Team Description:
The ECHHS iGEM team is made up of eight high schoolers from East Chapel Hill High School. Our team is composed of eager and science-loving 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. Through iGEM, we have been able to apply our passions for the sciences in a professional lab setting. With the assistance and support of our advisors, we have conducted research at the genetic research lab of UNC-Chapel Hill over the past year.
Team Members:
Cecilia (Chae Hyun) Lee
Role in iGEM: Team leader of East Chapel Hill iGEM
Grade: Junior
Why iGEM?: Being able to participate in cutting-edge synthetic biology to approach global problems with a team was never something I could turn down
Favorite experience in the 2017 iGEM season: Late-night video calls with the team, selling concessions at football games to fundraise
Maddie Lorie
Ananth Murthy
Role in iGEM: Team Member of East Chapel Hill iGEM
Fun Fact: Only sophomore on the team
Grade: Sophomore
Why iGEM?: Learning about synthetic biology, new and upcoming scientific fields, and competing with friends is something I couldn’t resist.
Favorite experience in the 2017 iGEM season: Going to the lab and working in the summer, selling concessions at UNC football games to fundraise, and late-night video calls with the team.
Nickname: Spicy Curry
Lindsey Yan
Role in iGEM: Team Member of East Chapel Hill iGEM
Grade: Junior
Why iGEM?: iGEM expands students’ knowledge in the field synthetic biology and furthers the lab skills they learned in school.
Favorite experience in the 2017 iGEM season: The weekly meetings during the summer where we would perform lab experiments and learn about different lab techniques.
Karlie Tong
Role in iGEM: Team Member of East Chapel Hill iGEM
Grade: Senior
Why iGEM?: iGEM goes beyond the classroom setting of simply stating global problems. It challenges people to come up with solutions, to engage in synthetic biology, and to work as a team.
Favorite experience in the 2017 iGEM season: Doing bake sales door-to-door. Members were sweaty from walking and shifts were long, but we all grew closer because we shared the common goal to compete in iGEM.
Amy Westerhoff
Role in iGEM: Team Member of East Chapel Hill iGEM
Grade: Senior
Why iGEM?: I joined iGEM to be a part of a unique global community that focuses on improving widespread issues using innovation and scientific discovery.
Favorite experience in the 2017 iGEM season: Filming an educational “Tasty-inspired” video to teach viewers about serial dilutions.
Nancy Liu
Role in iGEM: Team Member of East Chapel Hill iGEM
Grade: Senior
Why iGEM?: I found it fascinating that there was a club out there that could not only come up with real life solutions, but could help change society for the better. I’ve always been fond of science and being able to work at a University Lab was a good experience.
Favorite experience in the 2017 iGEM season: Going weekly to the Kuhlman Lab to help conduct labs and research.
Abia Ahmed
Role in iGEM: Team Member of East Chapel Hill iGEM (Web developer)
Grade: Junior
Favorite experience in the 2017 iGEM season: Creating the East Chapel Hill IGem website was a very rewarding experience.
Instructor:
Dr. Joseph Harrison
Advisors:
Mr. William Vincent
Ms. Patricia Berge
Bo Zhao
Minnie Langlois
Siyu Wang
