Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is an invasive plant in North America that produces glucosinolates and flavonoids as defensive chemicals. Production of these chemicals includes both plastic and genetic components, but the genes involved in these responses have not been characterized. We propose to use high-throughput sequencing and comparative genomic tools to characterize the complete set […]

Approximately 80% of currently used antibiotics were first discovered from Streptomyces. In addition, many pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, are halogenated. In particular about a quarter of the top-selling pharmaceuticals are fluorine-containing compounds. The overall objective of my doctoral thesis is to elucidate the complete biosynthetic pathway of the fluorinated antibiotic, nucleocidin, in Streptomyces. Elucidating the biosynthesis […]

Under the conditions of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, most individuals are experiencing a major shift in daily routines. For some, having a flexible work schedule may be beneficial to their natural bodily rhythms. For others, the lack of structure that was previously provided by an external schedule may impose misalignment on behavioural circadian […]

Social isolation is a serious public health issue which has many negative effects on quality of life and well-being of individuals. This research project aims to develop and test a Minimally Viable technology platform (MVP) to tackle population-level social isolation. This platform is designed to collect and analyze surveys from the users and detect socially […]

Throughout Canada manufacturers and distributers of green roof and photovoltaic (PV) panels compete for installation projects on top of industrial, commercial and high-density residential rooftops. These technologies are often viewed as direct competitors as both systems reduce the environmental impact of buildings, albeit through different mechanisms, and consequently, rooftop designs rarely, if ever, apply both […]

The principal objective of this project is to design and fabricate optically functional, slim, flexible, dielectric coatings – luminescent wavelength encoded lattices (LWELs) – that enhance sunlight harvesting and therefore, within the short term, have a measurable, significant impact on the efficiency of commercially available solar cells. LWELs will combine two powerful approaches to incandescent […]

The ability to find fault in engine systems and proactively monitor their progression to remedy the root-cause before it fails is of paramount importance in today’s industry safety. An effecting change in current engine monitoring methods will require insight and understanding of the level of robustness and engineering rigour required to maintain safety and airworthiness […]

The notion of ownership is fundamental and essential in a number of settings, including the setting that is the focus of this proposal: information over the Internet. Ownership of some content, in turn, endows the owner with certain rights over the content. The intent of this proposed research project is to (a) precisely enunciate what […]

The outcomes that I hope to achieve for Handy Fairies are that the business has a clear path for expansion both during my time with the company and after I have departed, hiring a committed cleaning staff that will want to achieve the goals Handy Fairies has set out to accomplish and create a marketing […]

This research is aimed at better characterizing the exposure associated with three particular natural hazards – earthquake, flood and wind. The work represents an unprecedented collaboration between three leaders in the field of natural hazards at Western University and the insurance industry through the efforts of individual interns and the associated projects aimed at evaluating […]

Domesticated over 12,000 years ago, cows are currently found in every country across the globe yet very little is known about their varied histories, geographies, and lives. This despite cows’ centrality to human pursuits of agriculture, colonization, and capitalism as well as their implication in climate change. Furthermore,even as social research on cows begins to […]

In archaeology, chemical analysis of elements in bones can unlock a wealth of anthropological information. Individuals are exposed to various elements throughout their lives, (from sources including food, drinking water, and cookware), which are stored in bone tissue. Because bone tissue regenerates continuously, skeletal remains contain a record of an individual’s lifetime of exposure to […]