2021 News
10/9/2021: Emma's paper describing the mitogenome of the freshwater snail Planorbella pilsbryi was published in the journal Mitochondrial DNA Part B. A big congratulations!
10/1/2021: A project working on assessing the biodiversity and prevalence of dorsal-spined nematodes in Eastern Manitoba was funded by Manitoba Hydro's Moose Study Program. We'll be looking for 3-4 undergraduates keen to do some fieldwork! Stay tuned for job ad.
9/21/2021: A paper that Jillian contributed to has been published. We described the role of snails in a spiny-headed worm's life cycle. Jillian obtained DNA sequences for the snails to improve host identification and vouchering. When trying to elucidate a life cycle, knowing who the hosts are is just as important as knowing who the parasites are.
8/3/2021: Emma defended her MSc thesis entitled "Investigating the species diversity of Planorbella and Helisoma (Gastropoda: Hygrophila: Planorbidae) in Manitoba." We even had a small in-person celebration afterwards!
6/18/2021: Emma won a Constance Boone Award for best student presentation at the annual American Malacological Society meeting. Her talk was entitled "Insights from Integrative Taxonomy on the Limits of Morphological Delimitation and Species Diversity in Freshwater Snails (Planorbidae: Planorbella and Helisoma)”. Congratulations Emma! Well done!
6/15/2021: Demi's paper entitled "Morphological and molecular characterization of Quinqueserialis (Digenea: Notocotylidae) species diversity in North America" is published in Parasitology.
6/14/2021: Scott won first prize for best graduate student talk in the Crackerjack Seminar series hosted by the Biological Sciences Graduate Student Association at University of Manitoba. In addition, Emma received a runner-up prize. We're super proud of both of them! Way to go!
5/17-21/2021: Olwyn, Scott, Ashley, Emma, Ali and Carly presented their research at the 2021 Canadian Society of Zoologists meeting. Everyone recorded some great talks, and one highlight included Ali winning the Mick Burt Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation in the Parasitism, Immunity, and Environment section. Congratulations to Ali and thanks to his co-authors Olwyn and Emma for their mentorship and assistance with his project on the costs of metacercarial fitness on freshwater snail hosts.
5/3/2021: Welcome to the undergraduates who will work in the lab this summer. Emily and Angela will gain experience working with echinostome parasites and Parelaphostrongylus nematodes. Naomi, Mackenzie, and Carly will primarily do fieldwork to estimate gastropod and parasite diversity for the moose health project.
4/8/2021: Jillian received the Honored Alumni Award from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She gave 2 talks and judged some presentations by undergraduates. Although it was all virtual, it was still nice to see old faces and hear about what is new at UNL.
3/30/2021: Scott presented a portion of his PhD research in the Crackerjack Seminar series, which is organized by the graduate students in our department. Zoom in to hear his talk.
3/17/2021: Emma presented her MSc research in the Crackerjack Seminar series which is organized by the graduate students in our department. Zoom in to hear her talk.
3/16/2021: Olwyn is featured by Women in the Arctic and Antarctic. Read her profile here.
3/12/2021: Olwyn's invited Perspectives paper is published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution! Her paper entitled "Parasite-modified chemical communication: Implications for aquatic community dynamics" highlights some gaps in our knowledge about how parasites may be affecting chemical signals in aquatic communities. Her paper sets up several empirical papers that we're currently working on.
3/2/2021: In honor of Parasite Day (March 4), the lab formed two teams and delivered remote outreach to two different 5th grade classrooms in the US. The kids were really enthusiastic and curious - so everyone had a great time. Thanks to the American Society of Parasitologists for matching us with classrooms.
2/26/2021: Jillian gave an invited seminar to the Integrative Biology department at Oklahoma State University. She also had the opportunity to meet with a few graduate students in the program. Thanks OSU for the opportunity and all the good questions following the talk.
2/5/2021: We were awarded a second year of funding from the Moose Stewardship Conservation Program (~$29,000). Once again we will be exploring the role of intermediate hosts in the transmission of helminths parasites to moose.
2/4/2021: Emma and Ashley are presenting a talk in the HPI seminar series. Hear why snail taxonomy is an important consideration in their thesis research.
1/28/2021: Olwyn is now a member of the species specialist subcommittee for molluscs for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). Congratulations!
