Secretly she is at least half banana and three-quarters Santa Cruz native. While iGEM is
happening, Hannah participates in extreme sports and weightlifting. Her
max squat is rumored to be 600 pounds. It is hard not to like Hannah.
She may not know Monty Python, but she knows python programming,
which involves subduing code, trapping it, and slowly crushing it as
her instincts kick in. Hannah does not need to eat for weeks after a
successful coding but still may become highly aggressive if she senses
code nearby. Thing #1 of the blonde triplets.
Spirit Animal: Banana Python.
Pavle Jeremić
Co-Captain (Genetic and Metabolic Engineering)
Pavle [Pahv - lay]: man, machine,
alien, spiritual enigma; we do not know the true origin of this
being. What we do know is that much like aquaman, he has the ability to
summon Serbian sea creatures (even though Serbia is landlocked). Is
known to incorporate Serbian into his every day speech when he gets too
excited. Doing research since high school, Pavle has an instinct for
engineering that is a sight to behold. Known to work long into the
night, he often forgets sleep is necessary, even though it may not be
for this Serbian wonder child. Thing #2 of the blonde triplets.
Spirit Animal: Elon Musk.
Bioelectronics Team
Henry Hinton
Bioelectronics Team Lead
Commander in chief of electronics. Henry Hinton, talks very smoothly and eloquently, especially
when he puts his teaching voice on. We must assume that he was bestowed
with magical German powers as a young child. Henry’s power is the
ability to hear with superhuman accuracy, allowing him deep insights
into the musical realm (as well as a weakness to
dog whistles). Often found working hard into the night as a DJ, Henry
is also fond of da bass, even if he often drops it. Henry’s true talents
lie in electronics, and the complex network of design involved in their
creation. An inductive lad, Henry has a large capacitance for helping
others, and a strong resistance to passing out so long as his electric
passion is well grounded to the rails of an unsolved problem. Thing #3
of the blonde triplets.
Spirit animal: Oscilloscope.
Lon Blauvelt
Normal Person
Bio: N/A
Metabolics & Wet Lab Team
Giordan Kitts
Metabolics Team Lead
Born and raised in Kailua, Hawaii, “Guy-ordan” has
yet to be convinced that he doesn’t know how to spell his own name.
Whether he’s getting ambitious on a skateboard or with his thoughts
towards microbes, he always is making big breakthroughs in the project
or in his arm. While pursuing his interests in science, Giordan enjoys
hikes, bike rides, and extreme skating. Armed with his thoughts, and one
broken arm, Giordan is a highly motivated member of iGEM.
Spirit animal: B. subtilis.
Christian Snyder
When asked what the most important thing he
could bring to the team was, he said his love of learning--and learn he
does. When not furiously researching bacterial chassis and metabolic
pathways, Christian can be seen playing a wholesome game of Tetris, with
skills unparalleled by anything we have ever seen. Christian describes
his happy place as working in lab, and has ridiculous hobbies like
rocket engineering. Always a team player, he has been known to run miles
beside his friends without a word of complaint, while they cheerfully
biked along.
Spirit animal: Eagle Owl.
Riley Mahn
He is the Mahn. A person of many facets, while his
clothes say he knows how to have a good time, his eyes say he loves math
(even has a minor in it) and a good chess game. A third generation
pluot farmer, Riley has never tasted another fruit, because he does not
know they exist. Riley’s parents always wanted him to sell pluots, and
tiny Riley did as he was told... until he discovered math. Addiction to
math is harmless some argue, but it is a gateway to engineering, in
which Riley partakes every day. Riley goes out each morning, telling his
parents he is selling pluots, but he is secretly in school and taking
engineering classes and the farm is in danger.
Spirit Animal: Skateboard.
Jasmine Dioguardi
A cheerful
Earth girl, Jasmine loves to draw, bringing out the slow spiral of
inevitable secrets we each sought to conceal. Chortman’s inner desire
for villainy. Henry’s fear of glass. Pavle’s spaceship. Lon’s tie dye
pants. One can only imagine her gifts for guitar, photography, listening
to music, and adventuring are equally dangerous. Our resident artist,
her and Sarah are the wonderful creators of all things logo and design,
and without them we would certainly be lost in a world of boring stick
figures and uninspired emblems. Jasmine’s constant adventuring has led
to her entrapment in the belly of iGEM, and her only escape is to
engineer her way out.
Spirit animal: Sea Otter.
Sarah Cligher
Sarah is secretly an electronics enthusiast. She may seem quiet, but Sarah is secretly looking for talent to help her complete her iron man suit, which currently can only travel far enough to get away from the team, no matter how much we want to see it or ride in it. Our resident photoshop guru, we have her to thank for rendering our wonderful banners and logos. Her amicability is unsurpassed, in that she had to put up with Hannah making her change every color a hundred times, but her bright smile and present demeanor never left.
Spirit animal: Rubik's Cube.
Miles Hobby
A Gentle Giant whose veins we suspect might pop at any moment. A follower of CruzFit and BodyBuilding.com, Miles has a muscle game that is on point. Soft-spoken and cheerful, we know Miles would run miles for the rest of his team. Does not ever sass his captains, even when Hannah tells him to learn how to build a wiki in a week. We are not certain if he ever sleeps, because the amount of time he dedicates to his team does not seem to allow for working out, yet his constant state of swole begs to differ.
Spirit animal: Wolverine.
Software Team
Austin York
Software Team Lead
Loves to laugh. Secretly may or may not be a 50 year old man. Hailing north county San Diego, his wetsuit tan is a force to be reckoned with. Always cheerful and with a smile on his face, Austin enjoys surfing, coding, and everything in the middle. Austin’s food choices are efficient above and beyond typical human food, consuming entire bricks of carbohydrates to fuel his empowering presence. His boyish energy is felt every morning as his grin lights us all with the magic of science. A cunning programmer, Austin makes HTML look easy (even though it’s not a real language). He built and resides in the dark corner of Jack’s Lounge that he has dubbed his 'office'.
