Congratulations to Katherine Miller for winning a summer 2020 PEAK Experiences Ascent Award for her project entitled, “Characterizing the Extracellular Polymeric Substance Produced by the Acetogen, Eubacterium limosum.” Miller is a rising 4th year student in chemical engineering.

Miller’s research is aimed at investigating the extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) produced by E. limosum to determine its macromolecular composition, environmental factors impacting the EPS, the genes involved in its production, and how the EPS varies among different strains of E. limosum. Since the EPS matrix represents the immediate environment in which the organism lives, understanding its properties will expand our understanding of this acetogenic bacterium.