Weekly WISE #1
Read all about our first weekly WISE of 2025 and see what Dami J., Jada L., Sheza C., Katie T. & Rachel D. have been up to!
Dami J., Research Assistant in the Faculty of Engineering
Hey! My name is Dami Olivia Jakpa and I work as a research assistant in the Faculty of Engineering through the WISE NL SSEP program. In my placement, I work in the process engineering lab at the Bruneau Centre where we focus on converting waste biomass like forestry and fishery residues to value added products and using biomass in waste treatment and in mitigating climate change applications.
Over the past eight days, I’ve been involved in several exciting hands-on projects, including BET testing, wastewater treatment using biochar, enzymatic protein hydrolysis, and a temperature-based furnace project.
For BET testing, we performed degassing using Micromeritics, which is simply means removing gas from the samples. We started by weighing the filter paper, then the paper with the sample, before placing everything into a test tube and heating it overnight to remove gases. The next day, we’ll use the data to measure the surface area of the material.
In another project, we’ve been testing how well wood biochar, essentially recycled waste, can remove contaminants like NH₄ (ammonium) from lake or river water using a filtration column set-up. We placed sea sand on the top and bottom and biochar in the middle, pump the filtered water through it, and collected about 35-40 samples to measure concentration changes. Over time, the biochar becomes saturated and can no longer filter water effectively, and at that point, the used biochar can be reused as soil for plant growth.
In the enzymatic protein hydrolysis project, we’ve been learning how to calculate peptide concentration and the degree of hydrolysis, which tells us how much of the protein has been broken down. Over the next few weeks, we will be using methods from research papers to measure this, along with another method to determine enzyme activity.
In the Furnace Project, we found that higher temperatures lead to lower mass of biochar and higher amounts of bio-oil, which shows temperature has more impact than time.
Outside of the lab, we toured the National Research Council Canada where we saw 3D printing, boat design processes, ship simulators, and even got to try on cinema-style glasses that demonstrated how light passes through rotating lenses. It was really cool to see these things in person! I’m also excited for more upcoming tours and social events, and I’ve already started making new friends through WISE.
Overall, I’m really enjoying my placement because it’s so hands-on, and I’ve already learned so much about real-world lab work, engineering processes, and research methods in just a short amount of time!
Jada L. & Sheza C., Research Assistants in the Department of Psychology
Hi, our names are Jada and Sheza, and we are working as research assistants in the Department of Psychology. Our professor, Dr. Ashlyn Swift-Gallant, oversees various projects of graduate students. These projects include studies on gut microbiota and stress, the four-core genotypes, and the maternal effects of microplastic exposure. With a lab-based approach, we shadow the graduate students as they handle and experiment on mice in the Animal Resource Center (ARC).
On the first day, we attended a lab meeting and became acquainted with everyone on the team. We learned about one of the graduate students’ projects, on androgen receptors and their effects on neurodevelopment. Put simply, the project was a comparison between knocking out androgen receptors in microglia and macrophages versus knocking them out in neurons. For testing, there are three types of mice, the wild type (control group), the mARKOS, (microglia and macrophages affected) and the nARKOS (neurons affected). By comparing the three and putting them through several behaviour tests we can deduce which area is more affected by the knocking out of androgen receptors.
Androgens are hormones responsible for male characteristics but can also be found in women just in smaller amounts. While androgens include various hormones, a common example is testosterone which is found in both sexes. Thanks to our supervisor’s research assistant, Nadine, we were given a crash course on the different mouse lines being used for research which include wild types and several transgenic mice. For further understanding, we were provided with research papers on the projects and how the different mouse lines are utilized. With Nadine we also shadowed DNA procedures in the lab such as gel electrophoresis and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This is where small samples of skin are taken from the mice and then put through the said procedures for identification. When we were not working in the lab or shadowing someone in their research, we would do online training modules and read the research papers.
After the weekend, we went to the ARC with a grad student to perform a weaning and take a first look at the mice. Weaning, in terms of mice, means to separate the baby mice from their mother. As for our first impressions of the mice, they were much smaller than we expected them to be (adults easily fit in the palm of your hand). We also learned about the process and techniques involved in weaning, such as moving the mother to a new cage to avoid the stress of her lost babies’ scent. More recently we went to the ARC again to observe more grad students setting up a testing. The purpose was to observe the mother mice’s behaviour, so all we had to do was set up a camera and wait.
So far we’ve had a great time in our placement. After spending so much time shadowing, working, and reading together, we’ve become great friends as well. We can’t wait to see where this placement takes us next!
Katie T. & Rachel D., Cardiovascular Clinical Research Assistants
Hello! Our names are Katie Tam and Rachel Davis. Through the WISE Student Summer Employment Program we have received a job placement as Cardiovascular Clinical Research Assistants to Dr. Anthony Incognito. During our first week of work, we attended the BioMedicine Symposium. During those three days there were so many fascinating presentations that we got to observe. Some of the topics discussed include multiple sclerosis (MS), synaptic dysfunction, natural killer cell-based immunotherapies in solid tumours, and much more. Getting the opportunity to be a part of the symposium was great exposure and gave us an understanding of many different fields that we otherwise wouldn’t have encountered.
In Dr. Incognito’s lab, the research that we are mainly focused on is blood pressure in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Our work has included constructing a study design for collecting blood pressure with varying arm positions to prove the effect it can have on the result. Starting next week we plan to bring (healthy) participants in and measure their blood pressure following our design.
Touring and exploring the School of Medicine and the Health Sciences Centre was additionally an interesting experience, since many aspects of both buildings were brand new to us. We are both incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be part of the WISE Program, it has been and will be an unforgettable experience that not only enriches our knowledge but also inspires us professionally (and even personally!). The connections we’re making and the things we’re learning will stay for a lifetime. So far, WISE has been an incredible experience, and we’re excited to see what else this program has in store for us.