SD-CAB Researcher Spotlight - Steve Mayfield, Ph.D.

By Britt Flaherty

Steve Mayfield
image courtesy of Mayfield Lab Website

  Steve Mayfield is the director of the San Diego Center of Algae Biotechnology, but he also runs a lab studying algal biofuels and spends his days teaching the public about the importance of our future in green energy. In this SD-CAB Researcher Spotlight, Mayfield tells us about how he became interested in algae, what he tells young scientists, and where he sees SD-CAB in the future.  


How did you decide that algal biofuels were your passion?
It kind of snuck up on me. I was happily working away on molecular genetics in algae and expressing recombinant proteins, and life was good. It was obvious that algae had the potential to scale up at very low cost. Even today we continue to work on therapeutic proteins, industrial enzymes and vaccines, all of these can be made in algae for a fraction of the cost to produce them in the systems they are presently made in.
We were working on algal genetic engineering in earnest since 1999. Back then oil was less than $20/barrel and climate change was something that people were talking about, but with no real urgency. That all began to change about 5 or 6 years ago, and by 2007 it had become the perfect storm: the cost of oil was going up fast and at the same time it was obvious that climate change was not only real but happening much faster then we thought possible. We either had to figure out how to generate renewable energy, or we would suffer some pretty severe consequences, both environmental and economic. Given algae's ability to turn sunlight and CO2 into liquid fuels, I decided we better give this a serious try.


What part of your career has gotten easier with time? What's harder?
I think the part that has gotten easier is convincing people that what we are doing in lab really matters to the world. I always knew it did, and so did some great post-docs and students that worked with me in the past, but I think many people dismissed algae as a kind of fringe scientific organisms that was maybe interesting, but not really something that mattered in their life. Now everyone agrees that bioenergy is THE science of the next decade, and it will matter in everyone's life.
I think what has really gotten harder is my ability to stay connected directly with research. It seems I spend more and more time talking to politicians and reporters and students, and less time in lab talking research. I honestly believe that my time spent educating students and politicians and the public is time well spent so no complaints on what I do, I just wish I had more time to do research.


What's the best part about your job? The worst?
The best part is still discovery. When someone from lab runs in with a great new result that is just exciting. For some reason knowing something that no one else in the world knows, at least until you tell them, is just a great feeling, I loved that when I started in science 25 year sago, and love it just as much today!
The worst part of my job is watching science get reduced to slogans and op-ed opinions, like it has become in the press and by many politicians. I now consider it one of my main jobs to call people on this behavior.


It sounds like you're pretty busy, but what's your favorite hobby?
Surfing and golf for sports and tuna fishing when time allows.


What do you tell young people interested in science?
First if you love science you WILL be successful, because when you love something you work hard on it and when you work hard you are almost always successful. The second I tell them is that the future is energy, in any form, fossil fuel, renewable you name it in the next decade anyone that makes energy will have something to sell, so if you want a job, work on energy.

How do you see SD-CAB shaping the future of algae fuels? What's the big picture?
SD-CAB has become one of the premiere algal research centers in the country and, perhaps, the world. Our plan is to make sure we stay that way, and to expand our research, education and training programs on every front.


Britt Flaherty is a graduate student at UC San Diego and a volunteer writer and educator with SD-CAB. You can contact her at blflaher@ucsd.edu.

EDGE Interns get Hands on Experience in Green Biotech

By Britt Flaherty

Pearson Fuels at the Pump

Brett Schwemmer packs his surfboard into a diesel-fueled blazer when the waves roll in, and since hitting the beach in an eco-friendly way is important to this San Diego lover, he is interested in new fuels that don't pollute our oceans. Schwemmer is part of the Educating and Developing Workers for the Green Economy (EDGE) Initiative's internship program, which places EDGE-certified graduates in local biotech companies for hands-on experience and training. Schwemmer is working at Pearson Fuels, which is currently developing biodiesel and ethanol-based fuels in San Diego. A marketing major from CSU San Marcos, Schwemmer is interested in applying his advertising skills to help sell biofuels. "Biodiesel was something that I always wanted to use in my blazer, but never had the chance," he says. Schwemmer's internship is giving him the skills necessary to join his background in advertising with his passion for green technology. "The best part of the EDGE program has been the job experience for me. I was able to have a lot of freedom while working at Pearson Fuels in their marketing department. The challenges and opportunities took my skills to the next level."

EDGE Intern Emily E. Effner
working at her microscope

The EDGE internships aren't all marketing and business, though – most EDGE interns are at the bench learning valuable lab skills to develop green fuel themselves. Emily E. Effner and Bharath Bharadwaj spent their two-month internships in industry. Effner worked at General Atomics, collecting and analyzing biological samples from photosynthetic microbes. "I enjoyed taking an experiment from cradle (setting up, research) to grave (writing reports), and can't wait to continue studying photosynthetic organisms in industry or graduate school," she says. Bharadwaj worked for SG Biofuels using next generation sequencing technology to analyze larger photosynthetic organisms like plants. Bharadwaj isolated DNA from a plant species and prepared this DNA for genome sequencing, thus adding to our knowledge of how photosynthetic organisms grow and develop.

