Emily Macdonald
Headlines (Campus Updates)
WLU
Laurier biology student named a "rising star" in research
Communications, Public Affairs & Marketing
Oct 1/09
Laurier biology student Emily Macdonald was honoured recently as one of 100 undergraduate students from across Canada selected to present her research at the Rising Stars of Research competition at the University of British Columbia.
The Rising Stars program is a unique event that brings together top undergraduate researchers in science and engineering from across Canada to showcase their research accomplishments and explore their passion for innovation. The centrepiece of the program is a research poster competition. The program also includes workshops and talks from outstanding faculty researchers.
Macdonald, who is now pursuing her M.Sc. in biology at Laurier, did her fourth-year thesis work under the supervision of Laurier professor Dr. Frédérique Guinel. Macdonald’s work involved the study of the symbiotic relationship between legumes and bacteria, which results in the formation of nodules in the root systems, which if completely understood and utilized might lead to a significant reduction in the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture. Specifically, Macdonald’s work compared the nodulation in time and space of two pea lines, Sparkle (wild type) and E151 (mutant), which resulted in a new phenotype characterization of the mutant, that of a “delayed nodulator.”
This work was also recently presented at the Canadian Botanical Association conference where it received an honourable mention.
For more information about the Rising Stars in Research program, visit: http://www.risingstars.ubc.ca/index.htm
