President: Joey Lockhart (Morck Lab)
What would you like to accomplish as a BGSA executive and why did you get involved?
I have been a member of this department for several years and have always appreciated the efforts that the BGSA executives put into organizing social and academic events. Volunteering to be the next President seemed like a good opportunity to give back to the Department of Biological Sciences in a meaningful and (hopefully) fun way! My goal is to promote more social and scientific discussions. We have so many talented researchers, PIs, post-docs and grad students in our department and it would be great to highlight the important research carried out daily in our building. I look forward to getting to know everyone better!
What is your research project?
My area of specialization is in Host-Pathogen Interactions (I came back to the same lab that I did my MSc in – great idea!?). My PhD project focuses on the interaction of the innate immune system with anaerobic bacteria. More specifically, I study how neutrophils isolated from cattle respond to bacterial biofilms. The goal of this research is to further our understanding of innate immunity and investigate the causes of chronic infection. This information may provide alternative therapeutic strategies for chronic infections and help limit the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in a small town in Northwestern Ontario called Kenora. I spent the majority of my childhood on the water or in the bush. The summers were always filled with fishing, boating, swimming and the occasional beach party. In the winter, it was “cold AF” but I took advantage of this with skiing, ice fishing and sledding. I moved out to Calgary for my undergrad, which was in CMMB and then on to my MSc. I have been here ever since!
What do you do in your free time?
What is this free time that you speak of? When I’m not in the lab (which I promise is ALL the time…. especially if my supervisor is reading this), I enjoy hiking, skiing, backpacking and socializing with friends. I like to hit up a patio on a sunny (or cloudy) day – the LDL or Black Lounge are great for this BTW. I play various co-ed sports like indoor and outdoor soccer, beach volleyball and ultimate frisbee. I am also always down to go a park and play a game of Spikeball!
VP Internal: Ryan Toth (Moorhead Lab)
What would you like to accomplish as a BGSA executive and why did you get involved?
I heard multiple great things about the BGSA as an undergraduate and graduate researcher and from that have always wanted to join the committee to help knit together the broad community of researchers we have at the University of Calgary. As VP of Internal I want to accomplish bringing together the new enthusiastic researchers and the old experienced researchers, the researchers who work out in the field, the researchers who work in a wet lab, and the researchers who workon simulations. While we all come from different backgrounds and spend the majority of our thoughts on different fields of science we all share the same graduate experience and bringing together the community will make that graduate experience less isolated, more enjoyable, and hopefully by the end of it, memorable.
What is your research project?
My research project is looking into Arabidopsis thaliana’s novel phosphatase Rhizobiales-like Phosphatase 2s interaction with Mitogen Activated Protein Kinases (MPK): I grind up plants and then wash them with soapy or salty water. Or if it’s truly a difficult protein: soapy salty water.
Where are you from?
I was born in Grande Prairie in Northern Alberta and moved to Calgary at a young age. I have spent most of my life in Calgary where I also obtained my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of Calgary.
What do you do in your free time?
In my free time I enjoy getting out into the mountains to either hike or, if my fear of heights can handle it, lead rock climbing. In the winter when getting out into the mountains becomes a bit trickier, I enjoy reading an extremely dorky/nerdy book in a warm corner. Finally, if the time of the year is right and there is enough money in the piggy bank, I always love the thrill of waiting 3 hours to get on a plane and go somewhere I have never been before.
VP Student Life: Vacant
VP Finances: Estefania Barreto-Ojeda (Tieleman Lab)
What would you like to accomplish as a BGSA executive and why did you get involved?
As a graduate student, I acknowledge the importance of academic and extracurricular activities which may not be possible without financial support. As a VP Finance, my efforts will be focused on coordinating financial planning, including organizing fundraising events, to guarantee a solid budget. Together with the VP Events, we will work on a schedule of meaningful activities in benefit of the graduate students’ community. Additionally, I expect to build and strength external relationships, in particular with the Faculty of Science and the UofC Graduate Student Association.
What is your research project?
My research mixes computational tools and statistical analysis to study biological systems with medical and pharmaceutical relevance. One of the main goals is to understand the physics behind the properties of biological membranes. How is the correlation between the elastic properties of the bilayer and proteins involved in cancer and antibiotic resistance? That is one of the questions my research does address.
Where are you from?
