Team:Nevada/TheTeam

Behdad Atarzadeh is an undergraduate biochemistry major at the University of Nevada Reno. This is his first time with the team. Behdad helped with various projects in the lab such as mini preparations, making buffers, agarose gels, antibiotic stocks, and LB plates, but most importantly with human practices, fundraising and making money for the team.

Rebecca Ghusn is a sophomore biochemistry student who joined iGEM in order to learn, and also because she considers genetic engineering to be almost too cool to be a real field. She contributes by completing simple tasks and by assisting Jasmine and Christian like some sort of science sidekick, and she can often be found hovering anxiously behind one of them. Her hobbies include juggling, puzzles, writing, and spending large amounts of time staring blankly at the wall, contemplating the nature of reality.

Jasmine Jiang is a senior at UNR, double-majoring in biochemistry and philosophy. Apart from working on cloning and protein expression, Jasmine is also responsible for the design elements of Nevada iGEM, including the shirts and the website. Her interests include stress-baking, horror movies, and the abstract concept of ephemerality. She is also a proud corgi owner! After she graduates this spring, she intends to continue her existential purgatory in graduate school.

Jon Lau is senior biochemistry student originally from Humboldt county, northern California. He will be graduating in spring and plans to pursue a PhD in plant biology. Jon constructed the INP-YFP outer membrane permeablization detection system through site-directed mutagenesis. He enjoys shredding the gnar, browning the stouts, and catching the mellows.

Dafne Ordonez is a senior biochemistry major originally from Genoa, Nevada, and she will be graduating this coming spring. This year is Dafne’s third year with Nevada iGEM. She worked with submission plasmids and generally helped out everyone in the lab. She does not have a lot of free time but if she finds any, she loves snowboarding, eating Thai food, and playing with her standard poodle.

Cody Sarcinella is a junior currently studying biochemistry at the University of Nevada Reno. Cody participates in the team by assisting in various project tasks as necessary such as submissions plasmids, mini preparations and various other objectives. This is Cody’s second year with Nevada iGEM. Cody's hobbies outside of iGEM include reading, hiking, riding dirt bikes, and practicing archery.

Christian Sy is a senior biochemistry major with minors in math and chemistry. This is his first year with Nevada iGEM, and he worked on protein expression and assays. He is planning to graduate at the end of this fall attend pharmacy school. His hobbies are playing x-box, playing tennis, and hanging out with friends.

Haley Toups is an undergraduate junior at the University of Nevada Reno, and she is pursuing a degree in biochemistry with a minor in organic chemistry. She is from Carson City Nevada, the capital of the state. She worked with Cody on the submission plasmid portion of this project, and plans to continue working in a laboratory in the future.

Dr. Christie Howard has been a faculty member at University of Nevada, Reno of 14 years. This is her fifth time participating in Nevada iGEM, and she is always impressed by her students’ motivation and energy.

Dr. Chong Tang is a post doc in biochemistry at the University of Nevada. He is interested in insect and plant biochemistry research, as well as public health molecular biology research. He loves working with his students to explore the iGEM projects, and believes that iGEM has been one of the most important experiences in his life. Chong also loves cute dogs and work outs a lot.