Adam Arkin

Dean A. Richard Newton Memorial Professor, Bioengineering;
Senior Faculty Scientist, Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory;
Director, Center for the Utilization of Bioengineering in Space;
CEO/CSO, DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase
PI and Co-Director, ENIGMA SFA

512C IGI Building
Mailcode Mailcode 5230
510-643-5678
aparkin@lbl.gov

For more information, see: https://arkinlab.bio/

Research Interests

​The Arkin Lab focus is how microbes transform, clean, and improve soils, soils that are currently degrading due to climate change, pollution, and poor water use. Near close-loops, low-energy, low-input biomanufacturing programs for food, pharmaceuticals, and building materials at “small village” scale, which are initially designed for a deep-space crewed Mars mission but have applications here on Earth for supporting sustainable agriculture. Another interest is to develop engineering approaches for microbiomes so we can control communities of microbes that drive the earth’s mineral cycles, support our plants and efficiency and stress responses, and impact the health and food-efficiency of a good many living creatures including ourselves.

Education

• 1992 Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Physical Chemistry
• 1988 B.A., Carleton College, Chemistry

Major Awards

• 2014 Department of Energy Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award 2013 for work advancing biological and environmental sciences
• 2013 American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow
• 2007 American Academy of Microbiology Fellow
• 2007 Mohammed Dahleh Award, University of California, Santa Barbara
• 2006 Britton Chance Distinguished Lecturer in Engineering & Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
• 2000-2007 Assistant Investigator, HHMI
• 2000 Time Magazine Future Innovator
• 1999 TechReview 100 most innovative Young Scientists

Professional Experience

• CEO/CSO, DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase PI and Co-Director, ENIGMA SFA
• Director, Center for the Utilization of Bioengineering in Space
• Senior Faculty Scientist, Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Berkeley Lab
• 2010-present Dean A. Richard Newton Memorial Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley
• 2008-2010 Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley
• 2005-2008 Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley
• 2002-present Director, The Virtual Institute of Microbial Stress and Survival
• 2000-2007 Assistant Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• 1999-2005 Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley
• 1998-present Faculty Scientist, Computational and Theoretical Biology and Synthetic Biology Departments, Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory