Experience

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  NewLeaf Symbiotics, Inc.

  • United States
  • Biotechnology Research
  • 1 - 100 Employee

  • Vice President-Research & Discovery

    • Jan 2020 - Present

    NewLeaf Symbiotics is a science-based company doing cutting-edge research and product development, using a naturally occurring family of beneficial plant bacteria. Pink pigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFMs) are ubiquitous throughout the natural world and supply several essential nutrients that all plants need to grow. See more at: http://www.newleafsym.com.

  • Director, Molecular Biology

    • Jan 2018 - Jan 2020

  • Team Lead

    • Sep 2014 - Dec 2017

  • Senior Research Scientist

    • Jan 2014 - Sep 2014

• 

  International Phytobiomes Alliance

  • Board Member

    • Jan 2019 - Present

• 

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • Chapel Hill, NC

  • Postdoctoral Fellow

    • Sep 2011 - Jan 2014
    • Chapel Hill, NC

    -Analyzed the metatranscriptomics of microbes associated with plant roots in Jeff Dangl's lab. -Techniques employed included RNA extractions from soil and root microbial communities, comparative genomics,Illumina MiSeq 16S amplicon sequencing, Illumina RNA-seq and analysis with the TopHat suite, mini-Tn7 tagging, and plant growth promotion assays under nutrient stress conditions.-Received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (F32) fellowship.-Co-author on two papers to date based on this work.

• 

  Duke University

  • Durham, North Carolina

  • Graduate Student

    • Aug 2006 - Sep 2011
    • Durham, North Carolina

    -Worked in Philip Benfey's lab studying small RNAs in plant root development.-Member of a large, international lab with scientists from many cultures and backgrounds.-Managed collaborations with two labs outside Duke University.-Hosted a visiting scientist from Argentina for 3 months.-Mentored five undergraduates.-Proficient in many laboratory techniques including protoplasting and fluorescence activated cell sorting of Arabidopsis thaliana roots, Gateway cloning, confocal microscopy, qPCR, DNA extractions, total RNA and small RNA extractions, and Illumina small RNA library preps. -Collaborated with computational biologists on the processing and analyses of the large sequencing data sets. -Author/co-author on five papers to date based on this work.

• 

  Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

  • St. Louis, Missouri

  • Technician

    • Sep 2004 - Jul 2006
    • St. Louis, Missouri

    -Worked in Chris Taylor's lab studying root knot nematodes and their interaction with Arabidopsis thaliana roots.-Techniques included traditional cloning, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, genotyping, plant care, and nematode growth assays.

• 

  UMKC

  • Kansas City, Missouri

  • Graduate Student

    • Aug 1994 - Dec 1996
    • Kansas City, Missouri

    -Worked in Marilyn Yoder's x-ray crystallography lab.-Purified Erwinia spp. pectate lyase proteins from recombinant E. coli and crystallized these proteins for x-ray diffraction analysis.-Co-author on two papers based on this work.