Development of Stable and Sustainable Saffron Extracts for Commercialization

Saffron (Crocus sativus) is considered the most expensive spice in the world, costing between $500 and $5000 USD per pound. It is one of the most highly regarded and highest value botanical plants in the world and is a recognized natural health product. It is traditionally used for different health conditions, including sexual dysfunction, depression […]

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Testing the use of novel stable isotope tools to determine nutrient sources in an eastern Canadian watershed

Cultural eutrophication, the excess input of nutrients by humans to waterbodies, is one of the biggest global threats to aquatic ecosystem health. Effective management of eutrophication requires the identification of nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) sources and their relative contributions to an aquatic system. This is difficult, because there can be sources in a single watershed. […]

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Development of an innovative portable running analysis toolbox

Studying a person’s running biomechanics has been limited to a laboratory setting due to the complex, expensive equipment needed to capture their motion and forces. Recent developments in wearable technologies may allow these measurements to be captured outside of the lab, which is not only a cost effective alternative, but may allow for the collection […]

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Effects of plant mix, restoration year, and management regime of urban meadows on plant-pollinator network size, structure, and diversity

The purpose of this project is to identify bees and evaluate plant-pollinator networks based on the biomonitoring surveys conducted at the Meadoway in 2020-2021 with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). The aim of these surveys is to develop a baseline understanding of bee diversity in The Meadoway and evaluate the effects of plant […]

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The Tumour Cell Senescence Index: A Possible Tool to Identify Patients At High Risk of Treatment Failure During Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

While promoting the destruction of the majority of tumour cells, chemotherapy treatment in cancer patients also permits chemo-resistant, senescent tumour cells to survive. Such senescent cells can live off dead tumour cells during and after chemotherapy. They can then form new tumours, resulting in disease progression. We have recently observed that chemotherapy treatment also induces […]

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Developing species-habitat conservation models for priority, wetland-dependent birds in Eastern Canada

Wetland-dependent birds, notably waterfowl, are prominent features of the conservation landscape in Eastern Canada, Ducks and geese in particular denote seasonality through their spectacular migrations, are key harvested species in many regions, and are often visible to connect the public with the sense of “wild”. However, populations of most of these species in Eastern Canada […]

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AAV Vectored Immunoprophylaxis for Prevention of Respiratory Infectious Diseases

This project aims to provide an alternative therapeutic for the prevention and treatment of the virus responsible for COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, as well as respiratory syncytial virus and influenza. Using a single viral vector platform, we will deliver antibodies from human survivors of these diseases to provide sustained levels of protection against the virus for all […]

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Macrofungal biodiversity in coastal temperate rainforests of British Columbia

Coastal temperate rainforests hold a high biodiversity of living organisms, including many fungal species. The diversity of fungi remain poorly described in forests of BC. In the proposed study, we will document these species and improve our understanding of ecosystem complexity by gathering essential baseline information on fungal communities. This will be useful for applied […]

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Developing a Field Deployable Assay System for Environmental Monitoring

There are currently over 9,000 potentially contaminated sites in Canada that require environmental assessment. The Field Deployable Assay (FDA) is a simple and cost-effective method for performing accurate environmental monitoring and site assessments. The FDAs are composed of a stationary main body and a variety of interchangeable cartridges. These cartridges act as miniature greenhouses, easily […]

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Trends in Redfish Sebastes spp. Abundance in the Northwest Atlantic and the Relative Importance of Fisheries and Environmental Variables

While the collapse of Atlantic cod is the most well-known and studied, other less studied species, such as redfish Sebastes spp., have experienced comparable declines. These declines have resulted in the closure of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, northern and eastern Grand Bank and Labrador Shelf redfish fisheries since the mid-1990s, while reduced quotas are […]

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Rapid Detection of Salmonella Species in Composted Biosolids Using Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction

The intern will assist the Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission (GMSC) in the development and production of biologically-safe composts from biosolids by providing novel technologies to assess its biosafety. To achieve this, the intern will develop molecular tools, based on the real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, to allow quick, accurate and reliable detection of human […]

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