Spirit animal: 50 year old man.
Colin Hortman
Colin is a senior bioengineer at UCSC. He was set on bioengineering after taking an ethics class that opened his eyes to the research that was happening at UC Santa Cruz and around the country. He enjoys programming on teams and mixing chemicals in the lab. He is currently involved with the bioinformatics and operation teams; he hopes to work in the wet lab to gain more experience with biochem techniques. In his free time he likes to bike with his friends and girlfriend. Mountain biking is somewhat new to him but he is enjoying the world class trails found right at the top of campus.
Spirit animal: Mountain Bike.
Andrew Blair
Running through his native habitat, the forest, this modern day Pocahontas has taught us all about the colors of the wind. Pharmacy tech by night and aspiring engineer by day, Andrew provides a place of calm in the center of the storm that is the software team. His devilish tendencies emerge when people don’t let him go to bed at a reasonable hour, and has been known to cut router connections to his roommates/resident hooligans (don’t let them know though). The stars have aligned on our beautiful campus, as Andrew was born in the same hospital as another member of our software team, Austin. We’re still not convinced they aren’t related.
Spirit animal: Fawn.
Purification Team
Hailey Loehde-Woolard
Purification Team Lead
Hailey is our second resident Santa Cruz native. What she loves most (other than iGEM) is being surrounded by good company. She loves a good joke and will laugh at anything. Matter of fact, if she’s not laughing, check her vital signs to see if something is wrong… or look around for spiders. Hailey is a master swing dancer who also has started a weekly dessert adventure, Made With Erythritol. Rising sophomore at Georgia Tech, the banana slugs stole her for the summer and it is becoming increasingly less likely that we will let her go. Studying to be a Chemical Engineer so that she can leave the world in better shape than she found it. We know she will too.
Spirit animal: Georgia Tech.
Misa Macliesh
Hailing from mild, pleasant Sunnyvale, this free spirited human known as Misa to her friends likes puppies. She spends her time exploring and stargazing, occasionally retreating to her place of rest for video games and thai food. If she doesn't pick up your phone call, she's either adding more languages to her collection (English, Spanish, Japanese), or off riding her very red, dreamy motorcycle. This natural explorer is always seeking adventure, whether its climbing mountains or joining iGEM, she leaves no stone unturned.
Jon found his passion for environment science growing up in Riverside, CA: the Emerald Green City. Jon enjoys spending time in the forest where he can be alone with his thoughts. Jon is writing a book about what the world will turn into if we continue to degrade our resources and overpopulate as a society. He also likes to strum the banjo; iTunes songs pending. Jon’s addiction to music began when he first shaved his head and began to hear new and addictive sounds that only chosen beings can hear or withstand. Constantly attempting to engage us in the river of melodies continually flowing across his brain, his silence is only broken by profound thoughts that shake the foundation of the team when heard. When Jon speaks you better listen.
Spirit animal: Banjo.
Operations Team
Chase Armer
Human Practices Team Lead
His enchanting Irish accent woos any passerby caught in his wake… If you’re a Slackbot, Chase would love to have you in his group. Chase has a strong and large love for many hobbies, including organization, loving animals (he’ll babysit your cat if you ask nicely), and long talks at the beach. Chase’s soothing voice is like the ocean, drawing you in until you realize you’ve joined operations and there is no way out. Chase’s fresh boyish face is a constant boon to lift the spirits of the team like a beam of sunshine across your entire body. Make sure to make fun of him for not knowing the difference between jalapeños and pepperoncinis.
Spirit animal: Tiger.
Principal Investigator
Dr. David Bernick
Words cannot express his dedication to our team. Like a Kung Fu master, his collection of people grows by the year to include various rare forms which he induces (with an endogenous promoter) to join him in his holy fight for humanity. Defeating evil itself in battle is his one passion, and the fire that lights his eyes as throws us forward into the fray of iGEM. He abandoned the tech industry in order to teach, and we are forever grateful for his commitment to his students.
Spirit animal: Halophile.
Advisors
Brandy Baird
A bit of a world traveller and rambling spirit, Brandy returned to school after already finding great success in the world of business. She brings wisdom to the team that we only hope will rub off on us by the end of the summer. With a fondness for adventure and risk taking, she projects a bright and cheery façade but has a passion that continues to drive her success in the scientific community.
Spirit animal: Good food.
Roger Volden
Our resident advisor from last year’s team, Roger is a force of nature when it comes to wet lab. One of the only people to complete the Bioengineering curriculum in three years, he is on his way to a Ph.D. while the rest of us are standing around wondering why we’re still working on our undergraduate degrees and being advised by someone that can’t even legally drink.
Spirit animal: Velociroger.
Logan Mulroney
Is fond of tearing people’s ideas apart and then putting them back together, as only the best advisors do. Has graciously donated his time and materials in our pursuit of figuring out this crazy thing called iGEM.
Spirit animal: Monarch Butterfly.
Wade 'Simba' Khadder
If you remember little Simba from The Lion King, he grew up to be a bigger human. He has a better understanding of technology and our coding world - they both have bushy beards though. He enjoys longboarding and raspberry pi, at the same time. He is a pro lion wrestler, almost went hardcore. But be careful, he is part hyena and will laugh at you if you trip in front of him. Sometimes when Simba is bored, he will put oranges on his face. Don’t ask, just accept. When Simba sees you lagging, he’ll ask you to Mufasa. Hakuna Matata.
