Bio
Dr. Erin Drufva received her Bachelors degree in Chemistry at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. Next, she received her PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. Her doctoral research involved developing genetic tools and protein display systems for Geobacillus and Bacillus spp. for bioenergy applications. Afterwards, she accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she expressed polyketide synthases in E. coli and Pseudomonas to determine how heterologous expression in different hosts affects enzyme folding and activity. Her current research involves protein expression and mutagenesis in E. coli for bioremediation along with tool development for Bacillus and Geobacillus spp. for bioenergy production.