Twenty-Four Students Selected for Exclusive Training at EMSL

Updated June 26

The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) selected 24 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers for exclusive weeklong training at the Department of Energy, Office of Science, user facility.

The training will take place each afternoon during EMSL Summer School (July 7–11). Morning EMSL Summer School sessions are open to the public to attend online at no cost and will feature presentations on the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), large language models (LLMs), and the use of LLMs to create semiautonomous software agents to accelerate fundamental biological and environmental research. Sessions also will highlight how AI-based agents enable better utilization of emerging laboratory automation capabilities.

Meet the selected students and postdocs.

Aino-Elina Kuusimäki 

Aalto University

PhD student

Area of study and research focus: Fungal biotechnology

Amanda Bataycan 

University of Texas at El Paso

PhD student

Area of study: Computational science and bioinformatics

Research focus: Identifying geochemical variability and geogenic carbon

Amanda Whitley 

Texas Christian University

Graduate student

Area of study: Geochemistry

Research focus: Identifying geochemical variability and geogenic carbon in the subsurface using AI and thermal analysis techniques

Avinash Dhar 

Colorado State University

PhD student

Area of study: Air microbiome

Beatrice Bock 

Northern Arizona University

PhD candidate

Area of study: Biology

Research focus: Plant–fungus symbioses

Cassandra Collins 

University of California, Davis

Graduate student

Area of study: Soils and biogeochemistry

Research focus: Developing high-resolution microscopy and field-based imaging methodologies to visualize and quantify micro- to macroscale processes, with particular emphasis on biologically mediated mineral weathering and soil aggregation in coastal temperate rainforest soils

Chandan Kumar 

University of Texas at Austin

PhD candidate

Area of study: Plant biology

Research focus: Exploring the epigenetic landscape in C4 perennial grasses

Christian Chukwujindu

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Postdoctoral researcher

Area of study: Chemical engineering

Research focus: Machine learning of bioremediation

Ethan Nowaski

University of California, Riverside

PhD student

Area of study: Math

Research focus: Multiscale mathematical modeling of physical and biological systems

Ethiopia Bisrat Zeleke

Florida International University

PhD student

Area of study: Earth systems science

Research focus: Hydrological modeling of drought propagation

Georgina Canto Encalada

San Diego State University

PhD student

Area of study: Metabolic modeling

Research focus: Metabolic model reconstruction of different eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms

Isa Elabor

Florida A&M University

PhD student and research assistant

Area of study: Environmental science

Research focus: Biomonitoring and remediation of heavy metals using mycotechnology

Iyanu Oduwole

University of Tennessee Knoxville

Graduate research assistant

Area of study: Genomics science and technology

Research focus: Applying machine learning in microbiology

Janis Shin

University of Washington

PhD student

Area of study: Molecular engineering and sciences

Research focus: Metabolic modeling

Khoi Nguyen Vo

University of California, Riverside

PhD student

Area of study: Mathematical biology

Research focus: Multiscale modeling using subcellular and agent-based methods

Maria Jimenez Velasco 

The University of Texas at El Paso

Master’s student in Bioinformatics

Area of study and research focus: Tumor mutation burden with an emphasis on automating data extraction processes, performing statistical analyses, and developing predictive models using machine learning and deep learning techniques

Morgan Christensen

Utah State University

PhD student

Area of study: Biological engineering

Research focus: Understanding oxidative stress through flow cytometry and Raman spectroscopy with the application of machine learning

Saad Naseem

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Postdoctoral fellow

Area of study and research focus: Metabolic engineering of bacteria to convert biomass to biofuel

Sanjog Kharel

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Graduate student

Area of study and research focus: Computational biology

Siddhartha Shankar Bhattacharyya

Texas A&M University

PhD candidate

Area of study: Soil microbiology

Research focus: Soil–plant–microbe interactions in regenerative agriculture in semiarid Texas

Sining Niu

Texas A&M University

PhD candidate

Area of study: Atmospheric sciences

Research focus: Atmospheric organic aerosols

Xiaolei Xu

Texas A&M University

PhD student

Area of study: Chemical oceanography

Research focus: The cycling of dissolved organic matter in the coastal ocean and high-resolution mass spectrometry for organic molecule characterization

Yifan Wang

The University of Texas at El Paso

PhD candidate

Area of study: Data science/bioinformatics

Research focus: Computational methods including protein language models for post-translational modifications

Julia Kirpich

Georgia Tech

Postdoctoral fellow

Area of study and research focus: Metabolomics of cell-free systems