Max received his B.S. in Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley in 2023. During his undergraduate studies, he worked in the lab of Prof. Jay Keasling engineering improved formatotrophy in E. coli and optimizing a growth coupled system for directed evolution of reductase enzymes. After undergrad, he worked in the lab of Prof. Yuzhong Liu at The Scripps Research Institute producing nonribosomal peptides in S. cerevisiae. Max joined the Moore Lab in 2024 and is interested in exploring the discovery and production of marine phosphonate natural products.