Solix BioSystems Fort Collins, CO Lead Scientist *****
• Managed a team of scientists conducting research for optimization of growth media and environmental parameters for scale-up of algal cultures (3,000+ liters).
• Collaborated with engineering team on large scale photobioreactor and pilot plant design.
• Led scientific effort on a $250,000 research project with BASF (The Chemical Company) to evaluate algal strains for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
• Directed bench scale research geared toward strain characterization/evaluation and strain development.
• Implemented culture management strategies that led to a 200% increase in year-to-year areal lipid production rate.
• Wrote Standard Operating Procedures and managed sample data quality.
• Analyzed data, wrote detailed reports and communicated results to executive management team and customers.

BioFuelBox Corporation Hillsboro, OR Senior Manager of Algae Research *****
• Set up a research and development program aimed at the large-scale heterotrophic growth of lipid producing microorganisms as feedstock for biodiesel manufacture.
• Directed a small research team and collaborated with chemists and chemical engineers developing a supercritical process to convert microbial lipid to biodiesel.
• Designed and conducted laboratory scale trials, evaluated microbial strains for growth and lipid production potential.
• Organized data, wrote reports and communicated results to executive management team.

University of Portland Portland, OR
Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology *****
• Taught a variety of upper and lower division Biology courses over two academic years. Lecture courses included General Biology, Medical Microbiology, Cell and Molecular Biology and Evolution.
• Taught laboratory courses in Cell and Molecular Biology and General Biology.
• Responsible for development of course curriculum, lecture presentations, laboratory preparation, grading and evaluation, student advising. Served as facilitator for undergraduate teaching assistant program.
• Participated in development of the Biology core curriculum with other faculty members.

Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oregon Eugene, OR
National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate *****
• Investigated desiccation tolerance of cryptoendolithic cyanobacteria; extremophiles that survive in an anhydrobiotic state beneath the surfaces of porous rocks.
• Employed molecular and culture based methods for surveying cyanobacterial communities, discovered and cultivated novel strains.
• Utilized phylogenetic methods (16S rRNA) for exploring evolutionary relationships among cyanobacteria.
• Participated in research trips to Baja Mexico to study halophilic microorganisms with the NASA-Ames (Astrobiology) research group.
• Assisted in maintenance of University of Oregon Culture Collection of Microorganisms from Extreme Environments.

Thermal Biology Institute, Montana State University Bozeman, MT
Postdoctoral Research Assistant *****
• Assessed impacts of temperature on microbial community structure in thermal soils.
• Inventoried microbial diversity in thermal soils using molecular and phylogenetic methods.
• Explored effects of ultraviolet radiation on microbial community structure in hot spring microbial mats.
• Initiated biogeographical analyses of the acidothermophilic eukaryotic alga Cyanidium and relatives.

Institute for Molecular Biology, University of Oregon Eugene, OR
Graduate Research Assistant *****
• Investigated the function of a eukaryotic co-chaperone in protein folding and import into the endoplasmic reticulum.
• Purified eukaryotic molecular chaperone proteins, including a novel protein Scj1p.
• Measured kinetics of protein folding using bioluminescence assay.
• Studied protein-protein interactions of molecular chaperones using a variety of biochemical methods.

University of Oregon Eugene, OR
Ph.D., Biochemistry 1998
Thesis title: "Characterization of an Hsp70 Chaperone System in the Endoplasmic Reticulum of Saccharomyces cerevisiae."
University of Wisconsin, Madison Madison, WI
B.S. Chemistry and Biochemistry with Honors 1991

Toplin, J. A., Norris, T.B., Lehr, C.R., McDermott, T.R. and Castenholz, R.W. (2008)
Biogeographic and phylogenetic diversity of thermoacidophilic Cyanidiales in Yellowstone National Park, Japan, and New Zealand. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74(9):*****.

Roeselers, G., Norris, T.B., Castenholz, R.W., Rysgaard, S., Glud, N., Kühl, M. and Muyzer, G. (2007) Diversity of phototrophic bacteria in microbial mats in Arctic hot springs (Greenland). Environmental Microbiology 9(1):*****.

Lehr, C.R., Frank, S.D., D’Imperio, S., Kalinin, A.V, Toplin, J.A., Norris T.B., Castenholz, R.W., and McDermott, T.R. (2007). Cyanidial (Cyanidiales) Population Diversity and Dynamics in an Acid-Sulfate Chloride Spring in Yellowstone National Park. Journal of Phycology. 43: 3-14.

Norris, T.B. and Castenholz, R.W. (2006) Endolithic photosynthetic communities within ancient and recent travertine deposits in Yellowstone National Park. FEMS Microbiology Ecololgy 57: *****.

Castenholz, R.W. and Norris, T.B. (2005) Revisionary concepts of species in the cyanobacteria and their applications. Algological Studies 117: *****.

Norris, T.B. and Castenholz, R.W. (2005) Effects of environmental stressors on photosynthetic microorganisms in geothermal springs of Yellowstone National Park. In : Inskeep, W.P. & McDermott, T.R. (Eds.), Geothermal Biology and Geochemistry in Yellowstone National Park. Proceedings of the Thermal Biology Institute Workshop, Yellowstone National Park, WY. (Montana State University, Bozeman, MT) pp. *****.

Norris, T.B., Wraith, J., and T.R. McDermott. (2002) Soil Microbial Community Structure
Across a Thermal Gradient Following a Geothermal Heating Event, Applied and Environmental
Microbiology, 68: *****. (cited as a recommended paper by the Faculty of 1000, Feb. 2003)

Norris, T.B., McDermott, T.R., and R.W. Castenholz. (2002) The Long-term Effects of UV Exclusion on the Biodiversity and Photosynthetic Competence of Bacteria in Hot Spring Microbial Mats, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 39: *****.

Hamilton, T.G., Norris, T.B., Tsuruda, P.R., and Flynn, G.C. (1999) Cer1p Functions as a Molecular Chaperone in the Yeast ER. Molecular and Cellular Biology 19 (8), *****.

Luckey, J.A., Norris, T.B., and L.M. Smith. (1993) Analysis of Resolution in DNA Sequencing by Capillary Electrophoresis. Journal of Physical Chemistry 97:*****.

Luckey, J. A., Drossman, H., Kostichka, A.T., Mead, D.A., D'Cunha, J., Norris, T.B., and Smith, L.M. (1990) High Speed DNA Sequencing by Capillary Electrophoresis. Nucleic Acids Research 18, *****.