As an MBS student, you may consider all bioscience faculty at the University of Minnesota as potential faculty mentors; your first step to making a connection is to meet with an MBS academic advisor to discuss your interests and goals.
Director of Graduate Studies
Romas Kazlauskas
Romas is a professor of biochemistry, molecular biology, and biophysics. He is also a member of the Biotechnology Institute, an interdisciplinary group at the University of Minnesota. As Director of Graduate Studies, he works with the advisors and staff to oversee program development and student progress. He completed his PhD studies at MIT and postdoctoral studies at Harvard University. He worked at General Electric Co. research laboratories for three years. Romas studies protein engineering of enzymes to be used for synthesis of pharmaceuticals and biofuels. He teaches a course in protein engineering and is completing a textbook on that topic.
Advisors
Anke Reinders
Anke is a lecturer for the MBS program. She studied biology at the University of Bremen, Germany and received her PhD in botany from the University of Basel, Switzerland. Following a postdoc at the University of Tübingen, she worked as a senior research associate in the department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of Minnesota. One major topic of Anke's research has been understanding how plants acquire and distribute nutrients throughout the organism. She has focused on the role of plant membrane transporters, specifically transporters for sucrose and other sugars, as well as amino acids and ammonium.
Sarah Jaumann
Sarah is an academic advisor for the MBS program. She has a broad background in research and post-secondary education in the biological sciences. Her varied interests in biology led her to graduate from Colorado State University with a BS in Biological Sciences, a BS in Zoology, and a BS in Psychology. She began independent research on insect pollinators as an undergraduate, which she continued at the University of Minnesota in the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior graduate program. Sarah completed her PhD in 2017, with a Preparing Future Faculty certification and a dissertation focusing on butterfly behavior and physiology. She spent the next several years gaining additional experience in teaching and research at George Washington University in Washington DC, where she was a postdoctoral scientist and professorial lecturer.
Advisory Board
The MBS advisory board helps guide curriculum, provides valuable insights into industry trends, and establishes connections to experts in the field. We ask professionals from across the sciences arena to serve to ensure broad representation and perspectives.
| Name | Title | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Tesha Alston Dempier | Senior Quality Engineer | 3M |
| Megan Andorfer (Solomon) | Current student, Food Science, Microbiology | Master of Biological Sciences |
| Jacques Finlay | Professor | Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, UMN |
| Deborah Samac | USDA-ARS Supervisory Research Geneticist | Department of Plant Pathology, UMN |
| Tim Tripp | Director of Specialized Services | Be The Match |
| Lindsay Wentz (MBS alumni) | Senior Scientist, Research and Development | Qorvo Biotechnologies |
| Praseuth Yang | Current student, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry | Master of Biological Sciences |
| Feng Zhang | Assistant Professor | Plant and Microbial Biology, UMN |