Team:RHS-Calgary/Team
Wet Lab
Sophia Vig-Benko
Wet Lab Lead
Meet Sophia Vig-Benko, our team lead for the wetlab. Sophia has a passion for conducting research in the health-sciences, which is what sparked her interest in iGEM. She is currently in the midst of writing her own independent research paper on Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing, which she is working to publish in the near future. In her spare time, Sophia is an avid outdoorsman, painter, and pianist! Meet her cats, Mina, an American Long Hair and Gombi/Gombocka, an American Short Hair tabby.
Madison Kritzler
Wet Lab Member
Meet Madison, one of our wet lab team members. Madison is passionate about the sciences, especially biology and chemistry. When given an opportunity to engage more with the sciences, from science fair to iGEM, she jumps at the opportunity. She is also passionate about learning in general, enjoying math in the classroom and in her spare time.
Meet Madisons cat, Princess. He was found only a few days old in Indonesia, resulting in his stubby tail. He is turning 18 this year.
Diya Sharma
Wet Lab Lead
Meet Diya, another one of our wet lab members. Diya is very interested in the sciences, especially biology and chemistry. Ever since she was young, she has always wanted to pursue a career in the medical field and looks forward to those future endeavours. She joined iGEM to enhance her knowledge of various synthetic biology topics and to apply these skills to real world situations. Diya also likes to dance, talk to her friends, and lend a helping hand! Diya's favourite cat breed is the Siberian cat because she loves their calm nature and the fact that they enjoy the company of others!
Dry Lab
Tanisha Mattapalli
Dry Lab Lead
Meet Tanisha, our team lead for Dry Lab. She loves chemistry, biology, math and computer science. She aspires to pursue a career in the STEM field and hopes that iGEM will act as a stepping stone to dive deeper into her interests. Tanisha is currently working on her own project on molecular dynamic simulations and has recently completed a GROMACS simulation, Lysozyme in Water and has started KALP-15 in DPPC. She is a competitive swimmer (at least was until COVID lol), a public speaker and debater and loves to volunteer around her community
Tanisha's favourite cat breed is the Russian Blue cat because they are "incredibly stunning and adorable".
Human Practices
Ayana Abdulla
HP Lead
Meet Ayana, one of our HP co-leads. Ayana, although being interested in science, is also greatly inclined to learn languages. She is spending a majority of the upcoming year exploring French! Community is an aspect of work that Ayana absolutely loves, which encouraged her to join iGEM. She greatly enjoys both the learning and communication aspect of being a part of RHS-Calgary. Ayana loves going to the gym and is working towards inspiring other young girls to try it out! Ayana's favourite cat breed is the himalayan cat "because they are grumpy and so cute".
Kaylin Kritzler
HP Lead
Meet Kaylin, our second HP co-lead. Kaylin is new to Renert but no less enthusiastic. An introverted cat lover with an interest in science. Kaylin is fun, loving and an amazing asset to the team! She is willing to put in a lot of work and is very excited for the upcoming iGem competition. Furthermore she is an artist and a cat lover of all sorts! Meet Kaylin's cat, Kaya. Kaya loves to hide and truly believes that Kaylin doesn't feed her enough.
Aarushi Bhargava
Team Lead
Meet Aarushi Bhargava, our student team lead. Aarushi has always loved science. From collecting rocks and catching bugs when she was younger to ultimately conducting her own research, she has always been passionate about the world of science. As she grew older, she has applied this to experiences such as iGEM and science fair. This past year, she was given the opportunity to compete in the Canada Wide Science Fair, where she won multiple awards. She loves working with her team members and thoroghly enjoys drawing diagrams on the whie board. Aarushi also loves spending time outdoors, collecting stationary, and making digital art. Aarushi's favourite cat is the snow leopard (in her defense, yes, they are technically a cat).
Dr. Iaci Soares
Primary Investigator
Dr. Soares is an experienced and passionate researcher and teacher. She loves introducing young students to the research world. She led our team through both the challenges and the accomplishments of the wet lab team! Her hobbies include hiking in the Rocky Mountains, camping, and skiing. She adores pets and has had two rescue cats, Mimi (white) and Mary Tiger (black and white stripes).
Dallas McLaughlin
Secondary Investigator
Mx. Dallas is a teacher with over 10 years of experience in education, with a particular fondness for science, mythology, and media studies. He also enjoys rock climbing and video games. In their iGEM journey, Mx. Dallas has enjoyed the opportunity to both learn and teach about the wonderful world of synthetic biology and they hope to continue to do so in the future. She also owns two troublemaking ragdoll cats, Hades and Persephone.
Fatima Ghanem
Mentor
Ms. Fatima is a biology and general science teacher with a research background in biomedical science. She's a total neuroscience nerd and her hobbies include reading, hiking, weight lifting and playing with her almost-1-year old daughter. She loves cats and has had many over the years. She currently has a 7 year old black cat named Pete who is very lazy, lovable and charming.
Mia MacTavish
Mentor
Ms. Mia is a computer science teacher who is passionate about introducing programming to a wide and diverse audience. Her hobbies include playing video games, sewing, and learning Japanese. She is unfortunately allergic to cats, but loves them anyways - she hopes to someday have a Siberian cat, since they are hypoallergenic.