Hello! I am a graduate student in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program. I earned a bachelor's degree from Colby College in 2022, where I learned that I love research. I am excited to be working on the unique biology of Archaea. One of the most unique things about haloarchaea is that they are highly polyploid; their tiny cells are packed with over 30 chromosomal copies per cell. The central question I want to answer with my work is how this cell can organize and homogenize its presumably packed cytoplasm. I am relying on techniques like single-particle tracking rheology to characterize the environment inside the cell biophysically. After establishing the toolkit, I aim to answer my main question and explore how the cell employs mechanisms to organize the cytoplasm.

I love cooking, dancing, and playing games on my Switch in my spare time!

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katherineandre [at] brandeis [dot] edu