Responsibilities: Gregg's main task is to establish and maintain
a molecular biology laboratory for Cramer Fish Science with the expressed goal
of developing molecular based techniques for the detection and identification
of cryptic aquatic species.
Projects/Services: Gregg is currently working out of UC Davis
barcoding delta smelt, wakasagi smelt, and longfin smelt with the goal of
producing a Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) based assay for the
detection of delta smelt DNA in the stomach contents of predators in the California
delta. Gregg is also working on the barcode and qPCR assay design for the detection
of the DNA from invasive species such as Zebra and Quagga mussels.
Background: Gregg is an experienced molecular biologist with more
than 8 years of laboratory based experience. Gregg's most recent position was with
the Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory Special Pathogens Level 4 containment
unit in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In the Level 4 containment facility Gregg worked with
Ebola other hemorrhagic viruses and the experimental vaccines produced for these
viruses. Most recently Gregg worked with experimental vaccines for influenza H1N1
and in the production of California and Mexican serotypes of H1N1 in a level 3
containment facility. Previously Gregg had started and operated an Influenza PR8/34
and Human Rhinovirus Type 14 production facility in Montreal, Canada for a private
firm. Prior to this Gregg studied Gene Therapy and Molecular Virology at the University
of Pennsylvania from 2001- 2004. His studies in molecular virology, gene therapy and
most recently vaccine production for level 4 pathogens gives him a unique perspective
on the field of fisheries biology.
Personal: Originally from California for the past decade Gregg has
been moving from city to city and coast to coast in two countries. "Throughout the
past decade and every move I have made the one consistent source of joy I have has
been mountain biking. I have to say that Philadelphia has proved to have the best
inner city mountain biking I have yet discovered. Only in Philly can you mountain
bike on single track for half a day and then ride your bike downtown 15 minutes away
and partake in the one true Philadelphian health food, the cheese steak. It was on
these long mountain bike rides that I discovered my true philosophical nature and
pondered what our forefathers must have once pondered themselves, Pats or Genos? I
have only recently found myself back in the warm embrace of California and I have
since resumed free diving for abalone. Occasionally I just float in the Pacific and
marvel at the abundance of life in the kelp forests of Northern California. I still
do ride my mountain bike on the American River Trail in and around Sacramento but,
it is with a trailer containing my 3 and 4 year old daughters attached."
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