EDGE Intern Baharath
Bharadwaj working in lab

Both Effner and Bharadwaj's internships are the first step in their careers in biotech. "The internship gave me the opportunity to get my 'foot in the door' at a company," Effner says. "Not only did I learn everything that is fundamental to working in a lab, but I had the opportunity to demonstrate a strong work ethic and passion for learning. I have no doubt the experience and friends I made will help me secure a position with an innovative biofuel company." This kind of hands-on experience is even more vital in a slower economy. "We all know how difficult it is to obtain the first work experience in a field we are interested in." Baharadwaj points out. "I think the EDGE program makes it easier for both industry as well as candidates seeking jobs to find people with shared interests."

            A new class of EDGE students will start taking courses next Spring for certification and internship placement. To find out more, you can check out the Biocom website or read the previous SD-CAB blog on EDGE certification.


Britt Flaherty is a graduate student at UC San Diego and a volunteer writer and educator with SD-CAB. You can contact her at blflaher@ucsd.edu.

SD-CAB Student and Postdoc Symposium this Friday

We would like to welcome you to the October SD-CAB Student and Postdoc Symposium.  Drs. Greg Mitchell and Dominick Mendola, the chairmen for October's symposium, have three great speakers lined up.  Please note the adjusted time.


Jeff McQuaid: Transcriptional analyses of sea ice diatom communities
Nathan Schoepp: SD-CAB Greenhouse and Wetlab Virtual Tour
Jamie Rhodes: The Blind Date Between Algal Biofuels and Public Policy

Time: 4:30pm - 5:30pm Friday October 21st
Location: Sumner Auditorium on the SIO Campus (look for the Argo Bell)
Parking: Visitors should park on La Jolla Shores Drive between Naga Way and Paseo Grande Dr.

Presentations will, as usual, be followed by some lovely light refreshments, courtesy of Ms. Mary Anderson.

SD-CAB Hits the Beach

By Spencer Diamond

If you happened to stop by my office on the 17^th or 18^th of September you may have seen a sign that said “Gone Surfing”. However, this was no ordinary surf session, as the SD-CAB was invited for the first time to participate in the annual Cardiff Surf Classic and Rerip Green Fest. This annual event put on by the Cardiff chamber of commerce strives to bring environmental awareness to costal communities, and showcased a number of sustainable initiatives and products. Over 60 different organizations were present at the event ranging from organic food vendors to local water and power authorities (for a full list see here). The surfing itself featured a square off between the Cardiff and the Solana Beach sponsored businesses, which really seemed to get people excited about all of the different vendors present at the event. Even the surfing had gone green with many surfers riding used boards from the Rerip Board Swap, which included over 100 used surfboards for purchase or trade.

In the midst of all of the excitement the SD-CAB booth was showcasing some of the tools, programs, and research that are helping us develop sustainable energy solutions. One notable piece of work that was presented at the event was research conducted by UCSD graduate student Will Ansari. In his research Will is utilizing high-throughput methods, such as flow cytometry, to screen thousands of mutant algal strains for individuals with increased oil content. In addition to the cutting edge research

preformed by SD-CAB scientists, common laboratory hardware such as pipettes and shakers drew a lot of interest from both young and old visitors. Getting hands on with the tools of the trade seemed to help a lot of people understand what our researchers do on a daily basis. One young boy staring at flasks of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus declared, “You’re going to make gas out of that!” The SD-CAB booth also attracted the attention of a number of corporate representatives including individuals from Mo Bio Laboratories, Community Fuels, and the San Elijo Joint Powers Authority. With the wealth of biotechnology companies and green initiatives in San Diego, you never know who you will meet down by the beach!

Overall the Cardiff Surf Classic and Rerip Green Fest was a great time and brought out hundreds of people of all ages and walks of life. The wide variety of people at the event provided an excellent atmosphere for both public education and professional interaction. If you get a chance to check it out next September I would highly recommend it!

Spencer Diamond is a graduate student at UCSD and a guest blogger and volunteer with SD-CAB. You can contact him at sdiamond@ucsd.edu.

Algae Industry Magazine Interviews Dr. Stephen Mayfield

Algae Industry Magazine recently interviewed Dr. Stephen Mayfield about the EDGE Initiative, a 4 million dollar project that prepares the future workers of the bioenergy sector through certificate classes and hands-on industry internships. In this article, Dr. Mayfield describes the origins of EDGE, what the green work force looks like, how some of San Diego’s local biotechs and nonprofits contribute to the training process, and what the future holds for the program. Check out the full story here. Stay tuned in the next few weeks for exciting blog entries from EDGE participants who recently completed internships this past summer!