Looking for Laboratory Testing Companies? Founded in 2010, Daane Labs offers the most affordable, ISO 17025-accredited U.S. testing laboratory. Our clients like us because we promise a 48-72 hour turnaround time for all samples, flexible payment terms and added features that we see as simply part of the Daane Labs customer service experience, such as digital images of tests to validate results.
Our clients love us because we are real people they can easily reach when they want to reach us.
Andrew Daane, M.S., Daane Labs Founder & Laboratory Director
Andrew is a microbiologist specializing in testing food and dietary supplements. A high school science course sparked Daane’s interest in biology. Years later, after working in the industry and seeing opportunities for ways to do business more efficiently and with more personal attention, he established Daane Labs.
Daane earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Clemson University, where he minored in business. He continued at Clemson to earn a master’s degree in environmental microbiology. His particular interest was investigating ways to reduce the spread of food borne illness from industrial compost to the food chain. Daane serves as a technical advisor for the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia.
Jessica Suardiaz, Lead Microbiologist
Jessica is our Lead Microbiologist with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Florida Gulf Coast University. While attending FGCU, Jessica’s degree specialized in microbiology and the related coursework. She loves animals and has a pet pig named Tina; named after Tina from Bob’s Burgers. Jessica is also well known for her perfume, which is a mixture of marshmallow and green tea.
Ted Robinson, Quality Assurance Microbiologist
Ted Robinson is a Quality Assurance Microbiologist and comes to Daane Labs with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Florida Gulf Coast University. His unique background in chemistry has allowed Daane Labs to offer a wider variety of allergen testing and wet chemistry analyses to our clients. Since joining Daane Labs, Ted has also helped expand our mold capabilities, helped implement a new LIMS, and refined our Quality System.
Javier Cordero, Quality Assurance Microbiologist and Lab Supervisor
Javier is a Quality Assurance Microbiologist who comes to Daane Labs with extensive experience in different facets of quality. Before joining us, Javier worked for Merck and NBTY in Quality Assurance. Javier is originally from Puerto Rico, where he earned his bachelor’s in Chemical Technology. When Javier isn’t working, he enjoys taking cruises and spending time with his family.
Tess Chamberlin, Microbiology Laboratory Technician I
Tess is a Microbiology Laboratory Technician I who graduated with a degree in Integrative Biology from Florida Southern College. Tess has previously worked with animals and while she still enjoys them, prefers much smaller animals like bacteria and fungi. Tess loves hotdogs and tries her best to avoid cold weather.
Mariana Delgado M.S., Microbiology Laboratory Technician I
Mariana is a Microbiology Laboratory Technician I with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Carabobo University in Venezuela. Mariana really enjoys working with pathogens with her favorite organism Pseudomonas. We always joke with Mariana that she needs her 3 cups of coffee per day to keep up with her three children at home.
Michael Garito, IAQ Microbiology Laboratory Technician II
Michael is a Microbiology Laboratory Technician II who is originally from Brooklyn. Michael used to work in the medical field, but now works in our Indoor Air Quality Department. When Michael is differentiating Ascospores from Stachybotrys he teaches a youth group on the weekends and enjoys camping.
Rahja Flowers-Mitchell, Microbiology Laboratory Technician I
Rahja is a Microbiology Laboratory Technician I who received a degree in Chemistry from Hope College in Holland, Mi. In case you didn’t know, Holland, Michigan is where the “Daane Labs Windmill” sits and really stood out when we reviewed her resume. One cool fact about Rahja is that she speaks Japanese.
Erika Kadas M.S., Microbiology Laboratory Technician I
Erika is a Microbiology Laboratory Technician I who is originally from Virginia. Unfortunately for her (but good for most everyone else) Erika spent the better part of her life looking for parking spaces at various universities: University of Arkansas, Virginia Tech, J Sargeant Reynolds. She is enjoying being out in industry now and her favorite food is, believe it or not, onions.
Taylor Harrington, Microbiology Laboratory Technician I
Taylor is a Microbiology Lab Technician I originally from New York. Taylor earned his degree in Biology from FGCU and has previously worked with turtles. Science is notorious for copious amounts of coffee due to the occasional long hours and requirement for an attention to detail. Taylor must have read this article because he can always be found sipping on some sort of caffeinated beverage. When Taylor isn’t busy in the lab you can find him on his kayak catching some rays.
Katherine Chou-Medina, Media Laboratory Technician
Katherine is a Media Laboratory Technician who is originally from Miami. Katherine helps make, organize, and document all the microbial media used here at the lab. When she isn’t spinning magnetic stir bars, she can be found playing with her dog Luna or at Chipotle ordering a steak bowl, but hold the hot sauce.
Cristina Revolta, Data Entry Technician
Cristina grew up in Naples and helps with everything involved in getting from an incoming sample to an outgoing report. When Cristina isn’t crunching numbers, she enjoys IL Primo’s Hawaiian pizza and watching any movie from the Scream franchise. She also loves to decorate and has had a hand in the layout of portions of the lab. One neat factoid about Cristina is that she has 9 pets (6 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 rabbit).
Ian Millar, Microbiology Laboratory Technician I
Ian is originally from Michigan and relocated to sunny SWFL a number of years ago. Ian has a number of hobbies including: baking, reading, and playing Dungeons and Dragons. Ian is also a published author for a series of children’s books and an expert on bats. Ian’s secret to thin, crispy chocolate chip cookies is…..apple cider vinegar.
Sam Richman, Microbiology Laboratory Technician I
Sam is originally from Ohio and previously worked in a medical cannabis laboratory. When Sam isn’t at the lab, he enjoys playing disc golf, walking his Goldendoodle, and eating chicken tender pub subs. Sam is also really into music and introduced the lab to an artist named French Kiwi Juice.
Dakota Rivers, Quality Assurance Technician
Dakota is originally from Ft. Myers and previously worked at a hospital. Dakota enjoys Indian food, plants, and tea (basically more plants). She is also into music and plays the guitar. One interesting tidbit is that Dakota collects Tamagotchi.
Learn about Daane Labs
Do you have 40 seconds for a story about a windmill?
Both sides of Andrew’s family are from the Netherlands. (Andrew learned a little Dutch back in college when he was trying to woo a tall, blonde beauty. She returned his efforts with a half-eaten wheel of cheese and a teary breakup.) During the 1960s, Andrew’s father’s uncle, Willard Wichers, served as a liaison between the governments of Canada and the Netherlands, working hard to build up relations between the two countries. To pay homage to the goodwill that grew, he spearheaded a project to have a Dutch windmill deconstructed, shipped and then rebuilt in Holland, Michigan. Not too long after its completion, the Dutch became very protective of these national treasures and forbade windmills from leaving the country. To this day, Willard’s windmill is the only authentic Dutch windmill in the United States. The Daane Labs logo pays homage to Willard Wichers’ ingenuity and focus on building strong, long-lasting relationships.