Shanukie Embuldeniya

Shanukie's research

Shanukie is delighted to join the Gunawardena Lab to pursue a MSc in Biology in the fall of 2020. Shanukie was first introduced to the PCD lab in her third year of undergraduate studies, through Dr. Gunawardena’s lectures in the Diversity of Life course. Since then, her combined love for plant science and medicine has driven her to pursue a career in research. After successfully completing her BSc in Neuroscience and Biology, Shanukie is excited to continue her graduate studies under the supervision of Dr. Gunawardena and Dr. Gorolski (Dept. of Pharmacology). Her research will investigate the different mechanisms of cell death induced by anthocyanin, found in lace plants, on breast cancer cells. She hopes that her research will be instrumental in furthering cancer research and in uniting plant and medical research.

Outside of academia, Shanukie is a proud advocate for science and works to promote STEM through her role as the Administrative Assistant for the Atlantic Science and Links Association (ASLA). She also volunteers frequently with the Scientist in the Schools Program (SITS) where she enjoys mentoring and sharing her passion for science and research with junior high and high school students. Additionally, Shanukie works with war service veterans at the Nova Scotia Health Authority and as a Teaching Assistant in the department of Biology at Dalhousie. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, hiking and learning new languages.

 

Abby Vivian

Abby's Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello! My name is Abigail Vivian, and I am in my third year at Dalhousie University studying Medical Sciences. In my second year, I began working in Dr. Arunika Gunawardena’s lab through an experiential learning project quantifying nuclear size changes during programmed cell death in window stage lace plant leaves. I am currently working on optimizing a protocol to induce flowering within the lace plant with the funding of a Sobeys Faye Summer Research Award. Establishing a reliable method to induce flowering is necessary to increase the vigour of our lab's sterile culture. Using this culture, I plan to further investigate new and ongoing PCD research on the Lace plant.
My passion is for learning- whether it's on holistic medicine or by Paulo Coelho you can always find me with a book in hand. Being in Dr. Grunawardena’s lab has allowed me to commit to this love for learning and helped cultivate my curious mind. Every day, my thinking has been challenged and expanded in all realms of science, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this community. I anticipate working with Dr. Gunawardena; and alongside such hard-working lab members in the coming years.
Outside of the lab, I love staying active, connecting with my community and, more than anything, the outdoors. Sports have always been a large part of my life, I have swam since I was little, coached every sport under the sun and am currently the head coach for the Halifax Special Olympics swim team. I am also a part of the Varsity Dalhousie rowing team and a competitive powerlifter. Over the past three years, I founded and have been running a weightlifting and powerlifting club in Halifax, which I look forward to working with every week.
Throughout the summer, you can find me racing around the city on my bike trying every ice cream flavour I can find, camping in every spot there is and listening to any live music I hear. After my undergraduate degree, I hope to do an additional diploma in holistic nutrition before pursuing medical school and eventually becoming a family doctor.

Feburary 2024

Lab members
Left to right: Kestral Adams Unger,Shanukie Embuldeniya, Clara Hamm, Abigail Vivian and Arunika Gunawardena

Kestrel Adams Unger

Kestrel's Research

 

Hello! My name is Kestrel Adams Unger and I am a fourth-year biology student here at Dalhousie University.
I’m currently working on an independent research project focusing on secondary metabolites found in the lace plant’s crude anthocyanin extract. Over the summer I was able to continue work in Dr. Gunawardena’s lab through the Sarah Lawson Award and optimized a total phenolics extraction protocol specifically for lace plant leaves.
A bit about me; my ambition is to continue pursuing plant biology research through undergraduate honours and into graduate school, with a particular focus on ecology, and phytochemicals. I am incredibly grateful and excited to be given this volunteer opportunity in Dr. Gunawardena’s lab, I am fascinated by plants and research and have learnt so much from working with her and her research team these past two years. It’s an amazing and fascinating experience to be able to learn from such a talented and hard-working group of people. I look forward to learning even more about the lace plant and research and continuing to work with Dr. Gunawardena in the coming years.