BSc. Hon Biological Sciences Brock University
MSc. Candidate at the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph
My interest in applied biotechnology started when I had the opportunity to work as a summer student as a part of the Biocar Initiative, looking at using biomass in automotive materials. I’m now a master’s student at the University of Guelph with my research focusing on improving the pentose fermenting yeast Pichia stipitis for more efficient bioconversion of lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Using UV mutagenesis and genome shuffling, I hope to develop an improved strain of P. stipitis that has increased tolerance to fermentation inhibitors in lignocellulosic hydrolysates, and improved ethanol tolerance.