Education
Master of Science, Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology, 2024
University of Edinburgh (UoE), Scotland
Bachelor of Science, Biology, 2023
Indian River State College (IRSC), Fort Pierce, FL
Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, 2011
The Ohio State University (OSU), Columbus, OH
Research Interests
Crissy will investigate bacteriophage (phage) therapy for the built environment by engineering phages to lyse bacterial cells in response to bacterial quorum sensing signals. During her master’s at UoE, she worked on engineering silver-tolerant bacteria to enhance the biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles from conductive ink waste. During her undergrad at IRSC, Crissy focused on the isolation of phages and the molecular characterization and expression of candidate bacteriotoxic genes for the treatment of Gram-negative agricultural pathogens. She was also part of a project to annotate the genome of Diaphorina citri, the insect vector of citrus greening disease, to identify and characterize gene families that could serve as targets for molecular therapeutics. In her free time, Crissy loves traveling, camping, stargazing, and pretending CrossFit is a hobby instead of a cult. She also loves reading for fun and exploring topics beyond science, and is currently wrestling with the Russian language.
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
2nd Place – Oral Presentation, Overall. “Characterization of a novel jumbo phage and identification of lysins for potential agricultural applications.” 10th Annual Life Sciences South Florida (LSSF) STEM Undergraduate Research Symposium. Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL. Apr 15, 2023.
1st Place – Outstanding Oral Presentation, Undergrad, AGR. “Characterization of a novel jumbo phage and identification of lysins for potential agricultural applications.” Florida Academy of Sciences (FAS). Florida Poly, Lakeland, FL. Mar 10, 2023.
3rd Place – Outstanding Poster Presentation, Undergrad. “Complete genome sequence of the third largest isolated jumbo phage.” 2022 Florida American Society for Microbiology (FLASM)/Tiny Earth Meeting. Orlando, FL. Oct 21-23, 2022.
2nd Place – 3MT Presentation, Overall. “Characterization of a novel jumbo phage for potential agricultural applications.” 9th Annual Life Sciences South Florida STEM Undergraduate Research Symposium. Virtual. Apr 23, 2022.
1st Place – Poster Presentation, Undergrad. “Characterization of a novel jumbo phage for potential agricultural applications.” First South Florida Translational Research Symposium. FIU, Center for Translational Science, Port St. Lucie, FL. Apr 13-14, 2022.
One of four IRSC students from all disciplines selected to present at Florida Undergraduate Research Association (FURA): Posters at the Capitol. “Molecular evolution of yellow genes in Diaphorina citri reveals duplications and losses.” FSU, Tallahassee, FL. Feb 22-23, 2020.
2nd Place – Honorable Mention Poster Presentation, Undergrad, AGR. “A pathway to recovery: Evolutionary analysis of the yellow gene family in the citrus greening vector, Diaphorina citri.” 83rd Annual Meeting Florida Academy of Sciences. FIT, Melbourne, FL. Mar 8, 2019.
Other Interests
Traveling, camping, hiking, reading, and watching TV shows.