Team:Lethbridge HS/Team

Lethbridge HS iGEM 2016

TEAM

Students

Dinula De Silva

I am a grade 12 student at Winston Churchill High School. I enjoy programming, playing the guitar, and watching movies. When I’m not stuck indoors, I like going running and biking. I joined iGEM because the feats of synthetic biology fascinated me and I wanted to learn more about the processes involved. I additionally wanted to develop my computer programming skills by working on the wiki and software aspect of the competition.

Nimaya De Silva

Hello! My name is Nimaya De Silva, and I go to Winston Churchill High School. I am 16 years old and this is my first year of iGEM. I joined iGEM to gain more experience in the lab, and to venture more into the world of biology. But I have also found myself working on human practices as well and have been thoroughly enjoying it! Besides iGEM, I love to read anything and everything to do with dystopia and Harry Potter! I also take piano lessons, and love to recreate pop songs on the piano!

Anileen Pageni

Hey everyone! My name is Anileen and I am going to be graduating this year from Winston Churchill High School. I will be joining the Physiology program in the University of Alberta this fall! I enjoy every aspect of iGem, but especially love getting involved in the lab and human practices. I joined iGem to further my interest in science and be around like-minded people, which is why this is my second year in iGem. Other than iGem, I enjoy making people laugh, traveling, watching movies and trying out new recipes!

Marissa King

Hello, my name is Marissa King. I am 17 years old and am a grade 12 student at Winston Churchill High School. In the fall I will begin university here in Lethbridge where I will be studying biological sciences. This is my second year being involved in iGEM and i love every aspect of it but my favourite part would have to be working in the lab. I initially joined iGEM to because of my interest in synthetic biology and to gain more experience. Other than iGEM i enjoy travelling, reading, taking photos and spending time with my friends and family.

Ross Oliver

Hello I'm Ross and I am a grade 11 student at Winston Churchill High School. I was interested in re-joining iGEM because of the opportunities and knowledge that it has provide me. Prior to joining iGEM I had no lab experience, and had very limited knowledge about synthetic biology. In my free time I enjoy learning new things,cooking and traveling.

Ronja Kothe

Hello! My name is Ronja. I am 18 years old and in my final year at Winston Churchill High School. In the fall I will be attending the University of Alberta in the Immunology & Infection program. This is my third year in iGEM and I have really enjoyed my experience both in the lab and outside of it. In addition to iGEM, I enjoy playing the clarinet and I’m also a proud Girl Guide. One of my favourite foods are granola bars, partly because they’re great for camping, which, as a Girl Guide, I also love to do.

Mason Mierzewski

Hi, my name is Mason Mierzewski, and I am a 16 year old student that will be going into grade twelve at Catholic Central High School ensuing the summer. This is my first year participating in iGem, and I have found it to be a very enlightening experience. In my free time, I enjoy playing sports casually or competitively as well as just hanging out with my friends. I am also a fervent fan of music, as I listen to it daily and use it to help me with many tasks. So far, my iGem experience has been congenial and I am very excited to see our project come to its completion.

Advisors

Chris Issac

Hi there. I’m Chris. This year the title of codemeister has been thrust upon me and I hope that by the time the website is done, you’ll be able to be here reading this. For now, I’m working on finishing up my B.Sc. and splitting my time between work, iGEM, and pursing a career as a purveyor of terrible jokes.

Sydnee

Hello, I’m Sydnee! Once upon a time I thought I was going to be a psychologist, but then I decided science was a lot more fun. This is my second year being involved with iGEM and I am enjoying my time working on human practices.

Kieran

Hello, my name is Kieran McCormack. I am currently finished my second year of Biochemistry at the University of Lethbridge, which allows for a nice contrast between the normal science world and the more defined synthetic biology world. I enjoy doing new activities and have found great joy from being an adviser on the team; whether that be through new friendships, communications or spread of knowledge. I have enjoyed learning about myself throughout this year, and hopefully I can continue to do so into the future.

Brian

I am a Structural Biochemist and new to Synthetic Biology and iGEM. I love the idea of being able to make whatever I want in the lab. Previously I have used NMR and X-ray crystallography to look at protein-protein interactions. My wife is a Biochemist also, which makes dinner conversation interesting (for us anyways).

HJ

Originally from Germany I moved to Canada in 2005 to start a research group on the structure and function of the bacterial protein synthesis machinery, a cellular process targeted by over 50% of the known antibiotics. I am intrigued by the molecular design and function of this essential bio-nanomachine. I try to unravel the underlying design principles in order to enable the rational design and engineering of novel bio-nanomachines. I am essentially asking the question if such novel bio-machines can be constructed from simple and fundamental principles or are these assemblies just to complex. Well and that’s why it was extremely easy to rope me into doing iGEM.

Sponsors