[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 4358

Credentials: BSc Hons (Wilfrid Laurier University), MSc (Queen’s University), PhD(Queen’s University)

Dr. Schamp received his bachelor’s degree from Wilfrid Laurier in 1997, his M.Sc. from Queen’s in 2001. He finally finished his schooling with his Ph.D., also at Queen’s, in 2008, which would equate to finishing approximately grade 25! Before all that school, he grew up in southern Ontario, spending most of his time climbing trees, chasing rabbits, and trying to find and catch snakes. He also played a lot of sports. All of this probably explains why he now spends his time investigating how competition (see previously stated interest in sports) shapes natural systems, particularly in fields and forests (see previously stated love of fields and forests). He has been doing science actively for about 25 years now, and has been at Algoma since 2008. He loves science and enjoys teaching and working with students to examine questions such as: 

1. Why is it that in competitive systems, no single species takes over? 
2. Why are some species more abundant than others? 
3. If larger plants are better competitors, and competition is important in plant communities, why are there so many small plant species?  

These are the things that both keep him up at night and get him excited for work in the morning.  Dr. Schamp has a website with more information HERE and you would be most welcome to email him with questions at [email protected].

[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 4314

Educational Background:

• ‌PhD (University of Alberta)
• MA (Queen’s University)
• BA Hons (Laurentian-Algoma University)

My area of specialization may be broadly listed as Cognitive Psychology; I am interested in how songbirds, which are vocal learners like humans, pay attention to, and utilize, their vocalizations in their social world. Therefore my research areas encompass the following aspects of psychology: attention, perception, language/communication, and comparative psychology. I teach courses on cognition, perception, and neurobiology, and act as coordinator for the fourth year thesis course where I assist in research design and data analysis.

In collaboration with fellow faculty members and student research assistants, I am also investigating whether birds use particular vocalizations to communicate the discovery of profitable food sources. This is being conducted both in the field and in my laboratory, which has an operant conditioning testing room, a spatial cognition testing room, and a sound-attenuating chamber for recording individual birds. Check out my website for more information and pictures.

On a more personal level, I enjoy reading horror/suspense/sci-fi novels, and baking and decorating cakes. When I have the opportunity to get out of the house, I spend time with my husband and our young daughter at our camp north of the city, riding our four-wheeler or snowmobile. I also enjoy visiting with extended family in southern Ontario during the summer.

For more information, check out my website.

[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 4379

Credentials: BSc (University of Evora), PhD (University of Guelph)

Pedro M Antunes  began his studies in Biology at the University of Évora in Portugal (B.Sc., 1999), before honing his focus on Soil Science in Canada, where he completed a Ph.D. at the University of Guelph (2005). He took on a Research Assistant Professorship in the Rillig Lab at the Free University of Berlin, Germany (2008-09) where he continued to expand his work on plant-soil ecological interactions, having obtained a Marie-Curie Fellowship. In 2010 he accepted the position of Research Chair at Algoma University (2010 and Canada Research Chair Tier II, 2015, 2020). In these roles, he established the Plant and Soil Ecology Lab, which has become a center for pioneering studies on how global change factors, such as climate change, pollution, and biological invasions, reshape the ecology and evolution of plant-microbe interactions, ultimately influencing plant productivity and community composition across various ecosystems. This knowledge is relevant considering that soils are the foundation of life, supporting biodiversity, ecosystem function, food security, and resilience in the face of unprecedented environmental change.

Visit my website!

[email protected]

[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 1090

Credentials: BSc (Hunan Normal University), MSc (Southwest China Normal University), PhD ( University of Saskatchewan)

Areas of Expertise: GIS, remote sensing, environmental monitoring/modeling, physical geography and landscape ecology

Visit my website!

[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 4368

Credentials: BSc Hons (Saint Mary’s University), MSc (Dalhousie University), PhD (Queen’s University)

Dr. Foote holds a B.Sc from Saint Mary’s University (2002), an MSc from Dalhousie University (2004), and PhD from Queen’s University (2008). Dr. Foote and her students study communication behaviour of temperate songbirds with a particular focus on nocturnal song and the dawn chorus. We are interested in why birds sing when they do and how vocal behaviour varies with environmental and social factors. Two of the Northern Ontario species that we have studied most extensively in the last decade are Ovenbird and White-throated Sparrow. Both species are rather prolific singers and are the only two birds in our forest community that sing sporadically during the night. Dr. Foote is also interested in testing and integrating new technologies in bioacoustics including new recording techniques, machine-learning approaches, and modelling of vocal interactions in communication networks. Dr. Foote is an Associate Editor for The Canadian Field-Naturalist and Journal of Avian Biology. For more information on research in The OVEN (Ornithology, Vocalization, and Ecology Network), you can visit Dr. Foote’s website or email her [email protected].  

