Curriculum Vitae Winter 2025
Selected Projects
“Biogenetic Blooms: Collaborations with Genetically Modified Yeast” October 2023 - Present
A series of floral inspired paintings made with genetically modified Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae, commonly known as “Baker’s yeast”) on Petri dishes by hand and with Opentrons liquid-handling robots that were formerly used for COVID testing. Covered in Nature Biotechnology. View a PDF of the article —»
“Biogenetic Blooms” on my website: Biogenetic Blooms: Collaborations with Genetically Modified Yeast —»
“Biogenetic Blooms” have been showcased and iterated on in multiple venues including:“Embodied Futures and the Ecology of Care” at BioBat Art Space —» October 2023-March 2024
“Biogenetic Blooms: Bioart in Rockaway” at the 2024 Rockaway Film Festival —» Free community bioart workshop and animation supported by a NYFA Queens New Work grant, August 2024
Animation | Installation video 1 | Installation video 2”Biogenetic Blooms x OT2” part of GUI/Gooey at Plexus Projects —» Fall 2024
“Biogenetic Blooms x Others” Workshop & Installation —» November 16 - December 6, 2024
Stanford d.school Emerging Technology Fellow: Rep magazine February 2020 - 2024 Created low-resolution tools that explain basic concepts in gene editing. This was a joint initiative between the Stanford d.school’s Teaching and Learning and K-12 teams, including Rep, a new magazine for people who want to understand and create with the emerging technologies that are shaping our world Rep magazine —» | About the project —» | An article in EdSurge —» | “Rep: Gene Editing” on Amazon —»
BioBuilder: Synthetic Biology in the Lab Co-author of the first text book focused on synthetic biology O’reilly, 2015), also published in Japanese (2018) and Russian (2019)
From Ideation to Actuality How STEM and Creative professionals develop, implement and communicate ideas, with Dr. Christine O’Connell. IRB approval from Stony Brook University, October, 2019. Read the report on Colab Futures —» or in the SciArt Initiative —» | An article in Grist —»
Bio.Polis (Bio Policy & Leadership Initiatives at Stanford) 2021
Bio.Polis at Stanford University Affiliate. The Bio.Polis Initiative co-develops technologies, policies and leaders to guide the future of biological innovation in the public interest. More about Bio.Polis —»CoLab Futures aims to stimulate nuanced conversations and collaborations about biotech through art and ethics, including a live game called Fallacy Bingo, a taxonomy for identifying fallacies, i.e. getting past the bullshit. More about Colab Futures —»
Producer & Host: “Fallacy Bingo” at the Ace Hotel, with Gizmodo, August 2018, New York, NY Hosted and produced a three act event of “Fallacy Bingo”, with Gizmodo as a content partner. —»
Cut/Paste/Grow: Bioart in BrooklynThe first bioart exhibit in Brooklyn. The group became a collective which produced a number of events associated with bioart. The Cut/Paste/Grow website —» | PDF —»
Unicorn Mosaic: I designed an experience that resulted in a unicorn created from Petri Dishes created by SXSW attendees. The participants were provided with information to explain the gene editing technology they were using to paint the tiles. The Unicorn —» How the Unicorn was produced: The information card —» | From the Field —» | In the Lab —»
Cohost and organizer: Empiricist League 2012 -2018 Co-curator and organizer of a Brooklyn based science event series dubbed by FivethirtyEight “... small-scale TED Talks for scientists and the New Yorkers who adore them.” Videos —»
Teaching Engagements
Design for Emerging Bio: Downey@Work January 2023 - Present Instructor and curriculum developer for a paid summer apprenticeship that introduces high school students to emerging biotechnology through speculative design, design thinking, bioart making, and basic lab techniques. —»
Instructor, Genspace, Brooklyn, NY, 2021- Present Co-designed and instructed a series of courses geared towards curious creatives who want to learn about the overlap of design and emerging biotechnology. —»
Professor, SVA (School of Visual Arts) Interaction Design MFA Program, 2021 - Present “Foundations in Responsible Design” course in 2022 & 2023, Co-professor, “Future (Im)perfect - Exploring the hidden ethics of emerging technologies,” Thesis II Presentation —»
