Meet the Team
Principal Investigator (PI3)
Yuzhong Liu
Postdoc Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Advisor: Jay Keasling
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Ph.D. in Chemistry
University of California, Berkeley
Advisor: Omar Yaghi
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[Email] [Google Scholar] [Twitter]
Postdoctoral Researcher (P2)
Dr. Yihan Yang
Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
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[Email]
Undergraduate Research Intern
Amara Iverson
Lead Physicist
Coco Cat
Inspired by Newton's law of universal gravitation, Coco is passionate about knocking everything off the table and has gotten quite good at it.
Resident singing cat prodigy
Oliver (Ollie)
Ollie's nightly performances echo the passionate vibrato and dazzling agility reminiscent of Paganini’s most intricate compositions. With precision and flair, Ollie hits high notes in a soaring high spirit.
Postdoc? Graduate student? RA?
You!
Sugar enthusiasts
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Terpene synthesis junkies
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Immunoactivity nerds
In this lab, we believe
Our laboratory is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where scientific excellence thrives. We mentor and empower scientists with different backgrounds, experiences, scientific preferences, and worldviews.
In this spirit, our laboratory will welcome and champion all scientists regardless of race, religion, age, sexual orientation, or gender.
Lab Alum
Research Assistant (10.2023–06.2024)
Rossie Luo
M.Sc. in Food Science
Cornell University
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Current position: PhD student at Rice University
Visiting Student (07.2024–08.2024)
Zhaobo Lyu
Current position: Undergraduate in Chemistry, Tsinghua University, China​
Graduate Student (02.2024–02.2025)
Yukiye Koide
Current position: Graduate student at Scripps Research
Postdoctoral Researcher (07.2024–07.2025)
Dr. Jan Crames
Ph.D. in Chemistry
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
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SURF Undergraduate Intern (2025)
Fernanda Siordia
Current position: Undergraduate in Chemistry, UC Berkeley
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Research Assistant (09.2023–06.2024)
Max Grabovac
B.Sc. in Microbial biology
University of California Berkeley
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Current position: PhD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Rotation Student (09.2023–02.2024)
Yongheng Gao
Current position: Graduate student at Scripps Research
Product Manager
Young Christian
Christian identifies the market problem of cat food shortage in the house and then leads the group (of 2) to scream at the human to effectively solve the problem.
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Visiting student (02.2025–08.2025)
Lijian Su
Current position: Undergraduate in Chemistry, Xiamen University, China
High School Summer Intern (2025)
Roger Shi
Current position: High school student
Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego
Summer Intern (07.2025–08.2025)
Diane Tang
Current position: Undergraduate in Chemistry, Oxford University, UK