As Cheryl Moore assembled an operational team, she looked for staff who could fit the culture of Janelia Farm—working from minimal rules and maintaining their focus on the scientific mission. Her team includes:

Director of Facilities:
Howard Michael Day
At Janelia, Day's job is to oversee the proper functioning of the lab, conference, and housing spaces. He brings 27 years of experience in supervising facilities—small (the 150,000-square-foot Carnegie Institution of Washington, Broad Branch Road Campus) and large (the 3.8 million square feet of educational spaces that constitute the Arlington, Virginia, public school system).

Director of Campus Services:
Jennifer L. Farris
Short- and long-term housing, food, and fitness are Farris's domain. She most recently managed Northeastern University's The Warren Conference Center & Inn, located in Ashland, Massachusetts. Her goal at Janelia: "to create comfortable spaces that encourage creativity."

Director of Scientific Services:
Reed A. George
Like Moore, George arrived at Janelia by way of California, where he helped found a biotechnology consulting business and worked in Drosophila genomics. He now directs Janelia's shared resource labs, including facilities for microscopy, instrument design, and molecular biology. George also heads up materials management and environmental health and safety.

Director of Information Technology: Marshall R. Peterson
Peterson is no stranger to big data and big ideas. He's a former vice president for Celera Genomics in Rockville, Maryland, a commercial organization that sequenced the human genome. He also has designed missile guidance systems and processed satellite data. Peterson is the brains behind the design, implementation, and support of Janelia's scientific computing infrastructure.

Director of Administration
and Finance: Joanne M. Theurich
Theurich has built, developed, and managed the finance and administrative functions of several start-up healthcare organizations. She will be responsible for the development and management of Janelia Farm's finance, purchasing, human resource administration, and library, and will oversee technology-transfer issues.

Photos: Paul Fetters