Sumedha Ravishankar is a student at UC Berkeley studying microbial biology with a 3.418 GPA. She has extensive research experience in multiple labs studying topics such as expressing cyanobacteria genes in E. coli, understanding genes for ovule development, growing algae in wastewater, and the effects of disrupting RNA polymerase on pollen growth. She has taught microbiology labs and cell biology. Sumedha has won several honors and awards for her high school science fair projects and has presented her research at conferences.

1. Sumedha Ravishankar
sravishankar@berkeley.edu
(520)-393-9111
Education
University of California, Berkeley Expected Graduation: May 2016
Microbial Biology, B.S. Current GPA: 3.418
Research Experience
Student Researcher in the lab of Dr. David Savage, Energy Bioscience Institute, Berkeley, CA (May 2015- present)
• Skills: P1 transduction, Golden Gate cloning, bacterial transformations, fluorescence microscopy, and FLP
recombination
• Project: Expressing a Fully Functional Carbon Concentrating Mechanism from Cyanobacteria in the Non-Native
Host Escherichia coli BW25113
Student Researcher in the lab of Dr. Sheila McCormick, USDA- Plant Gene Expression Center, Albany, CA
(January 2014- April 2015)
• Skills: Plant maintenance and transformation, fluorescence microscopy, RNA seq analysis, and RNA extraction
• Project: Understanding the Genes Responsible for Ovule Development in Arabidopsis thaliana
Student Researcher in the lab of Dr. Joel Cuello, University of Arizona, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems
Engineering, Tucson, AZ (September 2011- April 2012)
• Skills: Spectrophotometry, enumeration of algae, biomass extraction, and chloroplast isolation
• Project: The Effects of Growing Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in Municipal Secondary Effluent Wastewater on
Biomass Yield for Biofuel Production
Student Researcher in the lab of Dr. Ravishankar Palanivelu, University of Arizona, School of Plant Sciences
(September 2010- April 2011)
Skills: Genomic DNA extraction, PCR, and pollen germination length measurement (NIH ImageJ)
• Project: The Effects of Disrupting RNA Polymerase III Subunit RPC82 Family Protein on Pollen Tube Growth in
Arabidopsis thaliana
Student Researcher in the lab of Dr. Sadhana Ravishankar, University of Arizona, School of Animal and
Comparative Biomedical Sciences (September 2009- April 2010, June- August 2013)
• Skills: Media preparation, treatment of food samples with antimicrobials, dilutions, and bacterial enumeration
Projects:
o The Antimicrobial Effects of Commercial Spices and Plant Extracts on Escherichia coli O157:H7 in
Ground Beef
o Ozonated Water with Plant Antimicrobials: An Effective Method to Inactivate Salmonella enterica on
Iceberg Lettuce
Teaching Experience
PMB112L Graduate Student Instructor (June– August 2015)
• Taught the upper division General Microbiology lab section and graded lab reports and exams
• Trained students in microbiology techniques, such as dilution series, colony counts, and selective media
Bio 1AL Undergraduate Student Instructor (UGSI) (August 2014- December 2014)
• Taught concepts in molecular and cell biology, biochemistry, anatomy, and lab techniques such as PCR and replica
plating
Work Experience
Abercrombie and Fitch, Park Place Mall, Tucson, AZ (July 2012-July 2013)
• In-Store Model
o Opened, closed, and organized the store, worked at the cash register, and trained new employees

2. Co-Curricular Activities
Colleges Against Cancer at UC Berkeley (January 2013-present)
• President
o Led the club responsible for organizing UC Berkeley’s Relay For Life
o Planned fundraisers and managed multiple committees
o Raised money for cancer research, advocacy, and patient services
Berkeley Study Abroad Student Ambassador (January 2015-present)
• Study Abroad Ambassador at UC Berkeley
o Help promote study abroad at UC Berkeley and share personal study abroad stories with other students
Honors and Awards
2012 Arizona’s Future Innovator of the Year: Presented by Arizona Gov. Janet Brewer at the Governor’s Celebration of
Innovation in Phoenix, AZ
2012 SciEnTeK-12 Foundation Scholarship: Presented at the 2012 Southern Arizona Science and Engineering Fair
(SARSEF), Tucson, AZ
2012 Science Fair Project Awards: SARSEF (1st
place Team Project), Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (AZSEF) in
Phoenix, AZ (1st
Place Grand Award), and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Pittsburgh, PA (3rd
Place Grand Award)
2011 Science Fair Project Awards: SARSEF (1st
place Team Project), AZSEF (1st
Place Grand Award), and participated in
ISEF, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Science Fair Project Awards: SARSEF (1st
Place), ISEF in San Jose, CA (4th
place Grand Award, and 5th
place
American Society for Microbiology)
Poster Presentations
Ravishankar, Sumedha, Singh, S., Zhu, L. and Ravishankar, S. 2010. The antimicrobial effects of commercial spices and
plant extracts on Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ground beef. Poster presented at the International Association for Food
Protection Annual Meeting 2010, Anaheim, CA