Wilbanks Lab
Lizzy Wilbanks, Principal Investigator
Lizzy received her B.A. in Chemistry and Biology from Swarthmore College, where she conducted undergraduate research in synthetic organic chemistry (and discovered that microbes are marvelous chemists!). She completed her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of California, Davis, where she was co-advised by Jonathan Eisen and Marc Facciotti. Her dissertation research was inspired by projects at the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Microbial Diversity summer course in Woods Hole, and focused on the metabolism and metagenomics of sulfur cycling bacterial aggregates. Following NASA and Agouron postdoctoral fellowships at Caltech with Victoria Orphan, Lizzy served as a visiting professor at Swarthmore College in the Biology Department. She joined UCSB in 2016.
Emily Junkins, Postdoctoral Researcher
Emily received her BS from Auburn University in Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology in 2012 and her MS from Chaminade University of Honolulu in Forensic Science in 2016 with David O. Carter where she focused on post-mortem, temporal changes in the microbiome during decomposition in an effort to estimate time since death. She completed her PhD in Microbiology at the University of Oklahoma in 2021 with Brad S. Stevenson where she studied how spatial structure affects bacterial interactions and secondary metabolite production for drug discovery efforts. During this time, she also studied the structure and metabolic capability of microbial mats and stromatolites in hot spring systems. Overall, Emily is interested in the rules of microbial interaction and how those interactions drive evolution. As a post-doc in the Wilbanks Lab at UCSB, Emily is transitioning from focusing on genes and phenotypes to genomes and evolutionary mechanisms using the “pink berry” consortia as a model, natural system. Here, she is focused on how phage-host interactions influence population dynamics overtime. Specifically, she is interested in phage-defense systems, like CRISPR-cas, that lead to diversification within microbial populations.
Braulio Castillo Villaseñor, Ph.D. Candidate
Braulio got his Bachelor’s Degree in French and Biological Sciences with a concentration in Microbiology in 2018 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. While he did his undergrad work in soil microbial ecology, he was always fascinated by the immense diversity of microbes and their physiology. At UCSB he has finally gotten to do work with one of his favorite groups, sulfur metabolizing anaerobes! Originally from Tijuana, Mexico; Braulio is pursuing a PhD in the EEMB department and enjoys cinema, eating tacos, and pondering the relative nature of knowledge.
Tori Jones, Ph.D. Candidate
Tori recieved dual bachelor's degrees in Psychological and Brain Sciences (BS) and Sociology (BA) at UC Santa Barbara in 2021. In the final year of her undergraduate education she became fascinated with the world of microbes and began working in the Wilbanks Lab as an undergraduate researcher and lab manager. After her first summer of field work at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, she was hooked on microbial ecology. Tori is pursuing a PhD in UCSB's Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Marine Science (IGPMS). Her research is centered around the role of bacterial predation in the Pink Berry consortia, the evolution of predatory traits in bacteria, and characterizing novel predators with genomic data.
Anna Warsaw, Research Technician
Anna received her B.S. in Biological Sciences and Environmental Science in 2023 at the University of Chicago. During undergrad, she completed her thesis investigating the diel and spatial dynamics that shape green sulfur bacteria blooms. After graduating, Anna joined the Wilbanks Lab as a research technician. At UCSB, she uses confocal microscopy, light sheet microscopy, and chemical analyses to characterize the complex EPS matrix that houses the cells of the "pink berry" aggregates. Outside of the lab, Anna enjoys taking film photos, making pottery, and hunting for sea glass and coral fossils.
Albert Li, Undergraduate
Albert is a third-year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Physiology with a minor in Spatial Studies. He is interested in studying environmental microbiology, especially microbial physiology and their ecological implications.
Bryan Yan, Undergraduate
Bryan is an undergraduate studying Biology in the College of Creative Studies here at UCSB. He is drawn to the unique properties of cool microbes. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, bouldering, the outdoors, reading, and taking care of his plants.