Alarie
Yves Alarie’s research emphasizes the study of larval morphology of aquatic beetles. Although water beetles are among the most common insect inhabitants of freshwaters, knowledge of their larval morphology is scanty throughout the world. The identification of larvae is a continuing problem because the literature available to accomplish this is scattered, limited to certain groups, outdated, difficult to use or non-existent. Because of this, Dr. Alarie developed a framework, which facilitates comparison among species. The system of analysis focuses on study of body sensilla, which are useful both for diagnosis and study of the genealogical relationships among taxa. The study of larval features should allow more comprehensive classifications to be constructed. Larvae are under differing selection pressures and therefore show quite different features. A long-term goal of my research is to produce a more rigorous and stable classification by combining characters from larvae with other data sets including adult and molecular characters.
Basiliko
Microorganisms play vital roles in ecosystems. Our group’s work explores soil and sediment microbial communities and microorganisms. In particular, we focus on microbial responses to human-induced environmental changes that have consequences for greenhouse gas fluxes, nutrient, pollutant, and carbon dynamics, as well as broader ecosystem sustainability. Current research projects are in applied settings (e.g. in landscapes with managed forests) with important governmental and private sector research partners. However, we also explore more universal controls on microbial diversity in soils, links between diversity and activity, and are interested in how different soil microbial communities transform plant tissues into soil organic matter and then subsequently decompose this organic matter to mineral products, including greenhouse gases. Field research sites span the temperate and boreal forests of eastern and central Canada and temperate to permafrost peatlands (globally important carbon-accumulating wetlands with organic soils) across North America and beyond. Lately research has expanded in to exploring novel microalgae in industrial settings in collaboration with a team in Chemical Engineering at Laurentian (ONGEN).
Gagnon
My lab examines how the gut endocrine system regulates energy metabolism. Areas of interest are:Hormone Dysregulation, Glucose Metabolism (Type 2 Diabetes), Metabolic Inflammation, Gastrointestinal microbes (microflora). These areas are examined by various techniques including: Mammalian cell culture (endocrine cell lines and primary cell culture), Rodent models of weight gain (both genetic and diet induced)
Gunn
My research focuses on trying to understand the basic processes by which severely damaged lakes and stream ecosystems repair themselves, and how management actions can be improved to aid the recovery process in the face of multiple stressors (e.g. climate change, invasive species, urbanization, acidification, metal contamination). Much of our work is concentrated in the Sudbury, Ontario area, home to one of the largest mining complexes on earth, and a UN award winning land reclamation program. Here we are engaged with national and international collaborators and work closely with the large local mining companies to assess the effectiveness of massive investments in air pollution control programs and in novel land management practices, tracing through laboratory and in-situ experiments, and long term monitoring studies (30 years +), the benefits of environmental improvements to whole aquatic ecosystems through studies of water chemistry, microbes, invertebrates and fish. Recently we have also begun extensive surveys (including Hg studies) and pre-disturbance biodiversity assessment studies in the remote and pristine watersheds of the Far North of Ontario (includes Hudson Bay Lowlands). These studies are designed to provide science information to First Nation communities, government and other stakeholders, that is needed to aid in the protection of this globally significant area in the face of rapid climate changes and industrial development.
Litzgus
My research program combines field and lab-based approaches, and basic and applied science. Projects in my lab address questions in the fields of population ecology and conservation biology of reptiles, and the application of ecological data to tests of mitigation and recovery actions. My work focuses on demography, maternal investment, road ecology, spatial ecology and habitat selection. Physiological research examines questions about bioenergetic, fitness, and thermoregulatory consequences of certain behaviours, particularly summer and winter dormancy, in reptiles.
Martinez Garcia
My research interests focus fundamentally on animal physiology, and specifically on the individual variation of physiological traits and adaptive mechanisms by which animals survive in changing environments. My students and I prefer to combine physiological, biochemical, behavioural and ecological data in order to examine how the energetic metabolism in animals is affected when abiotic or biotic factors in their environments change. Currently, my work is mostly with fish, but I am equally interested on vertebrates in general. My past interests include the physiology of locomotion in fish and their response to food availability. And most recently we focus on a widespread phenomenon, hypoxia and its effects in fish fitness. We have studied the reproductive fitness of three different African fish, Barbus neumayeri, Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae and Barbus apleurogramma. My students and I are investigating to what extent hypoxia can affect the reproductive fitness (gonad size, sperm morphometry and sperm swimming capacity) across sites displaying divergent dissolved oxygen levels (hypoxia - normoxia).
Nkongolo
His research interests in the last 20 years have been in genetic modifications, genome organization and mapping, environmental health and genetics, and preventive medicine. He has contributed significantly to our understanding of karyotype evolution and molecular phylogeny in Pinaceae, interspecific gene transfer for germplasm improvement in Poaceae, genetics, and physiological mechanisms involved in biota resistance to metals. He has developed (and released with his colleagues) 12 drought tolerant crop varieties, eight registered genetically modified cereal lines for disease resistance, and two maize varieties with high lysine and tryptophan content currently used to manage chronic disease in malnourished children/adults.
Robitaille
Zoology, Ecology, Mammology, Forest Ecology, Ecology of mesocarnivores
Ryser
I investigate plant functional traits which underlie variation in species ecological behaviour, focusing on biomass turnover, i.e. on the one hand growth rate and resource acquisition, and on the other hand, organ life span and resource conservation. My current research projects deal with plants of Northern Ontario wetlands emphasizing below ground traits such as root turnover. I also investigate plant responses to soil heavy metal contamination.
Saleh
The area of my expertise is molecular biophysics. My training in this area has been used in the past 15 years to study various aspects of bacterial physiology and their interactions with their environments. Several research programs were carried out in relation to interaction of bacteria with their environments in both pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. In non-pathogenic bacteria, I used bioinformatics techniques to address certain questions on the process of protein secretion in bacteria. Specifically, how the structural features of signal sequences direct the membrane translocation of signal sequence-containing secretory proteins. I currently have a graduate student looking at the involvement of the mRNA of such secretory proteins in targeting the protein to the membrane for translocation and secretion.
Schulte-Hostedde
Major areas of research interest include causes and consequences of sexual selection, host-parasite interactions, and patterns of gene flow in heterogeneous environments. From an applied perspective, we are interested in the effects of domestic populations on wild relatives, the effects of anthropogenic environments on selection in wildlife, and the consequences of captivity on zoo populations.