April 2022

Lab members

Front row (left to right): Sohiba Khayol Muhammad and Arunika Gunawardena

Middle row (left to right): Kestral Adams Unger,Shanukie Embuldeniya and Sophie Tattrie

Last row (left to right): MacLean Rivers and Nathan Rowarth

Sohiba Muhammad

Sohiba Muhammad is currently in her third year of BSc in Biology with a minor in Anthropology (2020-2021). She is excited to be completing her honours in the Gunawardena Lab for the fall of 2021. Sohiba has always had an interest towards botany from a very young age. Alongside her curiosity to learn more, her passion for research has stemmed from first year of university when she was a participant in a research study. Upon researching for an honour’s supervisor, The Gunawardena lab and their focus on programmed cell death in lace plants caught her interest from the very beginning. Sohiba began volunteering with the lab and shortly after started working on her honours project after being awarded the Sarah Lawson Research Scholarship (Summer 2021).

She will be working alongside Sophie Tattrie, a master student, and the supervision of Dr. Gunawardena to collect and analyze microscopy data to aid in developing computational models of lace plant morphology. She will accomplish this by analyzing vein pattern, perforation formation, cell layers, and area of perforations in window and mature areoles.

Sohiba has a strong passion for volunteering and getting involved in her community. She is currently the president of the Dalhousie Bladder Cancer Awareness Society and the Dalhousie VIDA society, recruiting students to travel to Central America for a volunteer service trip with VIDA volunteer. Sohiba has also been a proud volunteer of the Ronald McDonald House for several years and hopes to continue for a long time. She is also working a part time job at 811 spending her time booking COVID-19 vaccines for the Nova Scotia community. Sohiba’s goal is to attend medical school and eventually become her career goal as a family doctor.

Kate Love

Kate Love is completing her final year of her BSc in Marine Biology and will be writing her honours thesis in the Gunawardena Lab during the 2021/22 school year. She is focused on understanding more about the ecology of Madagascar Lace and will be striving to determine the best method of growing this aquatic plant in aquarium conditions. The main purpose of her research is to induce inflorescence in captivity and to analyze the functionality of the lace plant’s perforated leaf structure, specifically if there is a relationship between leaf perforation and water turbulence. Kate has years of experience in the aquarium hobby and, is excited to be working with Dr. Gunawardena and her team.

In her spare time Kate enjoys exploring Nova Scotia’s coastline. When the weather is nice, she spends time hiking, snorkeling and surfing, and when inside she is usually reading a good book. Kate currently works at a local aquarium shop and as a Teaching Assistant in Dalhousie’s Biology department. In the future, she wishes to be an environmental advocate and work within a field that focuses on environmental preservation and restoration.

Cassandra Hirte

I recently completed my BSc in Neuroscience and Biology. Dr. Arunika Gunawardena’s research was initially introduced to me in second year during her portion of the Diversity of Life course. Having interests in biomedical research, I was delighted to begin volunteering in her lab. Eventually, I progressed do my experiential learning with her where I helped investigate the effects of anthocyanin biosynthesis modulators on lace plant PCD. I was fortunate enough to continue these experiments for my special topics independent research all while taking Arunika’s plant cell biology class to further my knowledge on the topic. I have since shifted my focus to the relationship between sucrose and anthocyanin abundance to expand on my research for a potential manuscript.

In addition to volunteering in the lab, I was the VP of Event Coordination for the Psychology student society (DAPS) as well as a volunteer for the QEII Hospital. Since graduating, I have started full-time work as a physiotherapist assistant (PTA). My hope to eventually pursue graduate studies in rehabilitation sciences where I can continue to conduct and eventually apply research in the biomedical industry. Outside of work and academia, I really enjoy running, traveling, and painting.