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Meet DNASTAR Senior Product Manager Matt Keyser

Sharon Page, DNASTAR Senior Content Developer
April 14, 2025 | DNASTAR 40th Anniversary

Matt and his neighbor's corgi, Carl , pontooning on Indian Lake last summer.

In celebration of DNASTAR’s 40th Anniversary, we are featuring monthly profiles of Lasergene users and DNASTAR employees. This month, we introduce you to Matt Keyser, our Senior Product Manager at DNASTAR. If you’ve attended any of our webinars, you’ve probably seen Matt in his role as a presenter.

With strong Wisconsin roots and an academic background in neurobiology, Matt brings a unique blend of expertise and enthusiasm to our team. In this interview, we dive into Matt’s journey at DNASTAR, the challenges of keeping pace with evolving technologies, and his diverse array of hobbies, including a growing vinyl collection and a deep appreciation for the Wisconsin outdoors.

Tell us about yourself and your role at DNASTAR

I’m 54 years old and have lived my whole life in Wisconsin. I was born in Green Bay, received at Bachelor’s degree in Biology from UW- Stevens Point and was a PhD Dissertator in Developmental Neurobiology at UW-Milwaukee before joining DNASTAR. I currently live in Evansville, WI with my wife Sonya, two sons, and a large orange cat.

I started at DNASTAR in 2004 and have been the Senior Product Manager at DNASTAR since 2018. I work with Sales, Marketing, and Software Development to create sequence analysis software.

Snowshoeing in Eagle River, Wisconsin with wife Sonya (back left) and friends. It was -20F that day!

What are some of the challenges and rewards that come with your job?

It is always a challenge prioritizing all the different things we can do. We have strengthened customer feedback loops to ensure that we keep focused on the most important things, but sequencing technologies have continually been improving and there is a continual need for better software tools to keep pace with those technologies.

I love that we’ve adopted an Agile development process that allows us to efficiently create software tools to support complex workflows. It is great to hear from customers about the success they are having with our software and also introducing them to new Lasergene tools as their needs change over time.

What do you enjoy doing outside work?

Matt made this deluxe outdoor pizza oven using discarded bricks and clay from his backyard.

I’m a fan of the Green Bay Packers (American football), Milwaukee Bucks (NBA basketball), and Milwaukee Brewers (baseball) sports teams. Some other favorite hobbies include fishing, kayaking, fishing in kayaks 😄, golf, homebrewing, cooking (especially pizza) and hiking.

A couple years ago, my wife and I started a vinyl record collection that we listen to through vintage speakers and a vintage receiver that has been updated with LED lights and Bluetooth connections. It is fun exploring vinyl stores in different towns and finding albums to expand the collection.

Where have you enjoyed traveling and where would you like to travel in the future?

Every summer for the past 20+ years we have done a family vacation to Door County, a huge peninsula in Wisconsin that juts into Lake Michigan. For the past several years we have stayed in a 1930’s era cottage on the shore of Green Bay (the body of water) near Egg Harbor. I grew up in Green Bay (the city) along the bay itself, so the cottage reminds me of where I grew up. The fishing there is great, too. We also make a couple trips to the Wisconsin Northwoods each year where we hike, fish, and go out in a pontoon boat.

In the future, I’d like to make another trip to Europe. In particular, I would like to visit the UK, Belgium, and Holland. I’d especially like to visit some of the old breweries and learn more about styles of locally-produced beers.

A view of Green Bay from the Door County cottage where Matt's family stays. Matt's fishing kayaks are parked on shore in the background.

A trophy-sized walleye that Matt caught a few weeks ago through the ice in Eagle River, Wisconsin.

Matt and son Griffin at a Willie Nelson concert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison last summer.

Special 40th Anniversary pricing on Lasergene software

Just think: even though DNASTAR has benefitted from Matt’s expertise for over 20 years, he wasn’t in the picture until our company was already 20 years old!

To celebrate DNASTAR’s 40th birthday 🎉, we are offering special deals on Lasergene that are not available through our website. Click the button below to request a quote today.

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