(2013-2018)
I was born in Portland, Oregon and lived half my life there and the other half in San Diego, California. I earned a Bachelors degree in Environmental Science with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Portland. I began graduate school at Texas A&M in August, 2012 and joined the Devarenne Lab in May, 2013.
I have two projects, the first of which is focused on isolating and characterizing lipid droplets (LDs) from Botryococcus braunii, race B. I am interested in questions such as: what proteins are associated with LDs and what functions do they serve? How are hydrocarbons metabolized in LDs? How do LDs move through the cell and influence development? How are LD hydrocarbons incorporated into the extra-cellular matrix? My second project is focused on the biosynthesis of alkadienes and alkatrienes in B. braunii race A. The aim of this project is to identify and characterize the enzyme(s) in the anabolic pathway of these hydrocarbons.
Dan successfully defended his thesis on March 5, 2018 but delayed graduation until December, 2018 in order to teach an entrepreneurship class at A&M and work on his algae biofuel company Botryonyx. Currently (as of 06.17.2019) Dan is working for Pacific Biosciences as a Scientist I for field applications support in bioinformatics, and is based in Chicago.