1/13/2021: Emma wrote a blog post about the difficulty of doing summer fieldwork due to COVID-19 for the HPI Training Program. The post includes some beautiful images of some places she visited during her fieldwork. https://theparasiteblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/12/the-challenges-of-conducting-field-work-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
10/1/2021: A project working on assessing the biodiversity and prevalence of dorsal-spined nematodes in Eastern Manitoba was funded by Manitoba Hydro's Moose Study Program. We'll be looking for 3-4 undergraduates keen to do some fieldwork! Stay tuned for job ad.
9/21/2021: A paper that Jillian contributed to has been published. We described the role of snails in a spiny-headed worm's life cycle. Jillian obtained DNA sequences for the snails to improve host identification and vouchering. When trying to elucidate a life cycle, knowing who the hosts are is just as important as knowing who the parasites are.
8/3/2021: Emma defended her MSc thesis entitled "Investigating the species diversity of Planorbella and Helisoma (Gastropoda: Hygrophila: Planorbidae) in Manitoba." We even had a small in-person celebration afterwards!
6/18/2021: Emma won a Constance Boone Award for best student presentation at the annual American Malacological Society meeting. Her talk was entitled "Insights from Integrative Taxonomy on the Limits of Morphological Delimitation and Species Diversity in Freshwater Snails (Planorbidae: Planorbella and Helisoma)”. Congratulations Emma! Well done!
6/15/2021: Demi's paper entitled "Morphological and molecular characterization of Quinqueserialis (Digenea: Notocotylidae) species diversity in North America" is published in Parasitology.
6/14/2021: Scott won first prize for best graduate student talk in the Crackerjack Seminar series hosted by the Biological Sciences Graduate Student Association at University of Manitoba. In addition, Emma received a runner-up prize. We're super proud of both of them! Way to go!
5/17-21/2021: Olwyn, Scott, Ashley, Emma, Ali and Carly presented their research at the 2021 Canadian Society of Zoologists meeting. Everyone recorded some great talks, and one highlight included Ali winning the Mick Burt Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation in the Parasitism, Immunity, and Environment section. Congratulations to Ali and thanks to his co-authors Olwyn and Emma for their mentorship and assistance with his project on the costs of metacercarial fitness on freshwater snail hosts.
5/3/2021: Welcome to the undergraduates who will work in the lab this summer. Emily and Angela will gain experience working with echinostome parasites and Parelaphostrongylus nematodes. Naomi, Mackenzie, and Carly will primarily do fieldwork to estimate gastropod and parasite diversity for the moose health project.
4/8/2021: Jillian received the Honored Alumni Award from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She gave 2 talks and judged some presentations by undergraduates. Although it was all virtual, it was still nice to see old faces and hear about what is new at UNL.
3/30/2021: Scott presented a portion of his PhD research in the Crackerjack Seminar series, which is organized by the graduate students in our department. Zoom in to hear his talk.
3/17/2021: Emma presented her MSc research in the Crackerjack Seminar series which is organized by the graduate students in our department. Zoom in to hear her talk.
3/16/2021: Olwyn is featured by Women in the Arctic and Antarctic. Read her profile here.
3/12/2021: Olwyn's invited Perspectives paper is published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution! Her paper entitled "Parasite-modified chemical communication: Implications for aquatic community dynamics" highlights some gaps in our knowledge about how parasites may be affecting chemical signals in aquatic communities. Her paper sets up several empirical papers that we're currently working on.
3/2/2021: In honor of Parasite Day (March 4), the lab formed two teams and delivered remote outreach to two different 5th grade classrooms in the US. The kids were really enthusiastic and curious - so everyone had a great time. Thanks to the American Society of Parasitologists for matching us with classrooms.
2/26/2021: Jillian gave an invited seminar to the Integrative Biology department at Oklahoma State University. She also had the opportunity to meet with a few graduate students in the program. Thanks OSU for the opportunity and all the good questions following the talk.
2/5/2021: We were awarded a second year of funding from the Moose Stewardship Conservation Program (~$29,000). Once again we will be exploring the role of intermediate hosts in the transmission of helminths parasites to moose.
2/4/2021: Emma and Ashley are presenting a talk in the HPI seminar series. Hear why snail taxonomy is an important consideration in their thesis research.
1/28/2021: Olwyn is now a member of the species specialist subcommittee for molluscs for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). Congratulations!
1/13/2021: Emma wrote a blog post about the difficulty of doing summer fieldwork due to COVID-19 for the HPI Training Program. The post includes some beautiful images of some places she visited during her fieldwork. https://theparasiteblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/12/the-challenges-of-conducting-field-work-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/