Lab News and Events

August, 1 2023. Congratulations Christine! Christine’s most recently published article has been selected as an Editors Choice article. You can find it here: https://cdnsciencepub.com/do/10.1139/news.2023.08.01/full/

Dec 1, 2022: Christine submitted her most recent work for publication. A preprint version of her manuscript, Analysis of prokaryotic genes in an impaired Great Lakes harbour reveals seasonal metabolic shifts and a previously undetected cyanobacterium is available here:

March 01, 2022. Congratulations Christine! Christine successfully defended her dissertation Diversity, Relative Abundance, and Functional Potential of Viral and Bacterial Communities passing her final oral examination. She will soon be conferred a PhD in Physical and Environmental Sciences from the University of Toronto.

Jan 22, 2022. Congratulations Dylan! His article Environmental DNA dispersal from Atlantic salmon farms has been accepted for publication in the journal Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

October 28, 2021. Congratulations Dylan! Dylan successfully defended his dissertation The Influence of Aquaculture on Marine Microbiota and Pathogen Communities in a British Columbia Coastal Ecosystem passing his final oral examination. He will soon be conferred a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Toronto.

October 25, 2021. Congratulations Samantha! Her article The Influence of Wastewater Pretreatment, Attachment Material, and Inoculation Strategy on the Growth of Target Algal Species in Cultivated Biofilms has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Applied Phycology.

September 9, 2021. Congratulations Rose! Rose successfully defended her dissertation Examination of Infection Dynamics within a Viral Consortium Infecting the Haptophyte Alga Chrysochromulina parva earning a Masters of Science degree from the Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto.

August 3, 2021. Congratulations Samantha! Samantha successfully defended her dissertation Application of Molecular Tools to Determine the Effects of Key Growth Factors on Cultivated Algal Biofilm Communities and passed her final oral exam. She will soon be conferred her PhD in Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry from the University of Toronto.

March 19, 2021. Congratulations Christine! Her article: Analysis of different size fractions provides a more complete perspective of viral diversity in a freshwater embayment has been accepted for publication in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

October 21, 2020. Dylan’s in press Proceedings B article was highlighted by CBC News. You can read the CBC News article here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-salmon-farms-pathogen-risk-1.5770154.

September 22, 2020. Congratulations Dylan! His article: Environmental DNA from multiple pathogens is elevated near active Atlantic salmon farms has been accepted for publication in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Septemeber 1, 2020. We would like to welcome Karolina Szlapa, our newest graduate student. Karolina is joining us as a direct entry PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology after her Honours Bachelor of Science degree was conferred with High Distinction from the University of Toronto.

The Short Lab, like many labs around Canada and elsewhere, has had a quiet summer with far too many online meetings due to COVID-19-related interruptions. Nonetheless, Dylan Shea complete his work on a manuscript that is currently in peer review and is now working on another manuscript for imminent submission. Christine Palermo is also working on a manuscript that we hope to submit for publication in the coming weeks. Great work Dylan and Christine, we’re looking forward to seeing your work published!

January 16, 2020. Congratulations Alex! His article Dynamic changes in community composition of Scenedesmus-seeded artificial, engineered microalgal biofilms was just accepted for publication in the journal Algal Research.

October 5, 2019. Congratulations Samantha! Her article Specific Quantification of Scenedesmus obliquus and Chlorella vulgaris in mixed-species algal biofilms was just accepted for publication in the journal Bioresource Technology.

September 20, 2019: A beautiful day to be out on the water sampling Hamilton Harbour viruses and microorganisms. Special thanks to Prof. McMeans for the use of her boat and sampling equipment!

August 27, 2019: Christine’s manuscript is now published in the journal Viruses. Congrats to Christine and our co-authors! The article is available here: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/11/9/792

August 14, 2019. Ajandan presented his NSERC-funded summer research at Smarti Gras, an annual celebration of undergraduate research hosted by UTM’s Research Office.

July 9, 2019: Christine submitted her most recent work for publication. A preprint version of her manuscript is available here:

June 29, 2019: Backyard Summer Party

Picture above, from left to right: Jenna Black, Ajandan Nandakumar, Christine Palermo, Ammar Hafeez, Robin Rozon, Steven Short, Rose Mastin-Wood, Yuri Chaban, Michael Staniewski, Nikhil George, Cynthia Ton.