Trevor Cross

As a postdoc in the Engineered Living Materials Institute working in Adrienne Roeder's lab, my projects involve understanding the genetic and cellular basis of diatom morphogenesis. It is unknown how diatoms determine and sculpt the overall shape of their cell wall so I plan to probe this phenomenon with genetic and cell biology approaches. Since diatoms and their frustules possess unique biological, chemical, structural, and material properties, these aspects lend themselves well to the Engineered Living Materials Institute with potential real-world applications.