Speaking Engagements and Appearances
Invited speaker: NYU Langone “Dark Matter Project” EDGE (ELSI-Dedicated Genome Engineering Working Group) Dec 2024 —»
Visiting Artist SUNY New Paltz Nov 2024
Invited by the Student Art Alliance for a presentation and studio visits —»Workshop facilitator, Life Science Cares at Indie Bio Oct 2024 —»
Group exhibition: Plexus Projects GUI/GOOEY Oct-Dec 2024, curated by Laura Splan —»
Presenter: “How do we grow a Biodesigner: Biogenetic Blooms and Beyond” June 2024, NY, NY Presented a research paper at the first Biodesign Challenge Symposium—»
Lecturer: SVA BioArt Residency May 2024
Panelist: “How to Apply Your Synbio Skills to Biotech”April 2024, CUNY Graduate Center, NY, NY —»
Panelist: “Embodied Futures & the Ecology of Care” March 2024, BioBAT Art Space —»
Panelist, Host, & Workshop Facilitation: SXSW, Austin TX, March 2015 - 2023
2023 Co-presenter, “Do Creatives and Scientists Think Alike?” —»
2022, Workshop Facilitation, “Designing with Emerging Implications” —»
2018, Panelist, “Science, Society, and Ethics in a Post-Truth World” —» Podcast —»
2017, Host, Biohacker Meetup —»
2016, Panelist, "Collaborative Biohacking"l —» Host, Biohacker Meetup —»
“Biobuilder” book signing —»
2015, Panelist, "Bioart: Melding Biotech and Art" —» Host, Biohacker Meetup —»Speaker: NYU Langone
Oct 2022, NY, NY Invited to talk to students about my journey as an artist working in the sciences at Sci Inspire —»Invited Artist, Thought For Food
Sept 2022, NY, NY Exhibited microbial paintings at this global conference celebrating the future of food —»Workshop: Collaborations with Microbes
April 2022, TofTH (Transformations of the Human) Berkeley, CA
Bacterial painting workshopWorkshop: Design a Cow at GoogleX
June 2022, Online and Palo Alto, CA
Facilitated a private Mural workshop with members of Google X’s Arrow project groupPanelist: Biodesign: Learning and Growing at the Intersection of Art and Science
Feb 2022, Gottesman Libraries, Teachers College, Columbia University , NY, NY. —»Speaker and Guest Critic: NYU Dec 2021, “Advanced Digital Design”
Panelist: Social Equity: Diversity, Workforce Development and Affordability Sept 2021, The Cove Launch Event, Liberty House, Jersey City, NJ —»
Workshop: Stanford d.school
May 2020, Facilitated “Future Plants,” a tool for explaining synthetic biology for the “Design for Digital Agency” course at the d.school —»Workshop: Stanford d.school
March 2020, Stanford, CA Demoed “Design-a-Cow,” tool to explain synbio —»Panelist: Catalyst Biosecurity Summit Feb 2020, SF, CA “How can we steer towards a good future for biotechnology?”—»
Poster Session: #Spreading Facts @ MIT Dec 2019, MIT, Cambridge, MA Presented “Fallacy Bingo” —»
Judge: BioDesign Challenge June 2019, 2021-2024 NY, NY —»
Jury Member: IXDA Interaction Awards, 2019 Dec 2018, Rio de Janeira, Brazil —»
Invited Participant: SciOut18, Rockefeller Oct 2018, New York, NY —»
Judge: IGEM (International Genetic Engineering Machinery) Competition
Oct 2018, Boston, MA IGEM (International Genetic Engineering Machinery Competition) judge —»Invited Participant & Workshop Design and Facilitation: Open Plant Forum
Research consortium focused on creating open plant technologies for research
July 2018, Norwich, United Kingdom —»
July 2017, Cambridge,UK —»NYC Media Lab “Fake News Horror Show”June 2018, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, NY, NY
Instructor: NYU SHERP (Science, Health, & Environmental Reporting) Entrepreneurial Journalism course Creative strategy instructor 2014-2018 NY, NY SHERP —»
Workshop: Rutgers "The Art and Design of Science Communication"Jan 2018, New York, NY —»
Panelist: SciArt Center Conference Art and Science: Two Cultures Converging Dec 2017, NY NY —»
Speaker and Guest Critic: SVA Nov/Dec 2017, NY, NY “Urban Fictions” Interaction design course
Panelist: me convention Sept 2017, Frankfurt, Germany
“synthetic biology: blurring boundaries to create new realities” with bioethicist Francoise Baylis, entrepreneur Erika Milczeck, and writer Britt Wray —»Book launch: SB7 June 2017, Singapore A book launch at an international synthetic biology conference that focused on the Synbio LEAP program —»
