Anna is a third year PhD student in Environmental Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. She obtained her BA Chemistry degree cum laude at the College of Wooster in 2020 and her BS Chemical Engineering degree summa cum laude at Washington University in St. Louis in 2021. Continuing her studies, she is pursuing a PhD with research focused on the survival of genetically engineered microbes in the environment. Her current research project involves quantifying escape rates of microbes with an engineered kill switch for biocontainment. More specifically, she investigates the impact of environmental systems on the efficacy of a CRISPR kill switch to help inform regulations on the intentional release of microbes with engineered biocontainment strategies.

I am an EBRC (Engineering Biology Research Consortium) council member and a SynBYSS (Synthetic Biology Young Speaker Series) chair. I have expertise in systems and synthetic biology. I aim to solve global agricultural, environmental, manufacturing, and health problems through engineering biology. My research projects have been supported by Gates Foundation, AIChE, and 10 different US agencies (21 external grants), and I have secured >$10M ($35M for the entire teams since 7/1/2012). These projects and my prior research efforts have resulted in 75 publications (64 as the PI), 135 invited talks, and 10 patents. My achievements have also been recognized with many awards, including a Langer Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Excellence, a B&B Daniel I.C. Wang Award, an NSF CAREER award, and an ONR Young Investigator Award. My global leadership efforts include 1) my activity and role at EBRC as a Council Member to provide the vision to address national and global needs through synthetic biology and 2) my service to SynBYSS as the Founding Chair to provide a weekly, virtual, and multi-year forum where a global thought leader gives an opening 5 min talk, followed by a 45 min, rising star’s talk, for >1,000 global audiences.

Michelle is a final year PhD student in Microbiology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She obtained her BSc Molecular Biology and Biotechnology degree cum laude at Stellenbosch University in 2018 and received the Merck award for the top final year student in her field. She also received the Rector’s award for excellent academic achievement as she was the top student in the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University in 2018. She completed her BScHons degree in Microbiology cum laude in 2019 and enrolled for a Master’s degree in Microbiology in 2020. Her MSc study was upgraded to a PhD in 2021 and she aims to complete her PhD this year. Her research interests include antimicrobial resistance, production of alternative antimicrobial compounds, microbial biotechnology and synthetic biology. Her PhD research project involves the heterologous expression of antimicrobial peptides in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Antimicrobial peptides serve as alternative antimicrobials to combat antibiotic resistance. Producing the peptides in yeast allows for simplified purification and high yields to be obtained at a lower cost. The bactericidal yeast are also being investigated to combat bacterial contamination in starch-to-ethanol fermentations for the production of biofuel.

Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam is a Cooperative Extension Specialist in the field of Animal Genomics and Biotechnology in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis. She received a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from the University of Melbourne in Australia, and both an MS in Animal Science, and a Ph.D. in Genetics from UC Davis. Her publicly-funded research and outreach program focuses on the use of animal genomics and biotechnology in livestock production systems. Her current research projects include the development of genome editing approaches for cattle. She has given over 700 invited presentations to audiences globally and uses a variety of media to inform general public audiences about science and technology. She frequently provides a credentialed voice on controversial scientific topics and has appeared on national media including The Dr Oz Show, NPR, Science Friday, and the Intelligence Squared debate series. She appeared in the 2017 documentary “Food Evolution” narrated by science-communicator Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. A passionate advocate of science, Dr. Van Eenennaam was the recipient of the CAST 2014 Borlaug and the ASAS 2019 Rockefeller Prentice Award in Animal Breeding and Genetics. Twitter: @BioBeef.

Carl is the Managing Director of Rautaki Solutions, an Australian based consultancy business that supports national and international biotech organisations across public and private sectors. He focuses on providing strategic direction and operational support in biosafety and the commercialisation of biotech products. This includes the development of regulatory strategy and the drafting regulatory dossiers for submission and assessment by regulatory authorities. Carl sits on several agriculture industry committees, is a former board member of the Association of Biosafety Australia and New Zealand and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His career has focused on building sustainable capability and capacity in biosafety and bio-risk management. He is actively involved in the development and implementation of compliance management frameworks and compliance plans for biosafety containment facilities as well as programs for the intentional release of genetically modified organisms into the environment. More recently he facilitated the introduction and study of Australia’s first gene edited cattle. Carl is the only south pacific Excellence Through Stewardship auditor, a program that promotes the universal adoption of product stewardship programs and quality management systems for the full life cycle of agricultural technology products.