[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 4751

Credentials: BSc Hons (University of Central Lancashire), PhD (University of Central Lancashire in collaboration with Oxford PGMET)

Areas of Expertise: Sociology in health, mental health, adverse childhood experiences, research methods.

Dr. Shaw (Nikki) is English but has lived in Canada for 22 years in BC, AB, and ON. Her discipline is health informatics, but she also works in health services research, disability studies and medical professionalism and bio/medical ethics. She is well-versed in research methods across the spectrum from Qualitative to Quantitative. She frequently uses mixed methods in her work. She teaches a variety of subjects ranging from Biology to Philosophy and Epidemiology. She is currently a full Professor in the Department of Biology at Algoma University and is also the Sault Ste Marie Family Medicine Residents Research Tutor for NOSM University. Nikki is deaf and uses a service dog. She is very open to collaboration and partnership and would love to hear from anybody interested in doing so. For more information on her research interests please refer to https://chimeras.ca/ or https://www.digital-assistive-technologies.ca/en/ Please feel free to email her at [email protected]

[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 1078

Credentials: BSc (National University of La Plata, Argentina), MSc (National University of La Plata, Argentina), PhD (Michigan State University)

Isabel Molina earned a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the National University of La Plata Argentina, and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University (MSU) as a Fulbright fellow. After postdoctoral training at MSU, she joined Algoma University in 2011, became a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Plant Lipid Metabolism in 2018, and was promoted to Full Professor in 2021. Dr. Molina’s research focuses on the lipid barriers that protect plants from the environment. Her lab integrates functional genomics, molecular genetics, biochemistry, and analytical chemistry to dissect the metabolic pathways involved in building these complex extracellular lipids. This work aims to enhance drought tolerance and seed traits while advancing synthetic biology applications, enabling the production of renewable biopolymers for diverse industries.

Visit my website!

[email protected]
(705)949-2301 x431

Credentials: BSc (Northern Michigan University), MSc (Texas A&M –Corpus Christi)

My main focus at the university is supporting full and part-time faculty who teach in our various labs associated with the chemistry, biology and environmental science courses. The students are my top priority, so ensuring that faculty have everything they need to run successful labs at the university is my main goal. Besides coordinating for all of the labs I maintain the Algoma Herbarium and the Algoma Insect collection. These two collections provide opportunities for students to volunteer or do an internship. 

Algoma University Herbarium

Teaching Interests:
Intro Biology (1506, 1507) Labs
Introduction to the Invertebrate (2716) Lecture & Lab

Research Interests: 
Prior to life at Algoma I worked as a consultant on various projects involving shorebirds and one involving a management plan for an endangered plant species, South Texas Ambrosia (Ambrosia cheiranthifolia). For the past 13 years during my summers off I have worked with my husband, Dr. Jason Garvon, a biology professor at Lake Superior State University on the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery effort. 

Piping Plover Collaboration 
Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery

[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 4761

Credentials: B.Sc. Hons (Laurentian University), M.Sc. (Laurentian University), Ph.D. (Lakehead University)

Area of Expertise: Aquatic ecotoxicology, Fish physiology, Olfactory physiology

Short bio: In my lab we study how the ability of aquatic animals to sense environmental cues is affected by contamination. Specifically, we look at the long-term effects of olfactory dysfunction in an ecosystem as well as answer questions about basic olfactory function in fish. Research in the lab includes how a neonicotinoid pesticide affects olfaction and agonistic behaviours in crayfish, the perception of novel cues by fish, and how fish recover from copper-induced olfactory dysfunction.

To learn more, visit my website!

