Christiansen leads program development activities and strategic planning for the Biosciences Area, including building new multi-institutional research programs with other national laboratories. In this role, she has also led strategic planning processes for Berkeley Lab and the Department of Energy (DOE). Christiansen earned her PhD in plant science from Indiana University, Bloomington.
Jabusch nurtures audacious ideas in environmental biology into supported research programs and tracks the Biosciences Strategic Plan. She has a decade of experience in nonprofit and academic sustainability advocacy and has worked at the University of California (UC), state, and national level. Jabusch earned a MS and PhD in biological systems engineering at UC Davis.
Giacometti is a member of both the SPDG and the Lab's Computing Sciences Area Office. He is responsible for identifying and developing strategic research portfolios based at the intersection of biosciences and computing sciences core capabilities. He has a decade of experience at the intersection of biosciences and computational biology, as well as experience in strategic planning and program/project management in the nonprofit and academic sectors. Giacometti earned a PhD from Aarhus University in Denmark and Montpellier University France.
Mukundan is the program manager for chemical and biological technologies within the Lab's Office of National and Homeland Security and a scientist in the Biosciences Area. Before joining Berkeley Lab, Mukundun was the group leader for physical chemistry and applied spectroscopy at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and led the development of diagnostics and surveillance technologies in the interest of national and homeland security. Mukundun earned her PhD in biomedical science at The University of New Mexico School of Medicine and an MS at the National Institute of Immunology in India.
Ongoing Activities
Plant Single-cell Solutions for Energy and Environment
First Workshop
On January 23, 2020, Berkeley Lab hosted a workshop on opportunities afforded by single-cell technologies for energy and environmental science, as well as conceptual and technological grand challenges that must be tackled to apply these powerful approaches to plants, fungi and algae.
Second Workshop
Berkeley Lab hosted a second workshop on April 29, 2021, to identify the most pressing barriers to wider adoption of single-cell sequencing and omics technologies, and to discuss solutions to remedy those barriers in order to drive discovery.
Contact Lauren Jabusch
Designing for Deep Decarbonization: Accelerating the U.S. Bioeconomy
On April 30, 2021, five DOE national laboratories hosted this workshop to identify high-impact opportunities for biotechnology to decarbonize DOE-mission relevant sectors and forward-looking enabling technologies, including integration of automation and artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) techniques.
Contact Katy Christiansen
Integrating Carbon Dioxide into Biomanufacturing
Berkeley Lab hosted a virtual workshop, which was held November 24, 2020, on integrating CO2 into biomanufacturing to identify ways to integrate the study of biological CO2 conversion in plants and microbes with the purpose of developing systems that can generate biofuels, bioproducts and biomaterials that can mitigate climate change.
Contact Katy Christiansen
Successes
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
Technical Champions are researchers who generate new science programs with SPDG staff. They may propose ideas, which are vetted by Biosciences leadership. They are committed to this future research, an intellectual technical champion in the true sense of the phrase. SPDG can help Technical Champions financially support their program development time and resources.
FAQ
Who has access to SPDG support?
Because SPDG is a Biosciences-wide effort, any research staff in the Area may access support.
When should you engage with the SPDG?
• When you have an idea that needs SPDG support (see intake form and flow chart below)
• During Biosciences Area strategic plan visioning sessions and goal reporting periods
• When you are thinking about writing a white paper
• During SPDG workshops
How do I share my ideas with the SPDG?
Via the Google intake form, which includes a checklist of what SPDG supports
What is the process from idea to opportunity for research investment?
What is the typical timeline for program development?
3 years
