We welcome applications from individuals regardless of their race, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, political persuasion, nationality, age, ability, or formal training as well as those with families or caregiver commitments. If you are excited about nature and science and are self motivated we can make it work.
Your name here
Hiring/recruiting at all levels
If you are interested in joining the lab please email Thomas.
Seif Tekaya, PhD.
Research Scientist
Seif’s studies focus on Actinobacterial extremophiles and extremotolerants. He hopes to elucidate stress coping mechanism through the use of comparative omics and data analysis
Kenny Nguyen
Graduate Student
Kenny’s work is investigating how the ensemble and function of IDPs are affected by their environment
Jarrod Reister
Graduate Student
Jarrod studies the mechanisms of IDP protection in cells and the effect of desiccation on cellular metabolism.
Vincent Nicholson
Research Associate
Vincent is studying the role of the chemical environment in manipulating the ensemble and function of IDPs.
Thomas Boothby, PhD.
Cheerleader and coach
Thomas is interested in how organisms survive in extreme conditions and how we can apply this knowledge to better life on Earth and promote human exploration of Space.
Sourav Biswas
Graduate Student
Sourav is undercoving the molecular grammar underlying tardigrade CAHS protein function.
Tyler Gonzalez
Graduate Student
Tyler’s work focuses on how stress tolerant organisms protect their RNA during austere conditions and how RNA itself contributes to stress tolerance.
Vindya Kumara
Graduate Student
Vindya studies how protectant molecules can be utilized to aid in the long term storage of gametes in a dry state.
Annie Walgren
Undergraduate Researcher
Annie studies how sequence features within intrinsically disordered proteins interact with and are influenced by their environment.
Silvia ‘Sil’ Sanchez-Martinez, PhD.
Senior Research Associate
Sil is studying the mechanisms underlying gel formation and phase transitions in disordered proteins and how this relates to their function.
Shraddha KC
Graduate Student
Shraddha is working to understand how the chemical environment that an IDP is in influences its protective capabilities.
John Ramirez
Graduate Student
John studies the biophysical properties of materials that lead to protection during stress.
Alison Flint
Graduate Student
Alison studies the mechanisms by which tardigrades and other extremotolerant organisms protect themselves from damage due to radiation stress.
Emma Meese
Lab Manager
Emma is the extra hands for any project around the lab, including protein expression, cell culture, and anything else someone needs done.
Lab alumni:
Charles “Chaz” Childs, M.A. - “Associate Scientist” - Loxo Oncology at Lilly
Ryan Bettcher, M.A. - “Research Associate” - Fay Lab
Max Packebush B.S. - “Research Associate” - NASA Stanford campus
Anthony Trent B.S. - “Research Associate” - Bowman Lab, University of Pennsylvania
Jacob “Jake” Loeffelholz - “Associate Researcher”- Finegan-Bergstralh Lab, University of Missouri