I work on platform development for in situ resource utilization of carbon dioxide during long-duration space missions.I apply synthetic biology and enzyme engineering to the development of advanced life support systems for long-term space flight.I was the technical lead for a successful ISS flight experiment examing the effects of microgravity on the physiology of Shewanella oneidensis.

I was a project scientist for bioregenerative life support research. I developed ideas for using synthetic biology approaches for future life support functions during long-term space flight.

As a member of the High-Throughput Sample Prep group (headed by Dr. Masood Hadi), I cloned, expressed, and characterized a set of 22 hemicellulases from the compost metagenome using high-throughput cloning and expression methods and detailed biochemical analysis of purified proteins. I have also built a set of modular expresssion vectors designed using Biocad tools and constructed via a combinatorial Golden Gate methodology.

Research advisor - Dr. Frances ArnoldI constructed and characterized synthetic genetic circuits. I engineered bacterial transcription factors using directed evolution techniques. I generated libraries using error-prone PCR and saturation mutagenesis and screened these libraries using fluorescent reporters and selection strategies.

Research advisor - Dr. Diana DownsI studied the physiology of thiamine metabolism in Salmonella enterica. I used genetic analysis, bioinformatics, and biochemical characterization of purified enzymes to understand the integration of bacterial metabolism.

Research Advisor - Dr. Malcolm WinklerI studied signal transduction in Streptococcus pneumoniae using genetic analysis, as well as proteomics (2-D gels and MALDI-TOF) and transcriptomics (Affymetrix microarrays) approaches.

Research Advisor - Dr. Ming TienI expressed fungal manganese perxodase variants in E. coli and performed kinetic analysis of purified protein using steady-state and transient-state techniques.