Role: Project Director
What it is: A fully automated NGS-based platform for tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants in public wastewater samples.
What I did: Led cross-functional teams across automation, bioinformatics, engineering, and reagent manufacturing. Built a robust multiplex PCR system and applied DOE methods to optimize the entire workflow.
Why it’s cool: It turned community poop into public health data—and got published.
Role: DOE Designer & Lead Scientist
What it is: A one-buffer-to-lyse-them-all solution for extracting DNA from bacteria and fungi in hospital-acquired infection panels.
What I did: Ran a full factorial DOE to optimize buffer chemistry, making extraction robust across diverse microbial species.
Why it’s cool: Simplified extraction for dozens of pathogens and improved consistency across clinical sample types.
Role: Founder & DNA Extractor-in-Chief
What it is: A citizen-science powered effort to build a phylogeny of Zootrophion orchids, featuring species that look like angry little goblins.
What I did: Built the project from scratch—designed sequencing strategy, secured funding, coordinated collaborators, and extracted DNA from plants grown by orchid collectors.
Why it’s cool: A grassroots genomics initiative… led by orchid nerds.
Role: Designer, Developer & Botanical Chaos Coordinator
What it is: A 2D video game where players manage a virtual orchid nursery—hybridizing rare species, battling humidity, and unlocking increasingly bizarre flowers.
What I did: Conceptualized and began building a stylized simulator inspired by real-life cultivation. Designed procedural plant trait systems, aging mechanics, and trait inheritance models based on actual orchid biology (with a healthy dose of whimsy).
Why it’s cool: It turns niche botanical obsession into gameplay—and lets anyone live the dream of running their own greenhouse without the fungal rot.