Insect Microbiology Laboratory
Research Field
My name is Prof. Matan Shelomi (薛馬坦). I have been teaching at the Department of Entomology since 2017. I am originally from the USA [New York City], and am now a naturalized Taiwanese citizen. My native language is English, and that's my language of instruction. As an international myself, I hope to make foreign students and researchers feel welcome at NTU!
My laboratory is the Insect Microbiology Laboratory, on the 6th floor of the XueXinGuan ["innovation Hall"]. We have the equipment necessary to culture aerobic microbes from insects and other sources, extract DNA and RNA, do PCR, and some basic microbiological tests. At NTU we also have the resources to do molecular microbiology like barcode gene sequencing to identify microbes and metabarcoding to identify microbiome components.
The current research topics of my lab, for which I am looking for interns to help on the projects, are:
- Ice nucleating microbes from Belgica antarctica and other sources
- Cellulose degrading microbes from leaf-chewing insects
- Probiotics and pre-fermentation affecting black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens
I have funded my lab with three year grants from the NSTC and MoE, and have won awards such as the Entomological Society of America “Science Communication Award” and NTU Outstanding Teaching Award.
I got my undergraduate degree in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University and my PhD in Entomology from the University of California, Davis.
2 Vacancies
Job Description
A major obstacle to sustainable biofuel production is the need to break cellulose from plant cell walls into the sugars converted into bioethanol: a process that can take more energy than is produced. Cellulolytic enzymes are a possible solution, and the search is on to find cellulases or cellulolytic microbes capable of processing plant cell walls efficiently at industrial conditions.
This position looks for someone with an interest in microbiology, entomology, or other life sciences to assist with efforts to collect, culture, identify, and quantify the activity of cellulolytic microbes from insects. Tasks may involve collecting insects from the field or other sources, dissecting insects to access their digestive tracts, preparing bacterial and fungal growth media, isolating microbes on petri dishes, testing microbes for cellulolytic activity using several means, and DNA extraction and PCR to identify microbes to species.
Preferred Intern Education Level
Bachelor's degree student or higher.
Skill sets or Qualities
Intern must be comfortable speaking in English.
No prior microbiology or molecular biology experience needed.