Project Title: Culturing and Sequencing of Novel Microorganisms Found in Boreal Mosses.

Mentors: Noah Fierer and Hannah Holland-Moritz, CIRES/ Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at CU.

Bio: Born in Waco, Texas, Savanna moved and lived all over the South for most of her childhood. Around 2008, she settled permanently in Colorado and spent a large amount of time in both Northglenn and Denver. Currently, Savanna lives in Lafayette, Colorado, where she can be closer to CU Boulder and enjoy more of the outdoors. Although her childhood passion was in the sciences, her first career was in automotive technology. Savanna was dissatisfied about the trajectory of this field, so she decided to go back to school and pursue something she felt was relevant to her interests and passions. Her hobbies include reading, yoga, and music.

Savanna will graduate from the Community College of Denver in the summer of 2019 with an Associates of Science. During her time at the Community College of Denver, she worked as a research assistant in a genetics laboratory where she discovered her passion for genetics, especially the neurogenetics of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and untreated phenylketonuria. Savanna will transfer to CU Boulder in the fall to finish her undergraduate in molecular, cellular and developmental biology and neuroscience plus a minor in biochemistry. She then plans to pursue a PhD and/or an MD in neurogenetics. She wants to study the genetics relating to neurodegenerative diseases with a focus primarily on phenylketonuria. Savanna is currently working with the Fierer Lab culturing novel microorganisms found in Alaskan mosses that have yet to be successfully grown with the hopes that culturing this microorganism will allow it to be more accessible for future experimentation.

View a short 90-second elevator speech.