Dr. Michael Ceballos

Dr. Ceballos is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He is also a co-director of the Minority Institute Astrobiology Collaborative (MIAC) and a consultant for the Environmental Microbiology and Biochemistry Research Station (EMBRS). Dr. Ceballos is a founding member of the Biofuels Research Collaborative for Microorganisms As Renewable Energy Sources (BRC-MARES) and a member of the Research Advisory Council for the Sivaram Foundation. He is a former NASA MIRS fellow, an Alfred P. Sloan Indigenous Graduate Program graduate, a NSF-IGERT Ph.D. graduate, and a Ford Foundation Fellow. Dr. Ceballos is the founder and director of the Native American Research Laboratory (NARL), which is housed at EMBRS.He completed a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Alabama at Huntsville, a master’s degree in Neuroscience from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and a Ph.D. in Integrative Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Montana.

Dr. Rob Gardner

Adriana Alvarez De La Hoz

Adriana is a Biologist from the National University of Colombia. She earned a master’s degree in Biotechnology of Microorganisms at the University of the Andes in Venezuela. Adriana is interested in the potential applications of microorganisms in the industry and the environment. In her master’s work, she screened fungal isolates for the production of chitin deacetylase (CDA) and studied CDA enzymatic activities in the search for an environmentally-friendly method to obtain chitosan. As a master student, she was also a teaching assistant for courses in basic chemistry and basic genetics lab. Recently, Adriana joined prof. Rob Gardner’s group as a PhD student to focus her research on the potential of photosynthetic microbes for useful applications in the industry and agriculture.

Ines Cuesta-Urena

Ines is from Barcelona, Spain. She is completing her master’s degree in interdisciplinary science through The University of Montana. Dr. Ceballos is her primary research advisor. Ines is exploring lignocellulose deconstruction methods and enzyme pretreatments particularly enzyme sequestration platform technologies that may increase sugar reduction efficiency in bioethanol production and that may have utility algal-based biodiesel production.

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