Email: [email protected]
Website: https://cmadliger.wixsite.com/christinemadliger
Phone: 705-949-2301, ext. 4380

Credentials:
B.Sc. (Hons.) – Biology, Biodiversity Specialization (McMaster University)
Ph.D. – Biological Sciences (University of Windsor)

Area of Expertise:
Conservation Physiology

Dr. Madliger holds a B.Sc. from McMaster University and a Ph.D. from the University of Windsor. She has been a member of the Biology Department at Algoma University since 2022. She is interested in how physiological tools can be applied to the field of conservation science. Her work has primarily focused on determining whether metrics such as stress hormones, energetic metabolites, and body condition indices reflect environmental quality, predict organismal responses to environmental change, and correlate with fitness metrics. She is currently studying a variety of environmental stressors in this context, including landuse change, lampricides, and oil exposure. Most recently, she has also been investigating how physiological and behavioural monitoring can inform reintroduction decisions and transport protocols for at-risk fishes. While many of her research endeavours have centred on validating physiological tools in birds and fishes, she is also broadly interested in how the vast array of physiological techniques can be integrated with wildlife conservation to better monitor and mitigate anthropogenic disturbances across species of concern. She is enthusiastic about the field of Conservation Physiology and serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Conservation Physiology.

Dr. Ammar Saleem Dr. Saleem completed his doctorate degree in Environmental Chemistry at the University of Turku, Finland. Dr. Saleem’s interdisciplinary research is focused on analytical chemistry of natural products and environmental toxins. At Algoma University Dr. Saleem teaches Environmental Chemistry, Organic chemistry and Biochemistry courses at undergraduate level while at the University of Ottawa he has developed advanced targeted and non- targeted metabolomic analyses of natural plant products traditionally used by the aboriginal communities of North America, Mesoamerica and Asia for treating diabetes, anxiety and cancer. His future research interest is in the development of advanced analytical methods to detect natural contaminants of emerging concern in freshwater ecosystems with a focus on Laurentian Great Lakes to address a pressing water quality problem of freshwater ecosystems. Dr. Saleem has published over 60 peer reviewed papers in discipline-leading journals in environmental chemistry and related fields.

Dr. Linda Lait holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Lethbridge and a Ph.D. from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research focuses on using molecular methods such as DNA sequencing to explore questions of conservation and evolution. While her research initially focused on the population genetic structure of boreal bird species in North America, it has since expanded to include a wide variety of taxonomic groups including both freshwater and marine fish species, insects, and plants. Recent research includes the extent of hybridisation in boreal birds, and the effect of anthropogenic influences on the gene flow and connectivity in wild species. Future research aims to further explore how human activity such as resource extraction and urbanisation affects population structure and to delve into the genes behind these effects. Dr. Lait’s teaching interests focus around genetics and evolution, and she has taught courses in genetics, molecular biology, evolution, conservation biology, research methods, statistics, and microbiology.

Credentials:
B.Eng.Mgt. – Chemical Engineering and Management (McMaster University)
M.Sc. – Biological Sciences (University of Windsor)

Area of expertise:
Ecophysiology of birds and fish; Use of technology in ecological studies His work is in support of the teaching laboratories and lab sections of biology, chemistry, and environmental science courses. He makes sure labs have the supplies, chemicals, and equipment they need to happen safely and effectively. He also uses his experience as a research technician to troubleshoot and solve lab issues as they happen.

Dr. Carlos Barreto holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Ouro Preto (Brazil) and a Ph.D. from Western University (UWO). He is an Adjunct Professor in our department and a Research Biologist at the Ministry of Natural Resources. At Algoma, his research focuses on soil ecology and microarthropod biodiversity, particularly oribatid mites in forests. At MNR, his research projects include field-intense monitoring of wetland abiotic conditions, and studies on global change, peatland ecology, wetland carbon storage, and greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Barreto sits on the board of the Biological Survey of Canada and Pedobiologia – Journal of Soil Ecology. He is also the co-chair of a Global Soil Biodiversity Conference. Dr. Barreto has worked on a special assignment with the United Nations acting as a soil biodiversity specialist and coordinating a network of over 1,200 soil biodiversity specialists worldwide. Find more information about his research at http://carlosbarreto.me

