Student Research in the Faculty of Science
There are many opportunities for students in both undergraduate and graduate programs to be involved in unique research at TRU. TRU professors are committed to mentoring and assisting students meet their research goals. Graduates and undergraduates alike continue to present at conferences and publish papers in major academic journals and develop strategies and solutions that make a difference in the real world!
The 7th Annual TRU Undergraduate Innovation and Research Conference will take place on Friday March 30 and Saturday, March 31, 2012. This annual conference will be combined with the TRU Science Poster Day. The weekend event will be a celebration and presentation of completed student research projects in which students compete for top marks and showcase their research to the campus and the external community.
Undergraduate Student Research
Students in the Faculty of Science at Thompson Rivers University have many opportunities to be involved in research very early on in their student life. Science students in their third and forth year are able to through research get hands on experience with some very complex instruments. As Dr. Lyn Baldwin in the Biological Sciences Department has been quoted "It's what we do best at TRU: mentor undergraduates in their research".
The following students are involved in active research in 2012:
Kristen Marini, B.Sc. Directed Studies
Kristen is examining the role of winter dominance interactions in Mountain Chickadees and Pygmy Nuthatches in influencing subsequent reproductive success.
Ashley Morrison, B.Sc.H.
Ashley’s honours thesis is aimed understanding the evolution of elaborate, structural plumage in female mountain bluebirds. In addition, Ashley is conducting an independent research project examining whether plumage acts as an signal of parental care in male mountain bluebirds.
James Pomfret, B.Sc.H.
James is examining the relationship between diet quality and population abundance in Vaux’s swifts over the past 80 years across the West. James is also investigating the role of pesticides such as DDT in precipitating changes in population abundance.
Tarik Ganibegovic, B.Sc.
Starting January, Tarik is continuing work on a current project and looking into serotypes for group b strep isolates from Royal Inland Hospital.
Devon Rule, B.Sc.H.
Devon's honor’s thesis is aimed at identifying and characterizing antimicrobial-producing, volcanic cave bacteria, known as actinomycetes, using “environmental” scanning electron microscopy (or “ESEM”).
Carlee Beuk, B.Sc.
Using collected Enterobacteriaceae isolates producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases from Royal Inland Hospital, Carlee will be determining the susceptibility of these isolates to fosfomycin and tigecycline.