Team:Utah State/Team

This is Utah State University's second year participating in the iGEM competition, sponsored primarily by the Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering and the College of Engineering at USU. We thank them for providing us such a tremendous opportunity. Since last year, our team has grown and includes high school, undergraduate, and graduate students working with our outstanding faculty advisors. Though there have been many challenges throughout this project, participation in the iGEM competition has been a great learning experience for all involved on the team. Meet each member of our team of undergraduates, as well as our graduate advisors and faculty support. At the bottom of this page, you will find more information about Utah State University. Thank you for your interest in the 2009 USU iGEM team.

OUR SITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND OUR INFORMATION IS BEING ADDED. PLEASE COME BACK IN A FEW WEEKS TO SEE OUR PROJECT!

GARRETT HINTON

Garrett Hinton is a Senior at Sky View High School in Smithfield, UT. He began his research experience at USU in 2006 as he was starting his freshman year in high school. He was a member of the USU iGEM team in 2008, and is excited to be involved again this year. For this project, Garrett performed various lab procedures, including DNA purification, gel electrophoresis, restriction enzyme digestions, ligations, and more. Additionally, he helped out in the lab by making medias and monitoring experiments. Outside of the lab, Garrett likes basketball and ping pong.

JODY JEREZ

Jody Jerez is a senior at InTech Collegiate High School in North Logan, Utah. She has been interested in biological engineering and decided to participate in iGEM to learn more about it. This is her first year participating in iGEM and she has learned a lot and enjoys what she was able to do for the team. Jody contributed by doing general laboratory procedures in the lab, as well as adding content to the wiki. Other than learning more about biological engineering, Jody enjoys hiking, dancing, and rock climbing.

JEFF KARREN

Jeff is also a senior at InTech Collegiate High School. He first learned about iGEM and synthetic biology when USU's biological engineering department gave a presentation at his school. Although Jeff helped primarily with the team wiki, especially the protocol page, he did help with some work in the lab as well, particularly in the initial stages of the project. He has enjoyed learning about synthetic biology, and is excited for the Jamboree. When not working on the iGEM project, Jeff can be found on his high school robotics team, at the console of a pipe organ, on a mountain somewhere, or practicing for one of USU's swing dance teams.

TYREL RUPP

Tyrel is a senior at a Sky View High School near USU. In the spring of 2009 his friend Garrett Hinton exposed him to synthetic biological engineering by inviting him to take an internship class. Ty spent the summer working for the Synthetic Biomanufacturing Center, which lead to his participation in iGEM. Over the past few months, he has learned a lot about synthetic biology and the research process. Among other things, Ty enjoys mountain biking and snowboarding in the mountain ranges above USU. For iGEM, Ty has helped carry out basic laboratory procedures and contributed some to the team’s wiki design.

HYUN-JIN KIM

Hyun-Jin is a freshman at Intech Collegiate High School. He started at the lab from summer and is now very proficient in most laboratory procedures used in the Synthetic Biomanufacturing Lab. In example, he makes media, isolates plasmid DNA using the CTAB method, and carries out transformations of E. coli. He is from Gwangju, South Korea and is excited to be involved with the iGEM 2009 project. He enjoys football, Frisbee and basketball.

SEAN BEDINGFIELD

Sean Bedingfield is a Utah State Research Fellow in his freshman year. His personal research is focused on effective expression of the LacOperon gene for the production of particular proteins. Sean is an avid hiker, pheasant hunter, and cook. Sean’s contributions to the project include assisting with tri-parental mating, researching secretion systems of different bacteria, transforming competent E. coli, and getting the team T-shirts made.

COLE PETERSON

Cole is a sophomore in Biological Engineering, and this is his first year participating in iGEM. He spent the summer enthusiastically working on USU’s iGEM project. When not in school or in the lab he likes running, cycling, hiking, rock climbing and skiing. Cole spent the majority of his time in the lab modifying and testing multiple broad-host range vectors, as well as performing general laboratory tasks and procedures.

ALEX HATCH

Alex Hatch is a junior in Biological Engineering at Utah State University. His personal research has dealt with microbial diversity in TCE bioremediation and currently algal diversity in wastewater treatment and biofuel production. He is participating with iGEM for the first time this year and has enjoyed the opportunity to be introduced to this emerging field. He is pursuing a career in medicine and plans to attend medical school upon graduation. He loves to spend time with his young family, wife Laura and son Graham. Together they like to spend time outside, read together, and build forts out of furniture and blankets. Alex has helped in general laboratory activities and was responsible for addressing human practices in synthetic biology on the Wiki.

RACHEL PORTER

Rachel is in her third year at Utah State University majoring in Biological Engineering. She is interested in genetic and biomedical engineering research and would like to pursue a masters degree in biomedical engineering. She enjoys participating in iGEM because it is interesting and helps her apply the concepts she has learned in classes. She hopes to work in a research laboratory after graduation. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, her hobbies include playing volleyball, mountain biking, hiking, camping, and almost anything outdoors.

TRENT MORTENSEN

Trent is a finishing senior in Biological Engineering at Utah State University. His personal research is focused on the antimycobacterial properties of the St. John’s Wort herb. Trent participated in the 2008 Utah State iGEM project and is participating once again because of the excellent experience he had last year. He is looking into a career in the biomedical field in the area of disease and injury research and treatment and feels that Synthetic Biology has enormous potential for advancing this field. Trent enjoys hiking, fishing, and snowmobiling in the nearby mountains. He also enjoys playing basketball, racquetball, and ultimate. For this year’s project, Trent aided in laboratory work, team coordination, gathering materials for the Wiki, and preparation of the presentation materials.

Brad is a graduate student in the Biological and Irrigation Engineering at Utah State University. His personal research is centered around analyzing an unknown microbial community, and characterizing it's genetic phylogeny. Brad is participating in the iGEM competition for the first time, and has enjoyed being a part of the group. He has a passion for caving, and tries to go as often as the team would let him. Other than that, he enjoys rock climbing, camping, the occasional computer game, and is excited for the duck hunting season. Brad was primarily responsible for culturing the cyanobacteria, and conducting the tri-parental mating procedure, and generally helped out around the lab.

LIBBIE LINTON

Libbie is a Masters student in Biological Engineering. Like a few others on this year's team, Libbie was also a member of the 2008 iGEM team. She is glad to be back for a second year, this time as an advisor. Her Masters' work is in investigating different ways to improve PHA production economics. She is hoping to complete her thesis within the next few months, followed by finding employment in bioprocess/biochemical engineering. In her spare time, Libbie is a musician. She also enjoys beating fellow iGEM teammate Trent Mortensen in racquetball, as well as playing with her 6 month old puppy, Rooster. For this years' iGEM team, Libbie advised on topics related to bioplastic production, secretion systems and mechanisms, and general laboratory procedures. She was also involved in coordinating efforts with the wiki.

JUNLING HUO

Junling Huo is a PhD student in Biological Engineering at USU. His dissertation research is focused on design a gene expression system for Rhodobacter sphaeroides, which is a photosynthetic bacteria. This gene expression system will include BioBrick compatible promoters, Ribosome Binding Sites (RBS), and terminators. The planned promoters and RBS will have different activities. Terminators will be either bidirectional or unidirectional. He hopes to complete his dissertation in the next year or so, and continuing doing research. He was also a member of 2008 USU iGEM team, and is happy to serve as an advisor again this year.

Our faculty advisors are Dr. Ronald C. Sims, Dean H. Scott Hinton, and Dr. Charles D. Miller. We would like to thank them for all of their help and guidance throughout the project. To view their professional biographies, please refer to our department website: