NSERC-USRA research award is critical steppingstone for 14 StFX students

This summer, 14 StFX students learned about resiliency, the excitement of research, and glimpsed into the academic world post-undergraduate as recipients of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Undergraduate Student Research Award.

The NSERC-USRA is awarded to outstanding students undertaking research in natural, physical or engineering sciences. It provides $9,000 in funding to each student to complete summer research work under the supervision of a StFX faculty member.

At StFX, this year's recipients are Devyn Hogg, Amber Gough, Anna Mulak, Rochelle Estabrooks, Lauren Pictou, Julia Crean, Hudson Forance, Payton Plesh, Brooke MacDonald, Carter Clifton, Lauren Clark, Julia Byron, Anna MacGillivray, and Hunter Johnson.

PROFOUND IMPACT

"This project has profoundly shaped my outlook on future studies and my career. It gave me the chance to build strong research skills such as designing experiments, troubleshooting setbacks, and finding creative solutions to obstacles when plans didn't go as expected. Through this experience, I learned how to work independently, take initiative, and keep pushing a project forward," says Anna Mulak of Sydney River, NS, a fourth year honours chemistry student taking a minor in mathematics, whose research project was a continuation of the work she did last year on green hydrogen generation.

Ms. Mulak says these skills will be essential as she progresses to graduate work, enabling her to develop her research abilities further and contribute to the advancement of sustainable energy technologies.

"It taught me resilience, patience, and problem-solving when things didn't go as planned, and it showed me what real research looks like-the ups and downs, but also the excitement of making progress. More than anything, it confirmed for me the importance of this work, both scientifically and in its potential impact, and it strengthened my interest in pursuing research in the future."
~ 2025 NSERC USRA recipient Anna Mulak

"Last summer, I focused on producing hydrogen using UV light and a photocatalyst, adjusting different parameters to make the process more environmentally friendly and cost-effective. This year, I wanted to take it a step further. Since the sun's spectrum is only about 4 per cent UV, I worked on modifying the catalyst so it could also absorb visible and infrared light. That way, the process could utilize solar energy more effectively and become significantly more efficient," says Ms. Mulak who is supervised by Dr. Geneice Hallett-Tapley and Dr. Erwin Bertin.

The project will continue into the school year as she completes the full catalyst synthesis.

She says what stands out is that she faced many more setbacks than she did the previous year. "It pushed me to be resilient and to keep going even when my ideas took longer to develop than I expected. I also realised how vital this new catalyst design is if we want to scale the process up for industrial use eventually. Even though there were challenges and weeks of trial and error, I learned not to get discouraged, and I can see that the progress we've made is moving things in the right direction."

The opportunity meant so much as it gave her the chance to take on bigger challenges. "It taught me resilience, patience, and problem-solving when things didn't go as planned, and it showed me what real research looks like-the ups and downs, but also the excitement of making progress. More than anything, it confirmed for me the importance of this work, both scientifically and in its potential impact, and it strengthened my interest in pursuing research in the future."

INSPIRING EXPERIENCE

"Being able to conduct research and work both independently and collaboratively has been an inspiring experience. Being supported by this research award and having the opportunity to conduct the research I am so passionate about during the summer is something I'm so grateful for," says Devyn Hogg, a fourth year honours human nutrition student from Pasadena, NL, co-supervised by Dr. Jen Jamieson and Dr. Marcia English.

"As a first year student back in 2022, I never would have thought I'd pursue research during my time at university, however, my involvement within my department and genuine love for what I do within human nutrition has driven this interest."

Ms. Hogg focused her research on assessing the feasibility and functionality of plant-based proteins and their ability to effectively support plant-based athletes within post exercise recovery meals. This research had a specific focus on a wheat-based protein called seitan, a plant-based alternative known for its high protein, low carb and low-fat content.

The research consisted of several phases, including food product development where she spent time in the food lab formulating recipes and altering cooking methods of the product, aiming to ensure consumer acceptability with both taste and texture, along with many other sensory objectives.

The goal was to determine the protein quality and see if seitan could be used in meal variations suitable to meet athletes' protein requirements.

Next steps will progress into her honours thesis. She will conduct formal sensory analysis, which will allow for more refined sensory information from volunteer panelists. This may lead to further refinement.

Ms. Hogg says the research taught her how to approach challenges. Some things may not pan out as expected requiring the ability to display flexibility.

"This not only leads to the development of skills pertaining to problem solving but also displays strength in how a researcher can reevaluate and restructure how they will continue to work. Additionally, the collaboration between nutrition science and food science during this project enabled me to gain skills in both fields, seeing the importance of blending multiple realms of science into one project, allowing for a much broader outlook within this project. "

CONTINUE LEARNING

Helping improve how robots and artificial intelligence react to human emotions is the topic of research that Lauren Clark of Summerside, PEI, a senior honours BSc in human kinetics student, focused on this summer. Working with supervisor Dr. Melanie Lam, they prepared a motion capture system in the lab to collect data looking at how a person's body movements change based on another person's displayed emotions. As well they incorporated an eye tracking system into the data collection.

"One thing that stood out to me was how much preparation goes into doing research projects. The majority of my time was spent planning and setting up the experiment and it really allowed me to gain a greater appreciation for research.

"The opportunity to do research and work under the supervision of a professor is something I am very grateful for. Receiving the NSERC award allowed me to continue learning during the summer and improve my research skills."

BUILD CONNECTIONS, RESTORE PEATLANDS

"This opportunity is a chance to explore an environment (a bog!) that I may never get to explore otherwise. It's a glimpse into the academic world post-undergrad, and it's a chance to build valuable connections. This opportunity allowed me to contribute to a long-term effort to restore degraded peatlands, which are very important wetland ecosystems," says Julia Rose Crean of Georgetown, ON, a fourth year BASc in Climate and Environment student, supervised by Dr. Graham Clark and Dr. Jesse McNichol.

"It's a glimpse into the academic world post-undergrad, and it's a chance to build valuable connections. This opportunity allowed me to contribute to a long-term effort to restore degraded peatlands, which are very important wetland ecosystems," ~ 2025 NSERC-USRA recipient Julia Rose Crean

The team collected gas and peat samples from a degraded bog and an undisturbed bog and measured the methane levels of the gas samples and extracted DNA from the peat samples. They used a method called metabarcoding, which quickly identifies multiple species in a sample by analyzing DNA.

She will use the data to see which microbes are present at the high-methane-emitting locations.

"I am curious to see if there is a significant difference in the microbial communities around different vegetation types, specifically focusing on the methane-producing and methane-consuming microbes. Further research will be needed to understand all the factors that contribute to high methane production by the specific microbes present."

Ms. Crean says the experience has given her ideas about future employers, allowed her to build connections, and has given her a better idea of what it will be like to pursue a master's degree.

Over the summer, she also became good friends with other students conducting research at StFX "and I have realized that there is a great variety of research projects that students are undertaking across both the arts and sciences!"

REWARDING HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE

Lauren Pictou of Yarmouth, NS is interested in pursuing a career in medicine. The fourth year honours biology student who is also completing a chemistry minor, labeled neurons in the central nervous system of a great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. She used two different techniques to label cells which contain the enzyme choline acetyltransferase which catalyzes the formation of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. They are aiming to understand behavior through studying the anatomy of the brain.

"Over the past two summers the results of my research were quite surprising. I used four methods within the two techniques, to label these cells and each method gave me very different results which was unexpected. This catapulted us into trying to figure out what these methods are labelling because we do not think all of these methods are labelling what we wanted them to," she says.

The experience gave her a busy, exciting summer. "This project has allowed me to be extremely hands on with trying to come up with explanations to these puzzling results which has been very rewarding," says Ms. Pictou, who works under the supervision of Dr. Russell Wyeth.

"I really enjoy being a part of a lab and discussing research with others in the biology department and connecting with other biology lovers. So, all to say this opportunity means a lot to me and I will miss it," she notes. "My summer research has helped me develop my critical thinking, and communication skills which are crucial in the scientific world and will be extremely beneficial in my future studies."

TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE

"This opportunity has been transformative for me as both a student and a researcher," says Rochelle Estabrooks of Saint John, NB, a fourth year honours chemistry student taking a concentration in biochemistry.

"It has allowed me to apply my chemistry training to biological systems in a way that feels tangible and relevant. Beyond the technical skills, it gave me the confidence to ask interdisciplinary questions and design experiments that bridge chemistry, physiology, and medicine. Most importantly, it confirmed my desire to pursue a career in biomedical research, where I can contribute to solving complex problems at the interface of metabolism and disease."

She explains that mitochondria supply the energy that sustains all cellular processes by converting chemical energy from food into ATP. However, this energy transformation is never 100 per cent efficient; some energy gets conserved as ATP, while the rest gets released as heat. Under normal conditions, this heat can be useful, but during periods of high energy demand (e.g. exercise, infection, etc.), excessive heat poses a risk to organs and other tissues.

Her project explores how lactate might contribute to metabolic adaptability and resiliency by providing "cooler" ATP production during periods of elevated metabolic activity. "The brain is particularly sensitive to temperature fluctuations, encapsulated by the skull and having very high energy demands. We propose that the brain has evolved a metabolic strategy to prevent heat accumulation and sustain its energy supply by leveraging lactate as a fuel source."

In earlier work in 2024, she used a yeast model to identify a potential mechanism by which lactate metabolism increases thermal resilience. This summer, she began translating those findings into a mammalian system using mouse brain tissue. They focused on metabolic pathways that are conserved between yeast and mammals, adapting protocols to account for their differences. "By the end of the summer, we had established foundational experiments in mouse brain tissue. During the upcoming academic year, we will expand this work to directly test the proposed mechanism in mammalian models."

"Working under Dr. Daniel Kane, who specializes in exercise metabolism and physiology, gave me the opportunity to bridge chemistry with applied physiology. Most of my background is rooted in molecular-level biochemistry, but this project showed me how molecular processes scale up to whole-body outcomes," Ms. Estabrooks says.

"One striking realization was how laboratory data connect to real-world phenomena. For example, athletes will test their 'lactate threshold,' a point marked by a sudden rise in blood lactate and fatigue. Using this personalized data, athletes can structure their training sessions to maximize recovery and avoid overtraining. In my experiments, I could see parallels between this phenomenon and the metabolic stress responses observed in cells and tissues, giving me a deeper appreciation for how biochemistry translates into human performance and health."

She says this project has given her a strong foundation for her career goal of becoming a research scientist focused on Alzheimer's disease. Her honours research has highlighted the importance of understanding metabolism not just as an energy source, but as a flexible and adaptive system that influences resilience and vulnerability.

"I hope to build on this foundation by studying how unique metabolic backgrounds contribute to neurodegenerative disease, and ultimately, how we might personalize treatments and preventative strategies for patients based on their metabolic profiles. This summer's research is a critical stepping stone toward that vision."

HELPING PREVENT OPIOD OVERDOSES

Carter Clifton of Antigonish, NS, a third year honours mathematics student also taking a minor in computer science, spent the summer working on modelling opioid overdoses in Toronto using an individual-based model.

"In the beginning of the summer, I spent most of my time reading and looking for any factors that changed during the pandemic that could have led to the increase in opioid fatalities. After this, I implemented the changes into the model, but the results weren't what we expected based on the literature," says Mr. Clifton, who is supervised by Dr. Ryan Lukeman.

"We have since been working on uncovering how the fentanyl content in the drug supply changed during the pandemic, since this seems to be where the biggest increase in fatalities have come from. We were hoping to use the model to investigate how the factors contributing to overdose fatality changed during the pandemic, and how they impacted the number of nonfatal and fatal overdoses."

Using the model they have demonstrated how each parameter impacts fatal and nonfatal overdoses, and this can be used to help reduce the number of opioid fatalities back down the pre-pandemic levels, and hopefully even further.

"Thanks to this experience, I had the opportunity to go to the Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference in Waterloo. This allowed me to present the research I had done up to that point and meet other students who are just as passionate about research as I am," ~ 2025 NSERC-USRA recipient Carter Clifton

"Thanks to this experience, I had the opportunity to go to the Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference in Waterloo. This allowed me to present the research I had done up to that point and meet other students who are just as passionate about research as I am. As well, this experience showed me that even if you get stuck in your work, there is always a way around it, and you may just need to look at the problem in a different way."

The opportunity has been incredible, he says. It allowed him to grow as a researcher and has reinforced the idea of doing a post-graduate degree. "I am so happy to have spent my summer working on a project I really care about and could be used to inform harm reduction strategies that may save some people's lives."

SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT

"One thing that stands out to me about this experience was the supportive environment in the lab. My supervisors and colleagues were always approachable and willing to share their knowledge, which created a space where I felt comfortable learning, asking questions, and trying new techniques," says Brooke MacDonald of Antigonish, NS, a fourth year honours BSc human kinetics student supervised by Dr. Tammy Rodela and Dr. Daniel Kane.

They are hoping to understanding what enables zebrafish (Danio rerio) to survive multiple physiological challenges.

In their natural habitat, zebrafish may experience simultaneous environmental stressors such as low oxygen and high levels of ammonia due to natural processes. Zebrafish can tolerate these stressors individually or in combination with one another and their tolerance seems to be linked to changes in the mitochondria.

Her project involved examining the mechanisms in brain mitochondria that help these fish survive combined stressors. She exposed groups of zebrafish to combinations of low oxygen and high ammonia. She collected brain tissues from the animals and she worked on optimizing enzyme assays to measure changes in mitochondrial function.

"This is a serious concern with climate change, as low-oxygen and eutrophic events may become more frequent in freshwater systems."

Ms. MacDonald says the opportunity to learn more about scientific research and actively take part in it has been rewarding.

"I enhanced my problem solving and communication skills, which will benefit me in my next steps of academia and in my future career. In addition, it gave me the confidence to pursue an honours thesis in my last year of undergraduate studies, which will open doors in my future."