dspecht

I'm a postdoctoral researcher interested in pursuing the intersection that exists between physics, biology and sustainability. I hold a PhD in Applied Physics from Cornell University and a Bachelors in Physics with a minor in Environmental Science and Policy from the College of William & Mary.

My interest in the intersection between physics and biology led to my PhD in the Lambert Lab, where I studied the physics of CRISPR, a biological system that enables human-programmable interaction with DNA. I used next generation sequencing to study the sequence-specific determinants of binding of the CRISPR protein Cas12a, and how the binding of these proteins can be used to control gene expression via synthetic gene circuits. Through my PhD research, I discovered how powerful synthetic biology - our new ability to engineer organisms at a high level - can be. In particular, my PhD research into the design of CRISPR-based genetic circuits in E. coli has inspired me to think about how these new biological engineering capabilities in microbes can be moved from the lab into the real world.

I was attracted to the Barstow Lab, opting to remain at Cornell, because of advancements here in a truly unique field - electroactive microbes, which can can use direct transfer of electrons through an electrode to drive metabolic activity, which has extraordinary implications for sustainability if it can be successfully leveraged. In the course of my research, I've discovered that one such electroactive microbe, Vibrio natriegens, has intrinsic abilities that make it especially easy to engineer, and a phenomenal target for making sustainable fuels, foods, and complex biomolecules using electricity.

October 2023