Future graduate student research opportunities: Faculty of Science

An opportunity to work with the Waterloo Coastal Group examining the response and recovery of coastal barriers and other environments to changes in water level, storm activity and ice cover in the Great Lakes and in the maritimes. The research ranges from geophysical surveys and geochronology of coastal systems to UAS-based remote sensing and advanced geospatial analysis of scale-dependent landscape morphology and evolution.

Work on an exciting project focused on developing a high-throughput genomic library of C. difficile to investigate stress defense responses and the molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance. The successful applicant will employ cutting-edge approaches in molecular microbiology, genomics, bioinformatics, and high-throughput phenotypic screening.

The Vision and Neurodevelopment lab is seeking applicants for full-time graduate student positions in the Vision Science Graduate Program. The successful student will join a dynamic group researching typical and atypical development of eye movements, reading, and motor ability. Specifically, the lab investigates functional consequences of pediatric eye conditions such as amblyopia (‘lazy eye’) on children on maturation of these important life skills using psychophysics, eye tracking (EyeLink 1000 Plus, Tobii Glasses 2), and body tracking (GAITRite mobile walkway, Qualisys motion capture system) techniques.

Seeking MSc and PhD students to work on projects to understand the universe and what drives its evolution. The expansion of the universe is accelerating, and we do not know why. Dark energy, the name given to the mechanism driving this expansion, is unknown. Graduate students will analyze the latest cosmological data to further our understanding.

We will develop temperature-dependent population models for ectoptherms like plants and insects. These models will incorporate the impact of realistic heatwave conditions on the nonlinear responses of organisms to temperature. Models will be tested using fast-growing invasive duckweed populations. Model analysis will include the potential for transient dynamics that have large impacts on population growth.

The geological records of past glaciations provide insights into the long-term evolution of continental glaciers (ice sheets). There is an extensive cover of glacial sediments and landforms, as well as borehole records, in northeastern Ontario and northwestern Quebec that contain clues about the last glaciation. These geological archives also play an important role, via their physical properties, for regional water resources and land management.