We are excited to announce that synthetic biology veteran Kevin Costa has joined the Shiru team as Director of Brand and Communications.
In this role, Kevin will raise awareness and give voice to the Shiru brand while engaging our key audiences.
Kevin studied biology at California State University, East Bay, where he spent an equal amount of time writing prose and poetry in the English department. For ten years, he managed Synberc, a cornerstone academic research project in synthetic biology. Kevin later served as Editor-In-Chief of SynBioBeta, writing about the leading companies in the industry. Most recently, he served as Content & Communications Manager at Zymergen, helping to illuminate its technology platform and biomanufacturing story.
“I’ve had the privilege of a front-row seat to the synthetic biology story,” says Kevin. “Not long ago, I was there with students and professors tinkering with BioBricks in the primordial soup of our field. Today, many of those students are the CEOs of companies shaping our world. And as an editor covering the young synthetic biology industry, I saw the idea of ‘making a better world with biology’ go from aspiration to realization. And that story continues today.”
“It was natural for me to want to come from academia to industry,” Kevin says, “to follow the science as it matured into a real manufacturing discipline, and to contribute as best as I could. But it had to be a company whose purpose was aligned with my values, particularly my desire to be a good steward of our planet. We spend so much of our lives at work, even more than we spend with our loved ones. I feel the single most important thing I can do for the environment — and my soul — is to work at a company with an unwavering commitment to do good.”
“I think Shiru is that kind of place,” says Kevin. “It’s part of this team’s DNA. I believe if we’re true to our brand, and communicating purely, then we are truly free to build the best kind of company we can.”