Profile

Every year, the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology is awarded approximately $65 million in sponsored programs funding. The road to getting these awards is often long and tedious: writing proposals, balancing deadlines, crossing your fingers, and once the award comes through the work only increases. Fortunately, the team run by Justine Story, the Director for Budget and Resource Planning, provides crucial support so that IGB researchers can focus on their work.

The annual holiday party at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology is widely considered to be a must-attend event, and for good reason. All the floors of the main IGB building are beautifully decorated and filled with delectable hors d’oeuvres and delicate pastries, which are often too stunning to eat. The driving force behind this beloved soiree is Darci Edmonson, the Administrative Manager at the IGB.

Over the past few decades, the food industry has increasingly leaned on the concept of molecular gastronomy—approaching cooking from the perspective of chemistry. Erinn Dady’s career went in the opposite direction where her love for cooking reignited her passion in science.

Growing up in Urbana-Champaign, Dady had always been fascinated by the natural world. “I loved observing insects and I would go traipsing through the woods or the prairies around here to see what I could find under the logs,” Dady said.

Using mathematical models to explain plant community structures

If you have any preconceived notions of what a mathematician is supposed to sound like, perhaps based on representation from the media, a chat with Kenny Jops will have you thinking otherwise. Witty conversation, unfeigned curiosity, and deadpan humor are the trademarks of Jops, a graduate candidate in the Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior program at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who currently studies the math underlying plant communities.  

Joseph Irudayaraj (CGD/EIRH) is a Founder Professor in Bioengineering. His lab uses engineering, biology, and computer science to develop smart therapeutics and to understand epigenetic regulation due to environmental contaminants.

Investigating mechanisms behind variation in color of killifish

Growing up in South India, Ratna Karatgi found herself moving between cities as her dad relocated for work. Though living in the city meant she was not exposed much to wildlife early on, she quickly became interested in zoology after working as a volunteer at the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, an educational outreach-focused reptile zoo. There, she says that presentations and experiments by visiting researchers lit the spark for her.

Studying behavioral and morphological responses to environmental cues in poison frogs

Ask Lisa Surber her thoughts on science and the natural world and you’ll find passion and excitement practically radiate off her as she responds. For Surber, who is currently a 3rd year PhD candidate in the Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior department at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, this interest in science and nature has been present within her ever since she was young:

Kathy Millage is an Office Administrator at the IGB.

Walking into the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology can be intimidating. If you’re a researcher, the main building has a similar layout to most of the laboratories on campus. If you’re not, you might enter the gatehouse instead, where you will be greeted by numerous displays of Carl Woese and IGB research. Confused, and maybe a little overwhelmed, you might turn to the office, where Kathy Millage makes it a point to greet you with a smile.