Your BSGSA Executive
Elections for the BSGSA Executive are held annually at the end of the Winter term. The Executive is in charge of organizing the events, lectures, and all activities of the BSGSA, but feel free to contact us if you have ideas, or would like to help out with any of the BSGSA events!
President2019 President: Kasey Ryan
As BSGSA president, I lead the executive team in the planning of departmental social events, fundraisers, and guest lectures throughout the year. I also represent biological graduate students at departmental council meetings. I joined BSGSA during the 2018/2019 school year as position elect, which is a great way to learn more about BSGSA and get involved during the first year of your graduate studies. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions about this position or BSGSA in general.
My PhD research with Dr. Cortney Watt-Wheeler at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Dr. Jim Roth involves the habitat use and diving behavior of the Cumberland Sound beluga whale population and how they may have changed over time. I’m also creating a photo-ID catalog of the population with drone photos taken over the last several years and estimating the number of mother/calf pairs from aerial survey photos. Email: ryanp34@myumanitoba.ca |
Vice president / treasurer2019 VP/Treasurer: Melanie Lalonde
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Past president2018 Past President: Cassandra Debets
As past president my role is to help advise the current executive in planning BSGSA events so that we can improve them year to year in order to enhance the graduate student experience in our department.
Email: umdebetc@myumanitoba.ca Social Director2018 Social Director: Garett Allen
As the social coordinator, I’m central in organizing BSGSA social events. Ranging from sports to parties I’m basically here alongside the BSGSA executives to make sure we all have fun in between our study schedules! I love getting ideas and comments so feel free to email me at Alleng3@myumanitoba.ca or find me around campus.
My research projects focus on acid-base regulation and waste management of marine invertebrates in typical seawater environments as well as extremophile environments such as hydrothermal vents. If you have any questions about my work or travel info feel free to ask! Email: Alleng3@myumanitoba.ca Crackerjack Coordinator2019 Crackerjack Coordinator: Matt Thorstensen
As Crackerjack organizer, I'll be scheduling the student portion of our Biological Sciences lectures. Email me if you'd like to give a talk! They're a great place to get public speaking experience in a supportive place, getting a nice line on your CV, and get all of us excited about your work. Otherwise, I'm a PhD student in Ken Jeffries' lab studying walleye genomics. We have environmental, movement, age, metabolomic, transcriptomic, and genomic data that I'm having fun thinking about bringing together.
Email: thorstem@myumanitoba.ca GSA Representative2019 GSA Representative: Alex Schoen
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As the VP treasurer of the BSGSA I maintain BSGSA documents, handle all financial matters, can fill in for the President when they are unavailable, and help other members of the executive when needed. If you have any questions, concerns or comments please feel free to email me anytime at umlalonm@myumanitoba.ca.
I am a PhD Candidate in Jeffrey Marcus's lab studying molecular genetics and evolution. My thesis focuses on the biogeography, diversity and taxonomy of the Buckeye butterflies (genus Junonia). My dissertation includes work relating to a ring species hypothesis, a subspecies hypothesis and creating the largest molecular phylogeny for the genus Junonia to date. I have many other research interests not limited to questions involving molecular evolution, population genetics, systematics, and conservation biology so please feel free to contact me if you would like to chat! Email: umlalonm@myumanitoba.ca. Communications Director2019 Communications Director: Tina Schaefer
'As BSGSA communications director, my role is to inform the students and faculty in our department about events, such as lectures, social gatherings and volunteer opportunities. I am the face behind most of the BSGSA emails you will receive throughout the year as well as the BSGSA Facebook page and the graduate student email account. If you have any questions about events or volunteer opportunities please feel free to email me at schaefec@myumanitoba.ca or at the BSGSA email -bsgsa@umanitoba.ca.
Outside of the BSGSA I am a Masters student in Dr. Ken Jeffries' lab. My project takes place in Iqaluit, Nunavut looking at the stress physiology of the Arctic soft-shell clam. This project will look at how both climate change and wastewater effluent are affecting the populations of these clams. Email: schaefec@myumanitoba.ca Lecture Coordinator2019 Lecture Coordinator: Tamanna Yasmin
As the lecture coordinator I am responsible for the organization of departmental seminars during the year including the Lubinsky, Barrett- Hamilton, and Hanna Memorial Lectures. These lectures provide excellent opportunities for graduate students to engage with notable scientists outside of Manitoba and learn about some great biological research.
Outside of BSGSA, I am a PhD student in Dr. Margaret Docker’s lab. My project involves gonadal transcriptomic analysis during sex differentiation and sexual maturation in sea lamprey, Petromyzon Marinus to determine the genes involved in the key events of gonadal developmental process and how they are expressed across different stages in both male and female lampreys with a hope to understand how these genes are conserved across vertebrates, and how these developmental processes have evolved. Email: yasmint@myumanitoba.ca Freshwater Instutite Representative2019 Freshwater Institute Representative: Cody Carlyle
As the Freshwater Institute representative I am responsible for acting as a liaison between the BSGSA and graduate students at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. I am a MSc student co-supervised by Dr. Steve Ferguson from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Dr. Jim Roth from the University of Manitoba. My research is focused on the ecology of ringed seals in the Canadian Arctic and investigating how they may respond to climate change with emphasis on loss of sea ice.
Email: carlyle1@myumanitoba.ca |
