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Hana is a PhD
student at the Centre for
Environmental and Molecular Algal Research at the
University
of
New Brunswick
in
Fredericton
. Her research is
focused on biodiversity and species discovery of coastal
marine algae (seaweeds). Her
lab employs a dynamic new tool known as DNA barcoding which
allows rapid identification of a wide variety of organisms
using variation in DNA sequence.
The goal of Hana’s research is to test the
effectiveness of DNA barcoding for identification of marine
algae and subsequently develop the baseline data for an
international, publicly accessible online database of barcode
sequences and species information.
This exciting field is rapidly expanding, and the
baseline research continually leads to interesting biological
questions and solves long-debated problems of species
identification. Hana
feels incredibly lucky to be part of a project that takes her
to wild coastal places and allows her to share her work at
international conferences.
Hana is
passionate about teaching and outreach.
During her undergraduate degree, she was an active
volunteer for the Let’s Talk Science Partnership Program (LTSPP)
at
Simon
Fraser
University
, and visited elementary schools to do hands-on science
activities with students.
When she arrived at UNB, and found that there was no
LTSPP operating, she mustered the support of fellow graduate
students and started a local site.
The goal of the LTSPP
at UNB is to increase science literacy among the youth of
New Brunswick
by partnering volunteer graduate students with educators who
host the volunteers in their classrooms. What began with ten
volunteers visiting a few classrooms in
Fredericton
is now a large endeavor that employs two coordinators sends
over 60 graduate and undergraduate student volunteers across
the province, reaching about 1500 youth per year.
When not
working on research or with Let’s Talk Science, Hana enjoys
lunchtime swims at the UNB pool with her lab mates, knitting
hats and sweaters for that cold
New Brunswick
winter and spending time watching scary movies with her
partner Dave. |
