Community projects at SoundBio LAB

We believe that science is better when we inspire and learn from each other.

All Community Project events are posted on Meetup and open to newcomers! You are welcome to check out your first event for free. To continue participating in a community project, please sign up to become a member.

Have an exciting idea for a new Community Project? Create and submit a project proposal. Our Project Review team will review your proposal within 10 days and help you refine it if they have any questions or concerns.

CURRENT PROJECTS

KOMBUCHA SCIENCE

~On Hiatus~

We hope to better understand the microbial ecology of kombucha and explore the potential applications of kombucha-based materials. Whether you are more interested in homebrewing or tinkering around in the lab, you are welcome to join our team.

SCIENCE ADVISORS

Anyone can launch a Community Project, even without a background in science. Whether you are working on a new proposal or in the middle of an active project, you can get advice and tips from our Science Advisors. Below are some examples of our areas of expertise.

Contact us via the SoundBio Lab Slack or directly via email.

 
 

Dylan Mendenhall (he/him) (dylan@sound.bio)

Board Member, Chair of Lab & Research Committee

  • Forest ecology

  • Soil ecology

  • Homebrewing (wine, beer, kombucha)

  • Bioinformatics

  • Metabarcoding

  • PCR

  • Environmental DNA

  • Coding in R, Python, Mothur

 

Martha Zepeda Rivera (she/her)(martha@sound.bio)

Board Member, Chair of Community Engagement Committee

  • Microbiological techniques (aerobic/anaerobic)

  • Microbiome analysis/ Bacterial Genomics

  • PCR

  • Molecular Cloning Techniques

  • Bacterial protein expression

  • Protein purification and batch chromatography

  • DNA and protein gels, protein Western blots

 

Yoshi Goto (he/him)

(yoshi@sound.bio)

Board Member, Vice President

  • Computational biology

  • Kinetic/metabolic modeling

  • Mathematical modeling of biological systems

  • COMSOL/Matlab

  • Basic protein modeling

  • Synthetic biology

Community Project Guidelines

  • Community Projects are open to the public – whether hosted online or at the lab. All meetings and events are posted on our Meetup account.

  • New folks can attend their first event for free. To continue participating in a community project, people can sign up to become a member.

  • Every community project requires at least one Researcher or Lead member as a project leader.

    • If your community project is approved, project leaders get honorary Researcher privileges while still only paying Tinkerer membership dues ($10/mo)

    • Project leaders have keyed access to the laboratory and access to our inventory system for ordering supplies.

  • Project leaders are responsible for following all lab policies and project guidelines:

    • Supervising Tinkerer members during lab work

    • Posting events/meetings on our Meetup account for new people to join

    • Welcoming new participants and teaching them about the project

  • Tinkerers can do lab work while they are supervised by a project leader (i.e. a Researcher or Lead member) or during the Lab Manager’s open hours.

  • Tinkerers must complete safety training with the Lab Manager before participating in lab activities. However, new people are still welcome to visit the lab.

PAST COMMUNITY PROJECTS

 

Seed.code

Join a team implementing a plant genetic engineering workflow at SoundBio, and developing an accompanying software assistant.

Dirt Life

We are looking for microbial-minded members to help hundreds of community gardeners with their interest in microbial diversity, and their concern about soil-borne fungal pathogens.
The plan is to involve volunteers like you, our Lab, and the community gardeners in a project that could reduce plant pathogens and enhance the quality of our precious soil at the same time.
We work on research skills, a variety of lab skills, plus experimental design techniques. No experience necessary!

Biomodelling

We want to explore the intersection between programming, biology, and network systems through simulating gene regulatory networks in a program (in silico) and gathering experimental data of the same gene network, inserted into bacteria (in vivo).

Agar Artists

Join a community project focused on creating agar art! The art pieces will be made out of genetically modified E. coli that display different colors and fluorescence. We’re hoping to create educational pieces (centered around antibiotic resistance, the microbiome, etc.) and eventually take the art to elementary schools, nearby coffee shops, and even art galleries. The project is the perfect place to create any kind of art you want.

Prions Journal club

Our research group studies prions through journal club meetings and computer modeling. In our meetings, we discuss scientific papers and host special lectures on Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Citizen Salmon

The goal of Citizen Salmon is to acquire a deeper knowledge of local food origins and thus provide the same opportunity for inquiry to the public. By connecting the information about a salmon’s genes with its birthplace, CS aims to develop a simple tool that citizen scientists may use independently to determine the origin of salmon on their plate.

Note: SoundBio Lab is currently not hosting an iGEM team. If you are interested in iGEM, search for “Emerald_City iGEM” on your favorite search engine.