My primary research interest centers around developing living materials - materials embedded with engineered cells that enable the material to grow, self-heal, sense, or respond to the surrounding environment. I most enjoy working on innovative projects that produce tangible, real world relevant products. My current research integrates synthetic biology with materials science and aims to develop a modular, protein-based platform to synthesize multifunctional silica-based materials with tunable microstructures. My previous research at Bolt Threads, Inc. focused on developing scalable protein purification methods to bring recombinant spider silk to the textile and apparel markets.