GLBRC Internship in Microbial Metabolic Engineering

Position Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in microbiology, genetics, molecular/cell biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, chemical engineering, or relevant field.

Required minimum number of years and type of relevant work experience:

• 1 year of laboratory research experience, including experience with microbiology, molecular and cell biology, and/or biochemistry techniques.
• Experience in genetic and molecular biology approaches with microbes would be particularly desirable.
• Specific experience with microbial culturing and sterile techniques, RNA and DNA purification, PCR, and effectively working with others as part of a research team will be advantageous.

Position Duties: The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) is a U.S. Department of Energy-funded Bioenergy Research Center led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With Michigan State University and other partners, we are developing approaches to generate advanced biofuels and bioproducts through economically viable and environmentally sustainable technologies. The successful candidate will work in the Sato lab as part of GLBRC’s Specialty Biofuels team. The central goal of Dr. Trey Sato’s lab is to engineer yeast to efficiently convert carbohydrates from plant biomass to biofuels.

The primary responsibilities of this research intern position are to perform and support lab research aimed at investigating new ways to genetically engineer the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for improved cellulosic biofuel production. As a part of their training, the intern will also develop an independent research project under the guidance of the supervisor and other lab members, as well as in collaboration with Prof. Chris Todd Hittinger (https://hittinger.genetics.wisc.edu/). The research intern will work in a team to:

• Genetically engineer yeast for improved fermentation of plant-derived sugars into biofuels by using homology and CRISPR/Cas9-driven molecular approaches.
• Perform adaptive laboratory evolution and whole genome resequencing to develop yeast strains with improved fermentation properties.
• Perform multi-omic approaches (e.g., RNA-seq, proteomic and metabolomic analyses) to identify metabolic bottlenecks in biofuel production.
• Perform fermentation experiments with engineered and evolved strains to compare growth in various media (hydrolysates) derived from plant biomass.
• Develop and execute an independent research project based on results from the above experimentation.
• Assist in preparing microbial media, reagents, and supplies, as well as assisting in the organization and maintenance of the lab.

Application Instructions: Please email a cover letter stating your interest in the position and current resume/CV to Trey Sato (tksato@glbrc.wisc.edu).

Salary: Minimum $32,000 annual

Percent Time: 100

Start Date: 06/01/2023