Graduate Research Assistant
Degree:
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
Advisor:
Rajib Saha
Rajib Saha
About Me:
Hello, Welcome to my page!
I am a graduate student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department at UNL, I earned my BS in Chemical Engineering at the UNL as well.
I joined Dr. Saha's lab in May of 2019. Since then, I have largely worked on the bacterium know as Rhodopseudomonas palustris, mostly characterizing its growth on Lignin Breakdown Products (LBPs) as well as Lignin in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. This mostly consists of preparing cultures and measuring the amount of growth over time, as well as collecting samples of cultures at very specific times during its growing phase in order to test whether certain genes are being expressed at which times. I determine which genes are being expressed by identifying a select few potential involved genes and utilizing reverse transcription. Our results have so far shown that R. palustris
My current projects involve...
i. Characterizing R. palustris' growth on LBPs in various conditions
ii. Constructing a stable plasmid for further genetic engineering work with R. palustris
iii. Determination of whether certain gene structures of a Mobilization gene play a part in plasmid stability
Outside of work, I like to spend time exercising or working out at either of the campus recreation sites, taking the occasional walk, cooking, and exploring indie games on Steam.