos Toucans. - Assist a graduate student in a chapter of his thesis studying the convergent evolution of toucan plumage - Imaged more than 100 Ramphastos Toucans in the collection - Collected color data from images using ImageJ - Visited and collaborated with Lousiana State University to incorporate their collection into the our studyLastly, I also help out with the ornithology collection, practicing my skills in bird taxidermy and assisting with collection maintenance.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

-Participated in 10-week undergraduate research on plasma-activated mist and using it in food disinfection.-Practiced critical thinking and analysis to work around obstacles in the self-led project.-Presented the research project in front of an audience in a "Quick Pitch" competition and won third place.