I was born in Bogotá, Colombia, where I obtained my BSc in Physics at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Motivated to continue my post-grad studies, I enrolled an MSc at Instituto Balseiro, in Bariloche, Argentina (yes, it is in Patagonia!). Then made the decision to cross the whole continent way up to Calgary to pursue my PhD in Biophysical Chemistry. And here I am, having fun and enjoying my PhD life.
What do you do in your free time?
There are three fundamental leisure-time activities in my life: listening to my vinyl, riding my bike, and reading the newspapers while having a coffee. In winter I enjoy myself while skiing in the astounding beauty of the Canadian Rockies. Recently got binged to the NBA games because of the Toronto Raptors. They are pretty awesome!
VP Communications: Lauren McMillan (Hansen Lab)
What would you like to accomplish as a BGSA executive and why did you get involved?
During most of my undergrad, I was that kid who didn’t attend any campus events because I couldn’t really be bothered (unless there was free pizza). At the end of my third year, I became friends with a group of people who were involved in my department’s undergrad student society and I joined (read as: got coerced into filling a position on) the executive team. I 100% thought I was going to hate it, but I ended up having a great time and I got the opportunity to interact a lot more with other students and professors in my department. I came to learn the importance of engaging with others in your field or department. During my term with the BGSA, I hope that we can help students who are like undergrad Lauren to engage with the department and attend some of the awesome events we have planned!
What is your research project?
In the Hansen lab, we look at the regulation of the germline stem cell pool in C. elegans, a small nematode, through the GLP-1/Notch signaling pathway. My project in particular focuses on the germline stem cell niche, the distal tip cell (DTC), and how it is held in place at the distal end.
Where are you from?
I’ve lived in multiple places in British Columbia: I was born in Smithers, moved to Vancouver when I was less than a year old, lived in Prince Rupert for seven years, and then Victoria. I went to the University of Victoria, where I graduated with a degree in Biochemistry. At UVic, I also got the chance to work in a neuroscience lab studying fetal alcohol syndrome.
What do you do in your free time?
In my spare time, I like to watch baseball because I’ve been a huge Red Sox fan since I was 8 years old. When I’m home, I hang out with my chocolate lab and take him for walks and hikes (he usually walks me though, he is ridiculously strong). I’m a former competitive swimmer, so I like to go swimming a few times per week. In the summer, I love camping with friends and going to the lake on the weekends. I also spend an inordinate amount of time shopping for and taking care of my plants that I have yet to kill, making waffles, and watching The Office/Parks and Rec on repeat with my boyfriend
VP Events: Mirna Damergi (Noskov Lab, Centre for Molecular Simulations)
What would you like to accomplish as a BGSA executive and why did you get involved?
After participating to a few events organized by the BGSA, I wanted to get more involved for two main reasons. I realized that I did not know a lot of other graduate students and there were not many students from the biochemistry cluster, even less from the molecular simulation field. As a BGSA Executive, I would like to get more people involved with the BGSA and give an opportunity to all the graduate students to get something out of our events (socializing with other fellows, working academic skills)
What is your research project?
My research focuses on understanding ion interactions at the binding site level of anion-selective secondary transporters using Molecular Dynamics. I want to investigate what drives the specificity of the protein for one ion instead of another. Additionally, I am working on developing better simulation tools.
Where are you from?
Born in France, raised in Guinea, a country in West Africa, I moved to Lebanon at 16 yo when the school I was attending closed due to a civil war. There I finished high school and obtained my Bachelor in Sciences-Biochemistry and my Master in Functional Genomics and Proteomics. During my master, I had a course on bioinformatics that got me looking into the molecular simulation field, I got an internship under the supervision of Dr. Nohad Gresh at Pierre and Marie Curie University, in France. That is when I found out that I would rather simulate my experiments and get the atomistic insight than performing them at a macroscopic level. After a gap year in Guinea, I got accepted in Noskov Lab and moved here.
What do you do in your free time?
I am the not the kind of person with specific hobbies. Depending on my mood, I will binge-watch Netflix, go for a movie or a walk, play board games indoors, play frisbee/volley/squash, learn something new (waterskiing, snowboarding, piano, coding, etc), clean/organize my spaces. The only thing that might be set in stone is my love for sunny days at the beach and the sound of the waves! However, as long as it is sunny and there is not too cold in Calgary, I am happy!
