Socrates Fellows Who We Are 2010-2011 Jillian Blatti
Jillian Louisa Blatti, a researcher and third year graduate student of organic chemistry in the Burkart laboratory at the University of California, San Diego happily pipettes algae as part of her daily routine. She has been working on manipulating algal metabolism to aid in efforts towards the widespread production of algal biodiesel as a renewable and sustainable transportation fuel.
A significant facet of Jillian’s research focuses on biofuel outreach and education to increase local and national awareness of issues surrounding renewable energy, with a focus on local area high schools.
Prior to UC San Diego, she taught mathematics at Harvard-Westlake, a preparatory high school in Los Angeles. At Los Angeles’s Buckley School, she served as the head coach for all of the soccer teams, from middle school to the varsity high school team, using the experience she gained while playing for the United States Olympic Development Soccer team. Jillian completed her undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences from the University of South Florida, where she served as a starting midfielder for the Division I Collegiate soccer team. Traveling on the weekends for Conference USA matches and lifeguarding during the summers as part of the Clearwater Beach Patrol, she also spent many hours in the laboratory of Dr. Bill J. Baker at USF discovering new molecules residing within Antarctic organisms in hopes of finding novel cures for cancer.
In her spare time, Jillian writes songs, having played the alto saxophone since age ten and the guitar since fifteen. She is very excited to be a part of the Socrates program, as education is held dear to her heart. It is Jillian’s hope to inspire high school students to pursue their dreams, as well as to give them a new perspective of the world through science.
Fat Algae Cell Animation
