I’m Rustem, I’ve recently started my PhD in Courtney Stairs’ lab, where I’m studying the genome of breviates — an underexplored lineage of protists closely related to animals. My academic path began with a bachelor’s in organic chemistry, followed by a master’s in evolutionary biology, during which I built a metabolic model for a prokaryote. In one internship, I also worked on modelling a community of prokaryotes and microalgae; in another, I explored a protist metagenome. So, it felt only natural to now take on perhaps the most challenging microorganisms around: protists living in complex bacterial communities.
Right now, my main goal in the lab is to figure out how to stop accidentally murdering them all the time. Once I succeed, I’ll culture them, extract their genomes, and investigate their evolutionary history — their relationship to other eukaryotes, what they were like in the past, and how they came to be this way.
Outside the lab, I’m also passionate about evolution in a broader sense — especially historical linguistics. I like reading about history and pigments, or occasionally playing an obscenely long EU4 campaign; I also enjoy impersonating people. You can find me in Building A — I’m happy to connect and exchange ideas. See you around!