www.e-h2o.ca

Dr. Elaine Ho-Tassone holds a PhD from the Social and Ecological Sustainability (Water) program at the University of Waterloo. She is also the Director of Operations at NORDIK Institute, the community-based research and development organization affiliated with Algoma University.  Dr. Ho-Tassone is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) as of 2014, and she is the Project Lead for the Upper Great Lakes Community-Based Monitoring project.  She has provided input on various levels of water policy and research – e.g., provided input at the 2018 High-Level Political Forum and at the request of Canadian Federal Ministers, the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, and the planning committee for a national roundtable on community-based water monitoring.  Dr. Ho-Tassone’s research interests include environmental monitoring, water quality monitoring and management, collaborative approaches (e.g., co-management, co-created solutions, community-based participatory action research), bridging Western and Indigenous ways of knowing, and sustainable development (e.g., Sustainable Development Goals).  Learn more at www.e-h2o.ca

Stephen J. Mayor is a research scientist at the Ontario Forest Research Institute, as well as a Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto. He currently leads the Terrestrial Systems Ecology Research Program, which investigates the cumulative effects of climate change, associated natural disturbances, and anthropogenic disturbances on forest dynamics and ecological integrity. The research program integrate approaches from biodiversity science, biogeography, macroecology, conservation biology, community ecology, ecoinformatics, and ecological scaling. He and his team aim broadly to contribute to answering fundamental ecological questions, often with relevant societal applications to issues like land use and forest management planning, conservation, and climate change. As good science begins with good data and methods, they invest in sound database development including refined spatiotemporal disturbance mapping, and methodological developments in model integration.

Dr. Erik Emilson is interested in how forests support freshwater ecosystem services. His research combines microbial and molecular approaches to understand how forest productivity and disturbances affect ecosystem functions in headwater streams and lakes.

Dr. Lisa Venier has been a research scientist with Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada since completing her PhD in Landscape Ecology in 1996. Her research interests are focused on what biodiversity can tell us about human and natural disturbances. She has worked at a broad range of scales from stands to ecoregions and on a broad suite of fauna including soil fauna, arthropods and vertebrates. She has also explored a wide range of technologies to measure, map and model fauna including LiDAR, autonomous recording units (ARUs), song recognition software, metabarcoding and simulations. She applies this expertise to problems of sustainability, forest integrity, cumulative effects and degradation.

Dr. Kenneth Lee holds a B.Sc. Hons in Biology from Dalhousie University, M.Sc., and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, and a FCAE (Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering) designation. His research is focused on microbial ecology, environmental impact assessments, ecotoxicology, and the development of techniques for contaminated site remediation. Founding Director of the Centre for Offshore Oil, Gas and Energy Research (COOGER), under Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), he was responsible for the provision of scientific knowledge and advice to support policy, regulatory, and operational decisions pertaining to the development of Canada’s offshore oil and gas and ocean renewable energy sector. Recently retired from his position as National Senior Science Advisor for Oil Spill Research, Preparedness and Response for DFO, his current activities include being Chair of Advisory Committees for the Multi-Partner Research Initiative (MPRI) for Natural Resources Canada under Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan which supports collaborative research at the national and international level between academia, government and the private sector to advance oil spill response.

Chris MacQuarrie is a research scientist and forest entomologist with the Canadian Forest Service of Natural Resources Canada in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He has a BSc. in Biology from the University of Saskatchewan, an MSc. in Biology from the University of New Brunswick and a PhD in Forest Biology and Management. Since 2010, Dr.MacQuarrie has led a team in the Pest Management Division at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre that has the long-term goal to develop scientific knowledge that will form the basis of pest management strategies and practices to protect the ecological integrity of Canada’s ecosystems and the sustainability of Canada’s forest sector. The team does this by characterizing the risks of pests to forests, developing tools that can be used by clients to manage the risks and impacts of forest pests, and evaluating the risk of pest invasions posed to other countries by exports of Canadian wood products.

Dr. Morris received both his BScF and MScF from Lakehead University and his PhD from the University of Guelph in Environmental Biology.  Dave has been a research scientist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry since 1986, and is currently the Stand Ecology Program Leader at the Centre for Northern Forest Ecosystem Research in Thunder Bay, ON.  His research program focuses on nutrient cycling in boreal systems, with particular emphasis on evaluating the impacts of forest disturbance, including biomass harvesting systems, on stand structural development, stand nutrition, productivity, and biodiversity conservation.  His research has been instrumental in the development of Ontario’s forest management guidelines with respect to biofibre harvest, with ongoing research efforts designed to evaluate the effectiveness of these guidelines within an adaptive management framework.

