Team:British Columbia/Team/Bios
Bios
Advisors
Kateryna Ievdokymenko
The common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a species of true thrush. It is also called Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds),[2] or simply blackbird where this does not lead to confusion with a similar-looking local species. It breeds in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.[3] It has a number of subspecies across its large range; a few of the Asian subspecies are sometimes considered to be full species. Depending on latitude, the common blackbird may be resident, partially migratory, or fully migratory.
Raphael Roccor
3rd year PhD Microbiology. I did my Masters in Biochemistry in Germany before coming to Vancouver for my PhD. I also studied and worked in Australia and Brazil for a total of 13 months and gained experience in molecular parasitology. Now, I'm very interested in engineering bacteria for the valorization of biomass and am working on commercializing a microbial technology to produce high-value lipids from agriculture and forestry residues.
Joe Ho
The pied crow (Corvus albus) is a widely distributed African bird species in the crow genus. Structurally, the pied crow is better thought of as a small crow-sized Raven (except the lack of throat hackles, fan-shaped tail and other more crow-like traits), especially as it can hybridise with the Somali crow (sometimes called the Dwarf Raven) where their ranges meet in the Horn of Africa. Its behaviour, though, is more typical of the Eurasian carrion crows, and it may be a modern link (along with the Somali crow) between the Eurasian crows and the common raven.
Elesha Hoffarth
3rd year PhD Chemistry. I completed my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of Calgary, and moved to Vancouver in 2014 to start my PhD. My research focuses on natural product biosynthesis of antibiotics and mechanisms of biosynthetic enzymes during catalysis. In my free time, I enjoy exploring Vancouver, watching Netflix, and playing music. My biggest lab blunder is that I forgot to check that the tap was closed while I was filling a distilled water container. 10 minutes later, I came back to an empty container and 15 L of water on the floor.
Meghan Verstraete
The bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a small American sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Anas albeola.[2]
James Round
The bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a small American sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Anas albeola.[2]
Team
Tamar Av-Shalom
The red-fronted antpecker (Parmoptila rubrifrons) is a species of songbird found in Western Africa. Like all antpeckers, it is tentatively placed in the estrildid finch family (Estrildidae). It often contains the eastern Jameson's antpecker (P. jamesoni) as a subspecies. This bird inhabits tropical lowland moist forest in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. When Jameson's and the red-fronted antpeckers were still evaluated as one species, they were classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN.[2] However, the red-fronted antpecker is declining noticeably due to habitat destruction and has entirely disappeared from Mali for example. Therefore, its status has been changed to near threatened after the taxonomic split.[3]
Jewel Ocampo
4th year Honors Microbiology and Immunology. I'm infamous for wrong lyrics. My greatest lab blunder is that I contaminated a batch of competent cells, realizing this only after the painful process of troubleshooting why my cells were showing resistance to antibiotics they were supposed to be susceptible to (two weeks of work down the drain).
Darren Christy
4th Year Honors Biochemistry. Typical Canadian guy...would rather be in the lab 4 degree room then outside in 30 degree sun-shine. I have 2 seasons - Hockey season and the short period of time between July and August for mountain biking. My biggest lab blunder is that I forgot to dialyze in low salt solution before running an FPLC column and had to find a protein in 150ml of buffer...One dialysis later and 5 hours of running the FPLC and I was able to find it.
Azadvir Bal
3rd year Chemistry. I am good at hiding things in my beard. I spend more hours each week washing my car than I do showering myself.
Bahar Moussavi
2nd Year Combined Major in Microbiology/Immunology and Computer Science.I am passionate about research. I am mostly interested in stem cell research and cancer cell research. I love to read and draw! My biggest lab blunder is that I once stabbed myself with a needle contaminated by E-coli. I couldn't sleep for days thinking I would suddenly show signs of a disease and die in the name of science!!
David Goertsen
4th year Chemical and Biological Engineering. I spent a summer in Ecuador volunteering in an orphanage and learning Spanish. I really enjoy playing electric guitar. Learning guitar solos from classic songs is something that I have spent a lot of time on since High School The bands whose songs I most like to play are Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Radiohead.
Connor Ulvestad
The red-fronted antpecker (Parmoptila rubrifrons) is a species of songbird found in Western Africa. Like all antpeckers, it is tentatively placed in the estrildid finch family (Estrildidae). It often contains the eastern Jameson's antpecker (P. jamesoni) as a subspecies. This bird inhabits tropical lowland moist forest in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. When Jameson's and the red-fronted antpeckers were still evaluated as one species, they were classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN.[2] However, the red-fronted antpecker is declining noticeably due to habitat destruction and has entirely disappeared from Mali for example. Therefore, its status has been changed to near threatened after the taxonomic split.[3]
Vaastav Anand
3rd Year Computer Science Honors. Soccer fanatic (It's football!) and loves the rain! My biggest lab blunder is that in High School Biology, I could not obtain cheek cells for my Biology final practical...
Anson Yam
3rd year Chemical Engineering. The Galápagos giant tortoise walks at a rate of 0.3 km/h. Similarly, I complete action items at a rate of roughly 0.3 items/day. ... I'm saying I work slowly. Currently learning html, css, and javascript to make the wiki. Definitely not addicted to coffee, or the internet. Works out, but somehow makes no gains. Rover Scout.
