Awarded in 2025
Home Department: Biology
Faculty Advisors: Vayu Hill-Maini (Bioengineering) and Polly Fordyce (Bioengineering and Genetics)

Research Title: Expanding the Mushroom Genetic Tool Kit Using High-Throughput Droplet Microfluidics Screening

Filamentous fungi—such as mushrooms and molds—hold immense potential in addressing climate change by converting waste into sustainable materials, valuable enzymes, and nutritious foods. Yet, fungal synthetic biology still lacks precise tools for gene expression control and existing methods for growing and engineering these organisms are slow and labor-intensive. Peter’s work focuses on building genetic tools and developing high-throughput, microfluidic-based methods to screen and sort large genetic libraries, helping accelerate the design-build-test cycle. His goal is to enable the rapid engineering of fungi for diverse sustainability applications—supporting innovations that promote both environmental resilience and human health for future generations.