Lisa Guan
Planetary Protection Engineer
Lisa.Guan@jpl.nasa.gov
Office: 818-354-2814
Biography
Lisa received her B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology from UC Berkeley in 2014 and her M.S. in Biology from the University of Munich, Germany in 2016. Her graduate work focused on exploring microbial communities of extreme environments using genetics and Next-Generation sequencing technology. She is currently involved in Planetary Protection implementation for the Mars 2020 and InSight Missions. She is also actively involved in several collaborative research projects focused on the metagenomics of extreme environments.
Research Interests
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Metagenomics
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Bioinformatics
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Astrobiology
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Microbial communities of extreme environments
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Pushing the limits of Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies
Professional Experience
2017 - Present: Planetary Protection Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2016: Graduate Research Assistant - Epigenetics, Biomedical Center of Munich, Germany
2015-2016: Graduate Research Assistant - Environmental Genomics, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Health
2015: Intern - Aquatic Ecology, University of Munich, Germany
2012-2014: Field Assistant - Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley
2013: NSF Research Intern - Microbiology and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University
Education
2016, M.S. Biology, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Germany
2014, B.S. Molecular Environmental Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Selected Publications
Schulze-Makuch D., et al. 2018. “A Transitory Microbial Habitat in the Hyperarid Atacama Desert.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Published ahead of print February 26, 2018. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1714341115.
Selected Awards
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Study Scholarship Grantee (2015-2016)
UC Berkeley Dean’s Honors (2012, 2013)