Guest Critic: Pratt Institute Nov 2016, Brooklyn, NY “Science of Light” course
Panelist, World Maker Faire Oct 2016, NY, NY "Making & the DIY Bio Frontier" —»
Co-Organizer, BioHTP (BioHack the Planet) Sept 2016, Oakland, CA Co-organized the inaugural conference —»
Speaker and Guest Critic: UPenn Oct 2015, 2016 “Biological Design”—»
Attendee, by invitation: MacMillan / Scientific American STEM Summit 2016 & 2014, New York, NY
Attendee: Ed Foo (Education Foo) Feb 2016, Mountain View, CA —»
Judge: IGEM Art and Design track Oct 2015, Boston, MA —»
Panelist: Biofabricate Oct 2015, NY, NY
Attendee: "Innovation Ecosystems in Biology and Genomics" Sept 2015, The Wilson Center, Washington DC —»
Speaker: Synberc Fall retreat at MIT Sept 2015, Boston, MA
Panelist & Attendee: "Engineering Biology for Science & Industry" July 2015, The NY Genome Center, NY, NY Presented by Nancy J Kelly & Associates and the Wilson Center —»
Panelist: Synbiobeta April 2015, Imperial College, London
Designing Biology – Panel Discussion with: Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Royal College of Art; Andrew Hessel, Autodesk; Rodrigo Martinez, IDEO; Andrew Phillips, Microsoft ResearchParticipant: Synthetic Biology Standards Consortium (SBSC) March 2015, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, Standards consortium organized by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
Instructor: PopTech's "Own Your Future" May 2011, New York, NY Collaboration with BCAM (Brooklyn Community Arts and Media School)
BFA, Painting UNCG. Greensboro, NC 1992-1996
Simons Foundation Science Sandbox/New Lab Fellow Cohort IV —»
Stanford d.school Emerging Technology Fellow Feb 2020
Synbio LEAP Fellow (Synthetic Biology Leadership Excellence Accelerator Program) 2015 co-recipient of a Catalyst Grant LEAP —» | The Grant —»
NYFA Queens Art Fund (QAF) New Work 2024 Grant —»
Education, Fellowships, and Grants (partial listing)
Co-author, EdSurge: “The Moral Imperative of Teaching Every Student Tech Ethics” Karen Ingram, Megan Stariha —»
Co-author: “Technology Doesn’t Sound Like the Problem”
White paper based on insights from LEAP "Landscaping Session", part of the 2015 Synbio LEAP Fellowship co-authors: Sanjana Ravi, Nicola Patron, Ted Fjällman —»Writer, Stanford d.school blog: “Yes, You Can Design a Cow” —» d.school’s Yearbook —»
Co-author, CoLab Futures: Collaboration to Open up the Future of Biotechnology
Insight paper that resulted in a Catalyst Grant award for the SynbioLEAP Program, Wieke Betten, co-author—»Writer: BioCoder September 2016 issue
"A Biotech Wave at SXSW" —»Writer: BioCoder October 2015 issue “Marketing Synthetic Biology” —»
Selected Writing
Charter Member: Water Safety Coalition —»
Member: Surfrider, NYC Chapter, Volunteer in the Blue Water Task Force Results —»
Collaborator: Sci4NY Gotham Gazette —»
Community Participant: Climate Research Exchange View the report —»
Community and Civic Engagement
Wartsila Energy’s insight blog “Teaching ethics to the innovators of tomorrow” Maria Stambler —»
IXDA profile: “Finding a sweet spot at the interaction of art and science” Linda McNair —»
Profiled in: "Arte Transgenica. La Vita É IL Medium (Pisa University Press, 2018)"
“This book focuses on important artistic developments brought forward by the use of genetic engineering techniques.” By Mario Savini —»Video interview: Synberc
Synberc, a bio engineering consortium, was founded with support from the NSF 10 years ago. I mention the importance of involving the public around the development of synthetic biology around the 4:30 mark —»Profiled in gbd architecture magazine, “Ask the Expert” column: “Karen Ingram on How Collaboration Could Save the Building Industry” Jessica Mordacq —»
Grist: “The head and the heart: Why science and art should work together” Kate Yoder —»
Opinion: AAAS Science, October 2016
"Full Steam Ahead" Adam Ruben —»Profiled: SciArt Center Emma Snodgrass —»
Interviewed: Pop Matters
"SXSW Science? The Interactive Conference Puts on a Lab Coat" Anita Schillhorn —»Profile: Forbes
"Karen Ingram: From Painting to Synthetic Biology, The Un-Career Path Personified" Jessica Shortall —»
Profiles
Selected Recordings
Mini doc DIYBio Dutch media, De Correspondent
iGEM #Synbio: Ready, Set, Design.
BioBuilder: Karen Ingram