Sophie Tattrie

Sophie completed her BSc majoring in Marine Biology with a minor in Mathematics at Dalhousie University. She is beginning her masters research in the Gunawardena lab where she will be creating computational models to analyze vein patterning and perforation formation of the lace plant when treated with auxin inhibitor NPA and other known regulators. Sophie became interested in botanical research through her involvement with the Dalhousie Herbarium digitization project which she began volunteering with in 2018. Through this project she was introduced to the Gunawardena lab and lace plant research. Her honours project included an introduction to modelling which led to her interest in applying it in a botanical setting.

The summer before Sophie began her graduate studies (2020) she received the Sarah Lawson Research Scholarship to begin collecting data for her research. She is a member of the Atlantic Science Links Association (ASLA) and volunteers frequently. Sophie enjoys spending time in nature identifying plants,

Nathan Rowarth

Nathan is leaving the animal cell world and diving into the plant side of cell biology as a research associate to the Gunawardena lab. Starting as a volunteer in other labs at Dalhousie, he quickly found a passion for studying molecular biological research. As a MSc student Nathan worked with micro crustaceans called Artemia, characterizing several Hsp40s and demonstrated the very first early termination of dormancy for these extremophiles by RNAi.

Nathan was first introduced to the Gunawardena lab performing a special topics project and successfully characterized molecular chaperones in the lace plant. Using molecular techniques, he showed how Hsp70 plays a role in mediating anthocyanin abundance, caspase-like enzymes and PCD progression.

Joining us as a PhD student in May 2018, Nathan has a chance to present his newly found interest in plant molecular biology in International conferences this year in the US and Belgium.

As part of his PhD research, Nathan is ready to expand his skills into the genomic realm and build a gene database for the lace plant. By using CHIP-seq techniques he will attempt the sequence the genome from several tissues of the lace plant and not only create a foundation for future lace plant studies but uncover differentially expressed genes in the lace plant leaves that control PCD execution.

Outside the lab, Nathan loves walking with his Labrador retrievers Libby and Flynn, travelling, playing and coaching basketball at the YMCA and team Nova Scotia. Nathan is a member of Scientists and Innovators in the Schools (SITS), and enjoys creating lesson plans and Science modules which he has presented for teachers and students at Dalhousie and the local Discovery Centre.

Nathan is excited to becoming a well-rounded scientist in plant research and educatio

MacLean Rivers

Maclean Rivers is currently in his fourth year of BSc in Biology with a minor in Environmental Science and is looking forward to completing his honours work in the Gunawardena lab for the fall of 2022. While he always had a passion for the natural sciences, witnessing a presentation on the lace plant by Dr. Gunawardena in 2021 sparked in him a newfound interest in plant biology. This interest soon blossomed into a passion, and he was fortunate enough to spend the summer of 2022 working in her lab, after being awarded the Sarah Lawson Research Scholarship, analyzing RNA-seq work done by PhD candidate Nathan Rowarth as well as doing some new research into BAG gene homology.
In addition to his work in the lab, Maclean loves working within his community and spending time outdoors. He is currently the sports coordinator for the Dalhousie Association of Biology (DABS) Students, as well as a volunteer with the Atlantic Science Links Association (ASLA). When not working or volunteering, he can often be found tearing across town on his bicycle.

Olivia Andrews

My name is Olivia, and I’m in my third year of my undergraduate studies in biology at Dalhousie University. I first began as a volunteer for Dalhousie’s Herbarium Digitization project towards the end of my second year, when I took an interest after Dr. Gunawardena had mentioned the project in her Diversity of Plants and Microorganisms class. I have always loved plants and anything to do with nature, and having hands-on experience with hundreds of fascinating preserved specimens from Dal’s century-old herbarium only increased my interest further. Now that I have the chance to gain experience in Dr. Gunawardena’s research lab, I can’t wait to learn from her and all of the amazing members of her lab team. I’m incredibly thankful and excited for this learning opportunity.