The undergraduate portion of the IGEM 2011 team at UC Davis is currently comprised of four UC Davis students, two of whom are carried over from the team that brought home a Gold at the iGEM Jamboree last year. Candidates for this years iGEM team were selected based on their academic achievement, previous work and laboratory experience, interviews with faculty and responses to a questionnaire about iGEM and synthetic biology.

Keegan Owsley

     Position: Team leader.
     Major: Biomedical Engineering.
     Year: Senior.
     iGEM Experience: 2 years.
     Speciality: Code-guy.
     Musical Expertise: None.
     

Autobiography: Hey guys, I'm Keegan.

Tim Fenton

     Position: Team member.
     Major: Cell Biology.
     Year: Senior.
     iGEM Experience: 3 years.
     Speciality: Wetlab, Wiki Design.
     Musical Expertise: 17 years of piano, plays about a dozen other instruments.
     

Autobiography: Hey there I'm Tim. I really enjoy doing iGEM because it is one of the best undergrad research opportunities and I love working in the field of synthetic biology. If I'm not working in lab (almost never) I enjoy cycling on the country roads around Davis and playing tennis.

Aaron Heuckroth

     Position: Team member.
     Major: Microbiology, Classics.
     Year: Senior.
     iGEM Experience: 1 year.
     Speciality: Bacteria Geek, Fundraising.
     Musical Expertise: 7 years of electric guitar. Metal, prog-rock, whatever!
     

Autobiography: I started this summer feeling like the odd man out -- before iGEM, I had no experience with any kind of engineering, and I was the only member of the team not to have taken advanced math courses. My focus on microbiology ended up coming in handy more than once, and I've picked up a lot from my team members, Marc, and the other members of the Facciotti lab, and I plan to explore the field of synthetic biology further in graduate school. If I had free time left over from both majors, I would spend it playing guitar, cooking delicious food and toying around with the occasional video game.

Nick Csicsery

     Position: Team member.
     Major: Biological Systems Engineering
     Year: Junior.
     iGEM Experience: 1 year.
     Speciality: Wetlab, some code. "The New Guy."
     Musical Expertise: Several years of electric guitar. Classic Rock.
     

Autobiography: Hi I'm Nick. iGEM this year has been my first lab experience and I have really enjoyed learning how to work in a research lab. I've learned quite a bit about how a project can be taken from an initial idea to a finished product. I've been most amazed by seeing how much a small group of people can get done when they all diligently work together. In my spare time I like long distance running and hiking.

Two UC Davis professors and one graduate student provide valuable insight, laboratory space, and academic clout to the undergraduate portion of the team.

Mike Starr

     Position: Advisor
     Department: Biomedical Engineering
     Major: Systems Biology
     Year: Graduate, 1st Year
     Degree: B.S. in Biology
     iGEM Experience: 1 year.
     Musical Expertise: Unknown.
     

Dr. Marc Facciotti

     Position: Primary Investigator. The Boss.
     Department: Biomedical Engineering
     Degree: Ph.D. in Biophysics.
     iGEM Experience: 3 years.
     Musical Expertise: Plays drums in the local jazz band "We 'Bones."
     

Ilias Tagkopolos

     Position: Advising Professor
     Department: Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science
     Degree: Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering
     iGEM Experience: 2 years.
     Musical Expertise: Unknown.
     

Email:
ucdigem2011@gmail.com

Twitter:
@UCDavisiGEM

Phone:
(530) 334-8159