Screen incoming raw ingredients from vendors for bacterial contamination. Conduct in house testing, and send samples for external lab testing, of certain items to ensure customer specifications (physical, microbiological, and chemical) are met before releasing product for shipping; issue Certificates of Analysis and Certificates of Conformance to assure customers that the product is within their specifications. Implement plant environmental monitoring program in order to ensure sanitary conditions are maintained for production and packaging of food products. Meet with HACCP team to ensure the plant is operating to code — SQF Level III. Accompany visiting Rabbi on monthly visits and implement corrective actions as needed to maintain our plant's Kosher certification.

Training students, ranging in age from 3 years through adults, in the art of Kenpo Karate

Investigated the relevance of putative KNIRPS transcription factor binding sites to the function of the IAB7b enhancer within the bithorax complex (BX-C) of Drosophila melanogaster. Plasmid constructs were created, containing subregions of the IAB7b enhancer to drive expression of a lacZ reporter gene, to be visualized by in situ hybridization in Stage 4-5 embryos. Transgenic D. melanogaster lines were expanded, and embryos from the expanded lines were collected and fixed in preparation for in situ hybridization. Presented a poster describing research goals at the 53rd Annual Drosophila Conference in Chicago, IL (March 2012). Helped to write manuscript describing our research goals.Final manuscript has been accepted for publication and is currently available online:Robert A. Drewell, Michael J. Nevarez, Jessica S. Kurata, Lauren N. Winkler, Lily Li, Jacqueline M. Dresch. Deciphering the combinatorial architecture of a Drosophila homeotic gene enhancer. Mechanisms of Development 131, pp. 68-77.

Studied the induction of a novel mercury-resistance operon regulator (merR) of Tenacibaculum discolor 9A5, a gram-negative gliding marine bacterium isolated from an experimentally-mercury-contaminated environment. Induction of mercury resistance (mer) genes was measured using a luminometer to measure luminescence produced by a plasmid (pYKT2) containing a luxA-B fusion gene in place of the mercuric reductase gene (merA) activated by merR in response to toxic metals. Cultures of Flavobacterium johnsoniae (pYKT2) were introduced to varying concentrations of mercuric chloride, sodium arsenate, and cadmium sulfate, and the resulting luminescence was measured. Results suggest that the regulator is hypersensitive to mercury, producing approx. 50-fold luminescence compared to background control luminescence at mercury concentrations between 0.05-0.1 uM. Mer genes were also responsive to cadmium and arsenic, but maximum luminescence measured for each was less than with mercury (approx. 50% and 25% of maximum mercury luminescence, respectively), and required higher concentrations (100x and 10x optimal mercury conc., respectively).Research contributed to the manuscript:Allen, R.C., Tu, Y.-K., Nevarez, M.J., Bobbs, A.S., Friesen, J.W., Lorsch, J.R., McCauley, J.A., Voet, J.G., Hamlett, N.V. (2013). The mercury resistance (mer) operon in a marine gliding flavobacterium, Tenacibaculum discolor 9A5. FEMS Micro. Ecol. 83, 135-148.