<-- Preferences start here
 

 Set PAGETITLE = Barrick Lab :: Team
 
Preferences end here -->

Barrick Lab :: Team

Past members of the Barrick lab      Interested in our research? Join Us

Principal Investigator

Prof. Jeffrey E. Barrick 🐋 Principal Investigator (01/2011–present) Twitter: @barricklab

Research Associates

	Dr. Dennis Mishler ⚔ Assistant Professor of Practice and Research Educator for the Freshman Research Initiative (04/2013–present) B.S. Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at San Diego Ph.D. Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University Postdoc Emory University Dr. Mishler leads the "Microbe Hackers" undergraduate research lab and co-advises the UT Austin iGEM team with Professor Barrick. The Microbe Hackers most recent research has focused on "Caffeinated Coli", including a 2019 publication in AEM, among other projects. He is super proud of all of his students, but wants to give a shout out to the 2019 iGEM team members who were recognized with a Best Measurement award this past fall. Prior to coming to UT Austin, he has worked in the fields of pre-mRNA splicing and synthetic riboswitches. He is an avid gamer and can be found regularly playing games throughout Austin. He annually attends the World Boardgaming Championships, where his main games include Here I Stand and Sekigahara
	Sarah Bialik 🐒 Lab Manager (03/2019–present) B.S. Biology and Environmental Studies, Centre College M.S. Population and Conservation Biology, Texas State University Sarah loves pop gen and conservation. It started with collecting marine invertebrates from the English Channel which led to running around mountains catching butterflies. In the Barrick lab, she has transitioned to studying plant virus evolution. If she is not in lab making sure everything (and everyone) is functioning properly, you can find her in the local yarn shop knitting up a storm or doing yoga, hiking or climbing like a monkey on some rock outside with her well-behaved crag puppy, Telo.
	Dr. Daniel Deatherage ✅ Research Associate (09/2011–present) B.S. Biochemistry, The University of Evansville Ph.D. Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology, The Ohio State University Dan’s exposure to Illumina sequencing data in his graduate work on ovarian cancer has morphed into an interest in using next generation sequencing data to answer questions about evolution and synthetic biology in microbes. Dan is always exploring ways of using non-standard library preparation techniques to get extra data from NGS data to do such things as lower error rates and limits of variant detection, increase coverage of variant regions, and replace laborious assays with NGS workflows. Recently published work on selecting for microbes with lower than natural mutation rates has encompassed many of these methods. He looks forward to publishing another such study involving tracking evolution at low frequencies soon. In his spare time Dan wonders if his listening to audiobooks counts as having “read” 100s of books per year, or reading zero books per year.
	Dr. Peng Geng 🔥 Postdoctoral Fellow (11/2015–present) B.S. Biochemical Engineering, DLU Ph.D. Biochemical Engineering, DLUT Peng is interested in sensory photoreceptors mediate optogenetic control over DNA-associated processes. Peng currently works on creating genetic tools that improve the success of cloning and editing plant viruses maintained as infectious clones in bacterial cells. Peng is a licensed cook.
	Dr. Isaac Gifford 🐴 Postdoctoral Fellow (01/2020–present) B.S. Microbiology, University of Texas at Austin Ph.D. Microbiology, University of California Davis Isaac’s primary research interests are the mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer and its role in genome evolution. He currently works with Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 while his graduate work focused on molecular genetics of Frankia nitrogen-fixing symbioses. Isaac’s personal interests include game design and 21st century sequential art.

Graduate Students

Sean Leonard 🐝 CMB Graduate Student jointly advised with Nancy Moran (05/2015–present) B.S. Cell and Molecular Biology, Loyola University M.S. Biotechnology, UT at San Antonio Twitter: @spleonard1 Sean engineers microbiomes, and currently works in the honey bee gut. He is broadly interested in symbiosis and microbial evolution, as well as design principles and best practices for synthetic biology. Some days he bakes (mostly sourdough), and he tries to spend time with his pets (never as much as he should). Every now and then you’ll find him dancing two-step to live music at a local Austin honky-tonk, too.

	Julie Perreau 🦀 Microbiology Graduate Student jointly advised with Nancy Moran (05/2017-present) B.S. Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida M.S. Evolutionary Biology, MEME program Twitter: @jmaperreau Email: jmaperreauATgmailDOTcom Julie's research is focused on identifying molecular mechanisms used to initiate and maintain symbiotic interactions between bacteria and aphids. In her spare time, Julie goes on trail runs with her dog Tuna, dances country swing, and takes care of her backyard chickens.
	Matt McGuffie 🦗 Microbiology Graduate Student (05/2018-present) B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Michigan M.S. Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Twitter: @matt_mcguffie Email: mmcguffiATgmailDOTcom Matt is broadly interested in synthetic biology, basic bacteriology, and data science/visualization. Previously, Matt studied bacterial biofilms and phages, and he is currently examining the evolutionary failure of genetic devices. In his time outside of lab, he likes to obsessively accumulate hobbies including, but not limited to: guitar, rock climbing, gardening, mushroom farming, insect rearing, scuba diving, and backpacking.

Undergraduate Students

	Elizabeth Robinson 🐺 Undergraduate Researcher (01/2018-present) In-progress: B.S. Honors Biology, B.A. Honors Humanities Elizabeth's research focuses on using RNA interference to replace crop insecticides, which often harm other insect species and humans by accident. Currently, she's trying to engineer symbiotic leaf bacteria to produce the necessary dsRNA for us. On a typical day in lab, you can see her following Kate around or trying to figure out how to keep her tobacco hornworms alive. In her spare time, she loves creative writing, stressing out over nothing, memorizing songs, and nerding out about anthropology.
	Spencer Hamrick 🦈 Undergraduate Researcher (08/2018-present) In-Progress: BSA in Biochemistry Spencer is interested in experimental evolution and works on the hypothesis that accumulated membrane stress is responsible for the Eventual Winner/Eventual Loser phenomenon in e.coli. Outside of science, Spencer is interested in coffee, scuba diving, sharks, and stressing about graduate school
	Eleanor Young 🦔 Undergraduate Researcher (12/2018-present) In-progress: B.S. in Biology Eleanor's research focuses on broad host range vector choice for engineering non-model organisms and the effect antibiotic resistance choice has on copy number and long term stability. Eleanor's hobbies include cooking, rock climbing and playing banjo with almost no proficiency.
	Shireen Shah 🐑 Undergraduate Researcher (07/2019-present) In-progress: B.S. in Biochemistry, B.A. Art History Shireen’s research is focused on characterizing the cellular capacity of E. coli strains with a reduced and increased number of ribosomal operons. She likes baking apple pies, cooking, drinking hot chocolate, and hunting for free cheese boards.