Lab Members

Current Lab Members

Kate Bernier (’20)

Kate is doing some bioengineering of our favorite species, Haloferax volcanii, to make them into chemical factories.  Her favorite color is yellow.

Anna Libby (’20)

Anna is examining how some lucky H. volcanii cells can survive a short-term osmotic shock. Anna recently returned from studying abroad in Scotland and Italy.

Hoang Anh Tran (’22)

Hoang is conducting further analysis of H. volcanii transcriptome data. He also is the official laboratory photographer.

Matthew Albaum (’21)

Matthew is becoming very adept at using recombinant DNA technology to study how H. volcanii cells respond when forced to make a WHOLE BUNCH of a particular protein. He also plays the trumpet (but not while in lab, usually).

Sam Lee (’20)

Sam is our sequencing and Western Blot specialist, completing analysis on hundreds of synthetic strains.

Sammy Scofield (’20)

Sammy constructs plasmids and H. volcanii strains to see how they like (or not) to be in osmotic stress. He will take a break from the lab (and Maine) when he studies abroad in Thailand in the fall.

Em Shaw (’20)

 Em is an experienced Peck Lab member, having worked with the lab for multiple years, and is an author on  the Journal of Bacteriology paper in  2017.  Em is currently working on investigating the inhibitory interaction between bacterioopsin and lycopene elongase by attaching fluorescent proteins and looking for indications of a direct interaction. She would one day like to explore outside of the states and enjoys hiking and throwing small children around the pool in the summertime.

Serena Graham (Lab Technician)

Serena is currently working on a gene interaction project, as well as endeavoring to keep the lab running smoothly.  She loves all the outdoor opportunities Waterville provides but can be found at her bench most mornings.  She also has too many pets (is that really possible?).

Ron Peck, PhD (Associate Professor and Principle Investigator)

Ron’s favorite summer job as a kid was chopping incorrect corn stalks out of cornfields.

Ron’s favorite food is donuts, closely followed by chocolate chip cookies.

Ron’s favorite commute is through the forest with his dog, Bailey.

(One of these statements is false…)

Laboratory Alumni (not yet comprehensive, currently under construction)

Abby Gregory (’19)

Abby constructed many, many Haloferax volcanii strains and is an author on our most recent publication. Abby did a semester abroad in Denmark, with a brief stay in Norway in 2018.

Erika Smith (’18)

Erika created a synthetic line of Haloferax volcanii which increases production of a carotenoid pigment of interest.  She is currently a Ph.D. student in the Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology Program at Johns Hopkins University. She recently joined the Goley Laboratory that studies bacterial cell biology since Erika knows that prokaryotes are awesome!

Margot Miranda-Katz (’18)

Margot conducted differential RNA seq on Haloferax volcanii to find out how they respond to hypoosmotic shock. She analyzed the results a lot.  She enjoys her horses and her dog Goose. Potato. Potato. Potato. Margot will begin the MD-Ph.D program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Go Badgers!) in Fall, 2019.

Alex Plesa (’17)

Alex worked on many projects during his time in the lab and was an author on the first publication from the Peck Lab at Colby. After graduating from Colby, he entered the Ph.D. program at Harvard Medical School. He recently joined the laboratory of George Church to study aging or bringing back woolly mammoths. When not doing research, Alex enjoys attending music festivals in Transylvania.

Katie Metayer (’17)

Katie examined how the stunning pigments produced by halophilic Archaea help them survive environmental stress (or not). After her time at Colby, Katie spent a summer leading children into and through the wilderness. She is currently a clinical research coordinator at  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She loves riding her bike and testing the limits of her balance.