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 education.