Tuesday 3/9/21 @4:30-5:30pm
ZOOM ID: 939 0528 1284

Dr. Timberly Roane

Dr. Roane fell in love with microorganisms while she worked at a sewage treatment plant in Davis, CA, as an undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis. Now as a professor, she thinks bacteria can save the world and has dedicated herself to the pursuit of bacteria capable of degrading and detoxifying toxic chemicals. After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences program in 1999, Dr. Roane is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Colorado Denver downtown campus. Dr. Roane’s goal is to increase our understanding of the intersection between the human and microbial worlds in order to
protect us and the environment.

Dr. Michael Ferrara

Dr. Ferrara earned a bachelor’s in mathematics from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2000 and a PhD in mathematics from Emory University in 2005. After 15 years as a professor at CU Denver and the University of Akron, in 2020 he started a new position as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, where he helps to manage multiple federal grant programs in the Division of Undergraduate Education. Across his time as an educator and researcher, and his newest adventures in government, Dr. Ferrara has been fortunate to chase his passions and learn every day from an amazing collection of talented friends and colleagues.

Amber Leigh Ortiz PhD

Amber Leigh Ortiz has her Doctorate in Immunology from Anschutz Medical Campus in 2017 and a BS in Chemistry. She spent 13+ years in the STEM Research fields and started her research career in Biomedical Engineering studying microfluidics and nanoparticles. Later transitioned into Cancer Research and nanoparticle treatments. She went in to clinical and pre-clinical immunology/microbiology/protein research too. She transitioned to a Digital Pathology Software company called Indica Labs were she began working as an Imaging Scientist. She analyzes biopsy samples from clinical trials and research looking at different
markers of interests to customers all around the world.

Rustin Banks

Rustin is a life-long tech enthusiast who started his career in Electrical Engineering at Ball
Aerospace working on satellites. After that, he started a series of software companies which
involved raising $25M of venture capital and an acquisition by a public company. More recently Rustin co-founded the Human Improvement Project which is focused on improving wellbeing through relationships, and created the #1 parenting apps. Currently Rustin is a product manager at Google. He occasionally writes about tech and leadership at rustinbanks.com and LinkedIn.