Laura Wegener Parfrey
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia
Laura is fascinated by microbial diversity and enjoys exploring many facets of our microbial world. She got her scientific start investigating the eukaryotic tree of life, and carries this phylogenetic perspective into all aspects of her research. [CV]
Email: Lwparfrey@botany.ubc.ca
Office phone: 604-827-2214
Lab phone: 604-827-1879
Location: Biodiversity Research Centre 109 (Office) and 170 (Lab)
Address: 2212 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
Nora Salland (she/her)
Postdoc
Background: PhD in the Smale lab, Marine Biological Association, Plymouth, UK; MSc and BSc at University of Rostock, Germany
I am a marine ecologist and phycologist, interested in kelp ecology, and impacts of climate change on coastal communities. I have worked in the Baltic Sea, Northeast Atlantic, and South Pacific. With the Sentinels of Change Alliance, I will explore how changing conditions, such as ocean warming, influence kelp assemblages and their associated microbial communities in the Northeast Pacific. By integrating field surveys and experimental approaches, I am investigating the dynamics of host-microbe interactions under climate change conditions. I am based on Quadra Island within the Hakai research team.
Email: nora.salland@hakai.org / nora.salland@botany.ubc.ca
Twitter: @nora_mare
Siobhan Schenk
PhD Student
Background: University of Western Ontario (BSc), McGill University (MSc)
I am interested in the bacterial community of kelp. Part of my research asks how salinity alters the bacterial community of kelp, while my other projects focus on how farmed kelp acquire their bacterial community, what diseases occur in kelp farms, and if we can use bacteria as a toolkit to improve kelp health and farm yields.
Parker K Lund (they/them)
PhD Student
Background: Oregon State University (BSc), Cal Poly Humboldt (MSc)
I am broadly interested in host-associated microbial communities, and how microbial functions can support the health and resilience of their host during stress. Previous research focused on microbial communities on sea anemones, however I also have worked in plant pathogen testing and with marine eDNA data.
Email: parker.lund@botany.ubc.ca
Twitter: @ParkerKLund
Alice Olivia Simon (she/her)
MSc Student
Background: Freie Universität Berlin (BSc)
I’m generally interested in studying what role the bacteria-kelp interaction plays in the health of wild kelp populations. How temperature and other environmental factors can affect the microbiome of bull kelp populations, and if microbes can enhance the resilience of kelp to environmental stressors are topics I want to explore. My previous work focused on micro and macroalgae ecology and physiology.
Evan Kohn (he/him)
Undergraduate, Honours Thesis
I am interested in functional mechanisms of host-microbe interactions. My work focuses on the sugar-kelp microbiome, and whether bacterial auxin production is influencing kelp growth.
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Andrea Jackman
Undergraduate, Honours Thesis
I’m interested in interactions between microbes and hosts such as sugar kelp and seagrass. I’m working with Siobhan to characterize disease in kelp aquaculture and try to use bacteria to mitigate disease. I have also been working on identifying the diatoms present on eelgrass in the Salish Sea.
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Reilly Perovich (they/them)
Undergraduate, Honours Thesis
Background: Langara College (ASc w/ distinction), Bamfield Marine Science Center (BMSC) Fellow and Alum
I’m interested in using bioinformatics to investigate symbiotic interactions using microbial and molecular data. My current research is focused on elucidating novel biomarkers of prenatal alcohol exposure using immune and microbial datasets from rat models. Other projects in the lab involve kelp metabolomics, diatom identification, and estimating the range of microbes across salinity gradients, along with assorted statistical analysis and data management. Previous research has been focused on anemone symbiont proportions in Barkley Sound.