Supervisor: A. Doxey & J. Hirota
Dissertation/Research Area:
A transcriptomic analysis of the effects of tobacco and cannabis smoke extracts on lung epithelial cells in vitro and the efficacy of standard combination inhaled therapies at attenuating smoke-induced changes in the lung epithelium.
Supervisor: P. Craig
Dissertation/Research Area:
Nathan is studying the effects that an immune response has on the energetics of fish. He is looking at both the whole organism response by measuring oxygen consumption rate as well as the RNA profile to see what changes occur at the cellular level.
Supervisors: H. Swanson
Dissertation/Research Area:
Tara is studying the sources of variability affecting fish omega-3 fatty acid profiles in freshwater lakes. Her work is part of the Northern Water Futures project and will be carried out in the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories.
Supervisor: M. Power
Dissertation/Research Area:
Jacob is using stable isotopes to examine the feeding ecology and thermal niche of an imperiled freshwater fish; Silver Shiner.
Supervisors: P. Craig
Dissertation/Research Area:
Ivan is studying the effects of stress on fish and how they are able to adapt to perceived threats. Specifically, he would like to understand how microRNAs within extracellular vesicles (or exosomes) are altered during a stress response and how they could be used to communicate between tissues.
Supervisor: L. Hug
Dissertation/Research Area:
Rebecca is studying the microbial diversity and cellulolytic potential in landfills.
Supervisor: T. Charles
Dissertation/Research Area:
Maya is studying global regulation in Sinorhizobium meliloti in response to environmental conditions. Her research is specifically focused on the production of polyhydroxybutyrate and how its regulation is connected to regulation of other cell systems.
Contact for: Dixon Research Group
Supervisor: H. Swanson
Dissertation/Research Area:
Jared is studying how anthropogenic processes influence lower trophic productivity and fish habitat use in Nunavut's Kivalliq region, near the community of Baker Lake. Jared's research is in partnership with Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.
Supervisor: M. Power
Dissertation/Research Area:
Britney is determining the thermal and oxygen physiological tolerances of the imperilled Easter Sand Darter to help recovery biologists define the critical habitat of the species to make accurate conservation management decisions.
Supervisor: L. Hug
Dissertation/Research Area:
Nikhil is examining viral diversity and virus-host interactions in municipal landfills. He is also aiming to identify new CRISPR-Cas systems from microbes in these sites.
Contact for: Hug Research Group
Supervisor: P. Craig and B. Katzenback
Dissertation/Research Area:
Heather is studying the effects of multiple stressors on fish populations and stress levels by measuring environmental DNA (to identify organisms present) and RNA (to measure stress levels). This will extend from the use of microRNA as a sub-lethal biomarker within tissue, to a biomarker within the water column, as well as understanding the dynamics of DNA secretion and degradation in different environmental conditions.
Supervisor: L. Hug
Dissertation/Research Area:
Grant's research focuses on the changes to the soil microbiome through the winter transition. Microbes are still active even under the ice and have implications for climate change, agriculture, and biogeochemical cycling.
Supervisor: L. Hug
Dissertation/Research Area:
Lisa is studying microbial diversity and function at waste management sites, and investigate biofouling that occurs in a landfill gas capture system. Her research will determine means of disrupting or preventing biofilm formation, and therefore increase the efficiency of gas capture.
Supervisor: R. Hall
Dissertation/Research Area:
Mitchell's research centers around using long-term records of past environmental change obtained from lake sediment cores to improve our understanding of the roles of natural processes and human activities on hydroecological condition in the Peace-Athabasca Delta.
Supervisor: S. Lolle & T. Holyoak
Dissertation/Research Area:
Eric is attempting to isolate Arabidopsis thaliana's HOTHEAD protein in hopes of obtaining structure function relations and further our understanding of this protein's function in the plant.
Supervisor: A. Doxey
Dissertation/Research Area:
Briallen is exploring metagenomic protein annotations to see if differing annotation techniques can increase the functional information available for remote homologs. She is also working on creating a prioritization scheme for functional characterization of domains of unknown function.
Supervisor: M. Power
Dissertation/Research Area:
Mackenzie's research is focused on factors affecting Arctic charr condition in Nunavik, Québec.
Research areas: plant functional ecology; phenotypic variation and integration.
Supervisor: D. Rose
Dissertation/Research Area:
Nardo's work focuses on protein expression using Eukaryotic systems, evaluation of enzymatic activity and substrate specificity as well as inhibition.
Supervisors: R. Rooney
Dissertation/Research Area:
Jordan is studying how anthropogenic disturbance affects avian community composition in peatland ecosystems.
Supervisor: R. Rooney
Dissertation/Research Area:
Courtney is studying the effects of an invasive grass, Phragmites australis (European Common Reed), and large-scale herbicide-based restoration efforts on wetland communities and processes. Her work has a specific focus on plant community assembly, efficacy of restoration approaches, and secondary productivity (invertebrates) and at-risk bird species' (e.g. Barn Swallow) response to invaded, restored, and uninvaded habitat in Long Point, a World Biosphere Reserve.
Supervisors: H. Swanson
Dissertation/Research Area:
Rosie is studying the movement and habitat use of Arctic char near Kugluktuk, Nunavut, in collaboration with the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization. Rosie's work is funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada through the Coastal Restoration Fund.
Supervisor: J. Neufeld
Dissertation/Research Area:
Jackson combines environmental DNA sequencing (e.g., 16S rRNA gene, metagenomic), enrichment culturing, and rate incubations to explore microbial iron cycling in Canadian boreal shield lakes. Working at the IISD-Experimental Lakes Area, he aims to characterize how anaerobic iron-oxidizing and reducing bacteria serve as biogeochemical links to other key elemental cycles (C, N, S) and to understand the magnitude of the impact of those bacteria on ecosystem-level processes.
Supervisor: B. Katzenback
Dissertation/Research Area:
Joseph is studying the small but mighty, antimicrobial peptides and how they modulate frog skin innate immunity.
Supervisor: L. Hug
Dissertation/Research Area:
Characterizing the distribution of putative bioplastic degrading organisms across pristine and contaminated environments using metagenomics.
Supervisor: Hugh Broders
Dissertation/Research Area:
Lori is studying Nova Scotia bats by conducting a pre- to post-introduction White-nose syndrome study of the summer breeding population using ultrasonic acoustic monitors.
Supervisor: Dr. Roland Hall
Dissertation/Research Area:
Laura is working towards identifying major drivers of seasonal and spatial variation in lake carbon balance across a northern floodplain landscape.
Supervisors: Mark Servos and Rebecca Rooney
Dissertation/Research Area:
Hillary is studying changes in the trophic ecology of young-of-the-year walleye in the southern Grand River, Ontario, using stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon. She is also working toward identifying priority spawning habitat using acoustic telemetry.
Supervisor: Mark Servos
Dissertation/Research Area:
The aim of Kirsten's project is to examine various reproductive endpoints in rainbow darter in order to understand the effects of wastewater exposure and wastewater treatment plant upgrades in the Grand River. Kirsten is interested in multiple levels of biological organization, including gene expression, steroid production and intersex severity.
