Group Members

FACULTY

Xiaoxia “Nina” Lin | email
Professor Lin

Professor Lin leads the lab in its research at the intersection of the biology and engineering of microbial ecosystems. [Full Faculty Profile]


Professor, Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2022 – Present
Associate Chair for Research, Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2024 – Present

Associate Professor, University of Michigan | 2014 – 2022
Assistant Professor, University of Michigan | 2006 – 2014
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School | 2003 – 2006
PhD Chemical Engineering, Princeton University | 2003
BS Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University | 1997
BS Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University | 1997

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Madeline Shay (she/they) | email
Madeline Shay

Madeline’s research interests include studying how polymicrobial communities adapt to stressors, and she is currently studying dental biofilms.


PhD Cellular & Molecular Biology, University of Michigan | 2020-Present
BCh Chemistry, University of Alabama | 2020
BS Microbiology, University of Alabama | 2020

Sebastian Montero (he/him) | email
Sebastian Montero

Sebastian’s research interests are in developing genetic toolkits and libraries for non-model organisms.


PhD Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2024 – Present
BS Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Florida | 2023

Jonathan Augustus Albrecht (he/him) | email
Jonathan Augustus Albrecht

Jonathan’s research interest is broadly in engineering microbial consortia to biodegrade anthropogenic compounds in oligotrophic environments. He is utilizing emulsion droplets to enable high throughput screening for high performing pairs.


PhD Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2023 – Present
MS Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2024
BS Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 2023

Donal Couch (he/him) | email
Donal Couch

Donal’s research interests are in developing better performing synthetic microbial consortia for platform chemical production by utilizing scaled-down bioreactors.


PhD Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2023 – Present
MS Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2024
BChE Chemical Engineering, University of Minnesota | 2023

Amy Liu (she/her) | email
Yanmeng Liu

Amy’s research interest is developing microbial consortia for production of platform chemicals.


PhD Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2021 – Present
BS Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, New York University | 2021

Jessica Li (they/them) | email
Jessica Li

Jess develops microfluidic tools and methods to study biofilms, with the aim of better understanding how community composition affects disinfection resistance in drinking water biofilms.


PhD Microbiology & Immunology, University of Michigan | 2021 – Present
BS Biology, California Institute of Technology | 2018
BS History, California Institute of Technology | 2018

Erica Gardner (she/her) | email
Erica Gardner

Erica researches polystyrene biodegradation in insect larvae using 16S community profiling and culturing techniques.


PhD Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2021 – Present
MS Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2021
MS Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan | 2021
BS Chemical Engineering, Cornell University | 2018

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Daphne Na (she/her) | email

Daphne is working with Jess to study the composition of bacteria in the region’s water supply.


BS Biochemistry, University of Michigan | 2023 – Present

RESEARCH STAFF

Dr. Jean-Marie Rouillard (he/him) | email
Dr. Jean-Marie Rouillard

Jean-Marie is a research scientist who has joined us from the Gulari lab.


Adjunct Associate Research Scientist | 2021 – Present
PhD, University Pierre et Marie Curie
BS and MS, University Paris Sud