Katie Baker

Katie Baker has a diverse work experience in various scientific and technical roles. Katie is currently a Research Engineer at Alana since September 2021, where their responsibilities are not specified. Previously, they worked as a Software Developer at SEMESTRY LIMITED from May 2019 to September 2020. In this role, they specialized in Front End web development using JavaScript, React, and CSS to create engaging user interfaces. Katie collaborated with a small agile team to translate design mockups into responsive and interactive features for online scheduling software.

Before that, Katie worked at Synpromics Ltd from August 2016 to April 2019. Katie held the position of Senior Bioinformatician from December 2018 to April 2019 and Bioinformatician from August 2016 to December 2018. Their work involved analyzing sequencing data sets and developing computational tools and pipelines for synthetic biology projects. Katie utilized languages like Bash, Python, R, and Java to perform data analysis and visualization. Additionally, they organized and coordinated the company's journal club.

From April 2015 to July 2016, Katie worked as a Bioinformatician at The James Hutton Institute. In this postdoctoral role, they focused on analyzing next-generation sequencing data to identify disease resistance genes in potato species. Katie developed novel tools and pipelines to identify informative polymorphisms and contributed to the mapping of resistances in potatoes. Their work in this position earned their the Scottish Society for Crop Research Peter Massalski Prize.

Katie began their career as a Placement Student at the Conservation Biotechnology Unit in Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from September 2009 to August 2010. During this undergraduate placement, they gained proficiency in plant tissue culture techniques and successfully propagated a critically endangered fern species. Their work received media attention, and they interacted with the Kew press office and a BBC journalist to answer queries.

Katie Baker pursued their education in a structured manner, starting with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Plant Science with Industrial Experience at The University of Manchester from 2007 to 2011. Katie then proceeded to further enhance their knowledge by pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Plant Genomics and Bioinformatics at the University of Dundee from 2011 to 2015. Katie's education journey continued as they pursued a Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence at Heriot-Watt University from 2020 to 2021. Throughout their academic career, they focused on fields like plant science, genomics, bioinformatics, and eventually, artificial intelligence.