FACULTY
Xiaoxia “Nina” Lin | email
Professor Lin leads the lab in its research at the intersection of the biology and engineering of microbial ecosystems. [Full Faculty Profile]
Professor, University of Michigan | 2022 – 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
Jonathan Augustus Albrecht (he/him) | email
Jonathan’s research interest is broadly in engineering microbial systems to produce valuable molecules.
Ph.D. University of Michigan, Chemical Engineering | 2023 – present
B.S. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering | 2019 – 2023
Donal Couch (he/him) | email
Donal’s research interests are in synthetic microbial consortia for platform chemicals production and lignin valorization. Currently, he is working on glutamic acid production using T. reesei and P. ananatis.
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2023 – Present
B.ChE. Chemical Engineering, University of Minnesota | 2023
Yanmeng Liu (she/her) | email
Yanmeng’s research interest is developing microbial consortia for production of platform chemicals.
Ph.D. 2021-present University of Michigan, Chemical Engineering | 2021 – present
B.S. New York University, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering | 2017 – 2021
Jessica Li (they/them) | email
Jessica uses microfluidics to study microbial interactions in drinking water biofilms and how they impact resistance to colonization by waterborne pathogens.
Ph.D. Microbiology & Immunology, University of Michigan | 2021 – present
B.S. Biology, California Institute of Technology | 2018
B.S. History, California Institute of Technology | 2018
Erica Gardner (she/her) | email
Erica researches plastic biodegradation by microbial consortia in wastewater treatment systems.
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2021 – Present
M.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2021
M.S. Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan | 2021
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Cornell University | 2018
James Tan (he/him) | email
James investigates interactions within environmental microbial communities. He uses microfluidics, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metabolic modeling to better understand the complex relationships between microbes in their natural consortia. James explores microbial communities that degrade fiber in the human gut and toxin-producing cyanobacteria in Lake Erie.
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan | 2016 – Present
B.S. Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan | 2016
RESEARCH STAFF
Yi-Ting (Sandy) Chiu (she/her) | email
Sandy is a visiting researcher focused on the effect of quorum sensing signals in toxin-producing cyanobacteria and bacteria interactions using microfluidics techniques.
Visiting Scholar | 2022 – Present
Post-doctoral researcher, Global Water Quality Research Center, National Cheng Kung University | 2017 – 2022
Ph.D. Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University | 2017
Adena Collens (she/her) | email
Adena is using the Syntrophic Co-culture Amplification of Production (SnoCAP) approach to generate strains of S. cerevisiae and Bacillus with improved ability to produce isobutanol and poly-glutamic acid, respectively. Her project is a collaboration with Ecovia Renewables Inc.
Research Technician Intermediate | 2021 – Present
B.A. Biological Science, Smith College | 2021
B.A. Jewish Studies, Smith College | 2021
Dr. Winnie Song | email
M.D. Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai, China | 1988
Ph.D. Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China | 1998
Dr. Jean-Marie Rouillard | email
Jean-Marie is a research scientist who has joined us from the Gulari lab.
Adjunct Associate Research Scientist | 2021 – Present