People profiles

Trevor Charles carries out research in bacterial genetics and is an expert on analyzing genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples, also known as functional metagenomics.

Dr. Craig's research program is aimed at gaining a fundamental understanding of multiple, mixed stressors found within the environment and the impact its having upon aquatic species, specifically model (i.e., zebrafish) and native (i.e., rainbow darter) fish species. 

Dr. Craig's research takes an integrative approach, crossing all levels of biological organization, from epigenetic regulation (the mechanisms controlling how the genome expresses itself) to whole animal responses, to making predictions regarding the impact of mixed stressors on species health and abundance. 

Vivian Dayeh’s focus is on undergraduate teaching in physiology, human anatomy and zoology. She has received numerous awards for her teaching and professional performance, including the University of Waterloo Outstanding Performance Award twice in 2015 and 2006, the University of Waterloo Distinguished Teacher Award in 2011, and the Excellence in Science Teaching Award in 2010.

Professor Brian Dixon carries out research in fish immunology and is a world expert on the environmental effects on fish immune systems. His research has been used to provide insights into mammalian immune systems as well as understand the role of climate change on fish populations and improve fish health in aquaculture environments.

Bernard Duncker carries out cancer-related research on yeast and is an expert on the initiation of eukaryotic DNA replication and cell cycle checkpoints.

His work on the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the proteins involved in controlling DNA replication has applications for developing biomarkers to detect the presence of environmental carcinogens, and cancer in humans.

Since becoming a Lecturer in 2011, Heidi Engelhardt’s focus has been on undergraduate teaching in the areas of physiology and cell biology. Her research background is in physiology, with emphasis on female reproduction. Her past research has investigated ovarian function, pregnancy and the dialogue between the developing fetus and its mother.

Bernard Glick carries out research in plant-microbial interactions. His findings include discovering how certain bacteria can help plants grow, even under stressful conditions, such as drought. He's shown that growth-promoting bacteria can be successfully applied to several food crops as a more sustainable alternative to using chemicals.

Professor Hall's research combines fields of aquatic ecology, paleolimnology and multivariate statistics to assess effects of multiple stressors on lakes, wetlands and reservoirs.

Todd Holyoak carries out research in enzyme structure and function and is a world expert on the structure and mechanism of phosphoenopyruvate carboxykinases.

Contact information
Office: STC 4038
Phone: 519-888-4567, ext. 31565
Email: tholyoak@uwaterloo.ca

Professor Katzenback's research interests are in examining how environmental stress influences the immune system, and health, of amphibians with the goal of understanding how these interactions are contributing to the worldwide decline of amphibians​.

Zoya Leonenko's research focuses on the study of biophysics of lipids and lipid-protein interactions.

Contact information
Office: PHY 354
Phone: 519-888-4567, ext. 38273

Lab: PHY 335
Email: zleonenko@uwaterloo.ca
Website: Nanoscale Biophysics Group

Kesen Ma carries out research in physiology and enzymology of hyperthermophiles, a group of microorganisms growing at temperatures of boiling water. Metabolic processes involved in the conversion of biomass to biofuels and bioproducts at elevated temperatures are studied.

Brendan McConkey's research focuses on proteomics analysis, that is, identifying and quantifying the proteins active within a biological system.

Barbara Moffatt is intrigued by how gene expression and enzyme activities are regulated to meet the metabolic needs of plant growth and development. Her research involves genetics, metabolite profiling, enzyme assays, morphological analyses, and reporter gene studies, as well as immunodetection of protein levels and protein-protein interaction assays.

As a microbial ecologist, Josh Neufeld studies microbial diversity in order to understand how microbial communities interact with each other within aquatic, terrestrial, and host-associated environments.

Dr. Marcel Pinheiro's focus is zoology of the invertebrates, primarily benthic invertebrates and those that carry out a parasitic lifestyle. His undergraduate teaching focuses on exposing students to the diversity of eukaryotes, both single- and multi-celled, and striving to provide students with the chance to encounter these organisms in the field. Further, Dr.

Bruce Reed carries out research in developmental and cell biology and is an expert on the model genetic organism Drosophila.

Contact information
Office: B1 293A
Phone: 519-888-4567, ext. 38085
Email: reed@uwaterloo.ca
Lab: B1 287, ext. 38413

David Rose carries out research in structural glycobiology with particular interest in enzymes associated with human health and disease. Recent work focuses on enzymes that take part in processing major components of the human diet.

Please note Professor Rose is no longer accepting further graduate students. 

Professor Mark R. Servos carries out research in the broad areas of Ecotoxicology and Integrated Water Resources Management.

David Spafford carries out research on voltage-gated cation channels including calcium and sodium channels and NALCN. The channels regulate key functions in our body, including signaling and rhythmic activities in the brain and heart.

Applications of his research include developing new classes of drugs for treating epilepsy, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Full Adjunct Professor

Cross-appointed (Chemistry)

Associate Vice President, University Research

Professor Yates is an aquatic ecologist whose research blends aquatic and landscape sciences to generate the knowledge and tools to help solve critical issues threatening the health and sustainability of freshwater ecosystems.