Princlipal Investigators
- Dr. Stephen Seah
- Associate Professor in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department at the University of Guelph
- Helped to develop material and make contacts for team fundraising
- Has been an amazing advisor and supportive mentor!
- Dr. Rebecca Shapiro
- Assistant Professor in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department at the University of Guelph
- Has been an amazing advisor with insightful guidance!
Advisors
- Jehoshua Sharma
- PhD student at the University of Guelph
- Founder of iGEM Guelph in 2016
- Nathanael Willms
- MSc student at the University of Waterloo
- President of iGEM Guelph in 2021
We thank all of our PIs and Advisors for their helpful discussions at our lab meetings. From project design, data analysis, and wiki feedback, we thank them for their help this year!
Financial Supporters
- University of Guelph College of Biological Science
- Provider of extensive financial support
- University of Guelph Molecular and Cellular Biology Department
- Provider of extensive financial support
- Provided the team’s lab space
- University of Guelph Provost’s Office
- Provider of extensive financial support
- Ontario Agricultural College
- Provided financial support to the team
- University of Guelph College of Engineering and Physical Science
- Provided financial support to the team
- University of Guelph Student Council
- Facilitated team events run on campus
- Provided some financial support for the team
- iGEM Impact Grant
- Provided financial support to the team
Stakeholders
- Greenhouse Growers: Bonarrow Greenhouses, Nature Fresh Farms
- Spoke with us about their businesses
- Gave us feedback and their perspective on the value of Project Ceres
- Niki Bennett at the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, Heather Little at the British Columbia Greenhouse Association
- Advised us on how pesticide products are brought to market in Canada
- Made insightful suggestions on how to improve our work
- Spoke with us about the current needs of Greenhouse Growers
- David Hobson
- Gave us information on protection of intellectual property and the patenting process
- Dr. Murali Mohan Ayyanath
- Gave us information about possible future directions for our research
- Discussed with us similar research that he had done in the past and identified problems we might run into as we develop the project further
Project Development
- Sofia Finley
- Devised the original idea for Project Ceres
- Conducted literature review and market research to assess feasibility
- Fundraised for the team
- Kulay Janneh
- Conducted extensive literature review
- Identified genetic sequences for use in our construct
Wet Lab
- Amira Bouchema and Kulay Janneh
- Ran lab work for the team
- Liaised with others in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department
- Conducted experiments and stepped in to assist their team members wherever and whenever needed
- Nami Marachli
- Maintained the lab space, regularly prepared supplies and reagents
- Ordered reagents and tracked lab spending
- Project Leads: Mike Green, Dennis Tran, Harkamal Samra, Joanna Vasilescu, Namra Hamid, Katherine Fortune, Jaskaran Pablay
- Worked with Lab Members to improve their lab skills
- Put in countless hours to run and re-run experiments, and collect necessary data
- Lab Members: Matt Muir, Rochelle Fernando, Ella Oppitz, Natalie Miners, Halla Raouf, Madison Thomas, Maryam Sharif, Fatima Askary, Dylan Bermingham, Ashleigh Ramtahal, Eric Mailhot, Jasleen Grewal
- Conducted experiments under the supervision of Project Leads
Modeling
- Hajer Shaker
- Ran experiments for project modeling
- Devised new protocols to collect key information about how Project Ceres could function in the real world
- Led a new branch of the team and taught them to work in the lab
- Modeling Members: Santiago Munoz Gomez, Effie Honeywell, Sia Oberoi, Benjamin Manchester
- Conducted experiments for project modeling
- Assisted in development of new protocols for modeling Project Ceres
- Sofia Finley
- Assisted in development of experimental protocols for project modeling
- Jehoshua Sharma
- Assisted with data interpretation for the biofilm formation experiment
- Dr. Michaela Struder-Kypke from the Molecular and Cellular Imaging (MCI) Facility
- Used the resources available at the MCI facility to collect flow cytometry data on behalf of the team
Business
- Akara Adelino-Roux
- Led Human Practices and outreach for the team
- Contacted and met with stakeholders to assess the value of our research
- Developed our business model
- Led her peers in development of the business team
- Sofia Finley
- Did early market research and helped to design our draft business model
- Contacted stakeholders and collected feedback on Project Ceres
- Led work on grant writing
- Amy Alfred
- Did early market research and helped to design our draft business model
- Business Members: Sarah Mitchell, Sydney Peters, Santhoshi Reddy, Rajyeshwari Bhattacharya
- Worked to develop a business model, and designed social media posts
- Helped with grant writing
Audio-Visual and Web Development
- Matt Muir
- Led the production of the team’s Project Promotion Video
- Led construction of the team’s wiki
- Sofia Finley
- Gave feedback and helped design the team’s Project Promotion Video
- Assisted in construction of the team’s wiki
- Mike Green
- Gave feedback and helped design the team’s Project Promotion Video
- Kulay Janneh
- Assisted in construction of the team’s wiki
Education and Outreach
- Sofia Finley
- Organized various outreach events put on by the team
- Ran various outreach events
- Akara Adelino-Roux
- Organized various outreach events put on by the team
- Ran various outreach events
- Participants: Santiago Munoz Gomez, Ella Oppitz, Sia Oberoi, Wan Yun Zhu, Rochelle Fernando, Mike Green, Matt Muir, Joanna Vasilescu
- Helped to lead workshops and presentations
- Spoke with the community about synthetic biology and our team’s work at various events