Ann St. Amand Ph.D., CLP

President / Owner, Phycologist

Ann earned her B.S. in Ecology, Evolutionary and Population Biology from Purdue University and her Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in Aquatic Ecology. She is PhycoTech’s founder and head of research with over 35 years of experience. Ann processes all manual algal and zooplankton samples at PhycoTech, as well as teaches our algal taxonomy workshops. In her spare time, she enjoys native gardening, reading, singing in a praise group, hiking, hunting for algae (and a billion other cool things, yes, a bit ADD) as well as hanging out with her awesome husband and kids, and grandsons Harry and Jace! 

Ann spends her volunteer time working with UpStream (a 6th grade hands on stream program), Salmon in the Classroom, Brown Elementary School Science Fair, and Science Olympiad at the Middle/HS level in the St. Joseph Public Schools. She also volunteers with the Fresh Start Children’s Garden, Indian Hills Garden Club, The St. Joseph Public Library, Boy and Girl Scouts and the Boys and Girls Club of Benton Harbor installing native gardens and helping with STEM activities.

View Ann'sCV

  

 

Denise Clark

Lab Manager - IFCB Division, IT Manager

Denise has a B.S. Degree in Computer Science and years of experience in computer system support, and has been a part of PhycoTech since 2011. She manages our IFCB department and provides support to the team in a variety of ways including: leading the Imaging FlowCytobot project, running and analyzing data, keeping computers updated and virus free and ensuring systems are running smoothly.

Denise also spends her volunteer time working with First Lego League, Boy Scouts and Science Olympiad Mentor. She is also an avid bowler.

 

 

Kam Truhn

Lab Manager

Kam is a freshwater ecologist/ limnologist with more than 16 years of experience. Since earning his M.A. in Biology/ Freshwater Ecology at Central Michigan University, he has worked on a diverse range of water quality and research projects focusing on nutrient loading and algal, macroinvertebrate, and fish biodiversity from NY to CA. At PhycoTech he oversees lab operations, sample processing, represents us at scientific meetings, and helps with algal identification workshops.

Kam spends his volunteer time working as a Science Olympiad Mentor with the High School and Middle School teams and working with PhycoTech outreach programs.

 

 

Sarah Johnson

Office Manager / Contract Coordinator

Sarah has been part of the PhycoTech family since 2018. She has earned her A.A. and handles day to day needs including: billing, overseeing contracts and bids, emails, product processing and shipping, customer service inquiries, workshop organization and other office tasks. Sarah is also our social media coordinator and web site editor. As a local photographer, she enjoys capturing memories for families as well as some of the splendid scenery around her native area, Michigan’s Great Southwest. She also has a daughter who has graduated with a degree in American Sign Language Interpretation, and MBA at a Michigan University.

Sarah is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Michigan Geocaching Organization, MiGo. She also volunteers as as part of an Admin Team for a large Michigan social group. Sarah previously volunteered for 14 years with a national non-profit youth soccer league for, and enjoys working with the PhycoTech education and outreach programs.