Dr. Arshad Rafiq is a Professor of Genetics with over 30 years of experience in teaching and research in genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and human anatomy and physiology. His research has contributed significantly to gene discovery in intellectual disabilities, cardiomyopathies, and structural genomic variation. Dr. Rafiq has worked at, and maintains active research collaborations with, the country’s state-of-the-art genomic centres, including The Centre for Applied Genomics (TCAG) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). He is also an Associate Investigator at TCAG and leads a student exchange program, through which Algoma University students participate in short-term summer training in genomics and computational genomics at TCAG. At Algoma University, Dr. Rafiq directs a research program on codon bias and evolutionary dynamics in human protein-coding genes; the ultimate focus of this project is to investigate how codon bias fine-tunes gene expression and may contribute to cancer pathologies. His extensive publication record is available on PubMed. He also holds diplomas in clinical research and pharmaceutical research and development and is deeply committed to student mentorship and promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in education.

Dr. Reed’s Current research is focused on forest insects and diseases with emphasis on etiology, detection and management in Ontario. Current diseases being investigated include oak wilt, Phytophthora root rot, beech bark disease, and butternut canker. I am also interested in determining how ongoing changes to our climate are affecting the insects and diseases that contribute to forest declines.

Dr. Jeremy Allison has been a research scientist with the Pest Ecology and Management team since December 2011. His research is focused on developing an understanding of chemical ecology to improve integrated pest management of insects affecting Canadian forests; and in the long term, to develop a more complete understanding of the role of chemical signals and cues in natural forest systems and the evolutionary forces shaping the chemical ecology of forest insects.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 705-949-2301

Credentials:
B.Sc. (Hons.) – Behavioural Neuroscience (Laurentian University)
M.Sc. – Biology (Laurentian University)
Ph.D. – Biomolecular Science (Laurentian University)
Post-Doctoral Fellow – Regeneration Biology & Primitive Cognition (Allen Discovery Center at
Tufts University)
Teaching Fellow – (Harvard University)

Area of Expertise: Cancer Biology, Regenerative & Electromagnetic Medicine, Neuroscience

Research Interests: Cancers develop when cells fail to communicate and cooperate with their neighbors. Conventional anti-cancer therapies target and eliminate these faulty cells; however, their mechanisms are toxic to the rest of the human body, contributing to significant negative side effects in patients. Instead of eliminating cancer by causing cell death, it is now possible to harness the potential of cellular communication to instruct cancer cells to become normalized and re-integrate with the body. Using novel biomedical engineering strategies, my lab will be investigating how tissue microenvironments can direct cell fate to re-program cancer cells into healthy cells – eliminating cancer without harming normal tissues.

Teaching Interests: My interdisciplinary background informs my broad teaching interests which include topics in neuroscience, human physiology, regenerative medicine, biochemistry, and biostatistics. I have taught these courses at various colleges in Northern Ontario, Laurentian University, University of Toronto and Harvard University. In my lectures I often synthesize up-to-date science and active learning strategies in an engaging format, that allows students to understand the bigger picture so they can apply the concepts to modern day problems. I encourage all my students to ask questions (the more far-fetched the better!), be curious, and open their minds to the stunning complexities of the biological world!

Dr. Pitcher is an expert on the behaviour, genetics and ecology of fishes, and has worked extensively to conserve native biodiversity (including the reintroduction of species at risk), to stock and preserve the health of economically-important game fishes and to improve the sustainability of aquaculture.

The environments in which fishes live can be unpredictable due to temporary or long-term alterations in their physical or chemical environment, as well as threats from disease, parasites, toxicants, and increased competition for resources.

Moreover, some fish may thrive in environments characterized by unusual or extreme conditions such as acute or chronic decreases in water oxygen, altered salinity, changes in water pH, and temperature, or in some cases, even the temporary absence of water.

Our research combines whole animal techniques with biochemical, morphological, electrophysiological, and molecular approaches to determine how different species of fishes respond, cope, adapt and live in such unpredictable and extreme environments. We therefore work on a variety of fishes in the lab, ranging from phylogenetically ancient sea lampreys, hagfishes and lake sturgeon, to more modern teleosts such as goldfish and trout.