I work in Principal Investigator Brian Staskawictz's lab with Dr. Geoff Vrla who heads a project focused on improving rice resistance to the fungus Magnaporthe grisea. I assisted with stacking resistance genes on plasmids and integrating these genes into the genome via agrobacterium transformation. I also am conducting a research project focused on combining and optimizing a novel leaf transformation in rice with the goal of regenerating transgenic plants quickly and bypassing the tissue culture process.

In this position I assist the finance manager at the UC Botanical Gardens to manage customer payments (credit card, check, stock) and communicate effectively with customers about membership to the gardens. I also utilized my skills in Excel to maintain membership databases for optimized assistance.

During my summer internship in Principal Investigator Dr. Ryan Newton's freshwater microbiology lab, I independently revitalized several key projects that had stalled during COVID-19. This included developing workflows for genomic analysis of the genus Flavobacterium, reinitiating biweekly water testing and bacterial culturing, and conducting antibiotic resistance gene testing using digital droplet PCR (ddPCR).