.. _Top: Experience ========== **Michael J. Sieler Jr., Ph.D.** Postdoctoral Researcher, `Liberti Lab `_ Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland `Michael.SielerJr@UniGe.ch `_ | `MichaelSieler.com `_ | `GitHub `_ | `LinkedIn `_ .. image:: ../Media/images/SampleCollecting__2025.png :align: center :alt: Photo of Michael :width: 30% Summary ------- * Data scientist with 8+ years of experience developing and applying computational, statistical, and experimental approaches to complex biological datasets * Expertise in multivariate modeling, longitudinal data analysis, multi-omic integration, reproducible workflows, and FAIR data practices * Proven collaborator across international, interdisciplinary, and cross-functional teams, with a strong record of translating complex data into actionable scientific insights through publications, workshops, and collaborative research support * Experienced in written, oral and visual communication across scientific and public audiences Education --------- .. list-table:: :widths: 80 20 * - **Oregon State University**, Corvallis, OR - **Ph.D. Microbiology** (GPA: 3.95) - Dissertation: `Defining the context dependence of how the zebrafish (Danio rerio) gut microbiome responds to environmental stressors `_ :download:`PDF <../Media/publications/SielerJrMichaelJ2025.pdf>` - Advised by `Dr. Thomas J. Sharpton `_ - Sept 2025 * - **Oregon State University**, Corvallis, OR - **B.Sc. Bioresource Research**, options in Bioinformatics and Genomics (GPA: 3.82) - June 2020 Research Appointments --------------------- .. list-table:: :widths: 80 20 * - **University of Geneva** — Postdoctoral Researcher - `Liberti Lab `_, Department of Genetics and Evolution. Geneva, Switzerland. - Research focus in gut microbiota–brain axis of eusocial bee model systems - See in-prep bumblebee microbiome work on the `Publications <../Publications/publications.html>`_ page - 2026–Present * - **Oregon State University** — Postdoctoral Researcher - Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University. Corvallis, OR. - `Sharpton Lab `_ — microbiome data science - 2025 * - **Oregon State University** — Ph.D. Graduate Student Researcher - Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University. Corvallis, OR. - Advised by Dr. Thomas J. Sharpton - Research focus in host-associated microbiome stability to environmental stressors - 2020–2025 * - **Pacific Northwest National Laboratory** — Ph.D. Intern - Richland, WA. - Mentors: Lisa Bramer and Kelly Stratton - Research focus in metabolomic data science and bioinformatics - 2023–2024 * - **Oregon State University** — Undergraduate Student Researcher - Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University. Corvallis, OR. - Advised by Dr. Thomas J. Sharpton - Research focus in zebrafish microbiome ecology and bioinformatics - 2018–2020 * - **Oregon State University** — Undergraduate Student Researcher - Department of Pharmacy, Oregon State University. Corvallis, OR. - Advised by Dr. Taifo Mahmud - Research focus in identifying novel antibiotic compounds - 2017–2018 Work ---- .. list-table:: :widths: 80 20 * - **HandshakeAI** — Expert Biology AI Data Labeler - Contributed biological domain expertise to development of 100+ LLM prompts and evaluation tasks for scientific AI applications - Improved biological accuracy, consistency, and scientific reasoning in AI-generated outputs through expert review and feedback - 2025 * - **Microbiome Data Analytics Boot Camp** — Trainer - **Skills for Health and Research Professionals (SHARP), Columbia University** - "Planning, generating, and analyzing 16S rRNA gene sequencing surveys" - Supported workshop participants and lecturers in microbiome data analysis and pedagogy - 2025 * - **National Microbiome Data Collaborative** — FAIR Microbiome Data Fellow - Recognized for early career contributions promoting findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) microbiome research data and workflows - Led workshops on metadata standards and submission portals; trained researchers in reproducible microbiome research workflows - 2024–2025 * - **Pacific Northwest National Laboratory** — Ph.D. Bioinformatics Intern - **Projects:** - Batch effect correction algorithm (BECA) evaluation - Bioinformatically processed and analyzed 200+ lipidomic samples; evaluated 12 commonly used BECA methods using ground truth from a designed experiment - **Tools used:** - R - 2023–2024 Teaching -------- .. list-table:: :widths: 80 20 * - **University of Geneva** — Postdoctoral Fellow, Co-instructor - Microbiome Analysis (co-instructor) - 2026 * - **Oregon State University** — Graduate Teaching Assistant - General Microbiology Lab (MB 303, Spring) - Human Microbiome (MB 436, Spring) - Introduction to Microbiology (MB 230, Spring) - 2021–2023 Mentorship ---------- .. list-table:: :widths: 80 20 * - **University of Geneva** - Genetics and Evolution Ph.D. and master's students - 2026–Present * - **Oregon State University** - Microbiology Ph.D. and undergraduate students - 2023–2025 Peer Review ----------- .. list-table:: :widths: 80 20 * - Hansson, B. *et al.* (2026). "Microbial signaling coordinates group oviposition and predator defense in migratory locusts" Awards, Honors & Fellowships ---------------------------- .. list-table:: :widths: 80 20 * - **OSU Scholarly Presentation Award** - **Competitive Funding Recipient** - Awarded competitive funding to support graduate students presenting their research at professional conferences. - 2024 *$600* * - **Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Fish Health Graduate Research Fellowship** - **Fish Health Graduate Research Fellow** - Recognized for research in Microbiology at Oregon State University, focusing on fish health issues to benefit Oregon's fish populations. - 2023–2025 *$56,000* * - **NMDC Ambassador** - **Ambassador** - Recognized for early career contributions promoting findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) microbiome research data and workflows; led workshops on metadata standards and submission portals. - 2024–2025 *$1,000* * - `Oregon Museum of Science and Industry `_ - **Science Communication Fellow** - Received certified training in informal science education and engagement with public audiences to increase their understanding of STEM research. - 2020–2022 *$1,000* * - `ARCS Foundation `_ - **ARCS Scholar** - Recognized for early significant contributions to scientific research. - 2020–2023 *$18,000* Professional Affiliations and Service ------------------------------------- .. list-table:: :widths: 80 20 * - **Leidholdt Microbiology Summer Camp** — Camp Mentor - Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University. Corvallis, OR. - Supervised 20 high school students from historically underrepresented backgrounds in learning laboratory techniques. - 2022, 2024, 2025 * - **Food and Nutrition Special Interest Section** — Founding Section Member - Oregon Public Health Association. Portland, OR. - 2023–2025 * - **Microbes and Social Equity Working Group** — Member - 2022–Present * - **Microbiology Graduate Student Association** — President - Oregon State University. Corvallis, OR. - 2022–2023 Certificates ------------ .. list-table:: :widths: 80 20 * - **Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp with R** - Program with R to wrangle, clean, analyze, and visualize data. - Apply advanced statistics and machine learning to gain useful insights. - `Certificate `_ - 2021 .. _Skills: Skills ------ .. list-table:: :widths: 33 33 33 * - **Programming:** - R - Python - Bash/Unix - Git - HTML & CSS - C++ (Unity) - C# (Unity) - **Statistics and Data Analytics:** - Machine learning - Multivariate regression - Model building and selection - Longitudinal data analysis - Data visualization (ggplot2, Plotly, R Shiny) - **Bioinformatics:** - nf-core pipelines - 16S sequencing - Transcriptomics - Metagenomics - Metabolomics - Phylogenetics - Batch effect correction algorithms - DADA2, Phyloseq * - **Molecular Biology:** - Zebrafish husbandry - Germ-free derivation - DNA extraction - PCR amplification - Gel electrophoresis - Bacterial culturing - **Other:** - Microsoft Office Suite - Adobe Suite - Reproducible workflows - FAIR data practices - **Languages:** - English (native) - German (B2, intermediate) - Spanish (A1, beginner) Download Resume & CV -------------------- :download:`Resume (one page) <../ResumeCV/MichaelSieler_Resume.pdf>` :download:`CV <../ResumeCV/MichaelSieler_CV.pdf>` ------ Return to `top`_. ------