RESEARCH GROUP MEMBERS

Ali Kasraee

M.Sc. Candidate

Ali is a father, a farmer, and an aspiring entomologist. Ali has always been fascinated by insects and started studying them at a young age. Since becoming a farmer, Ali has begun to focus on the role of insects in agriculture, and is currently studying the role of fencerows and hedgerows on pollinators in agricultural fields in his MSc work.

Minh Duong

B.Sc. (Trent University), M.Sc. Candidate

Minh joined the ASH and ENIMGMA labs in 2021, and has since graduated from the Trent School of Environment, and has started a MSc in geochemistry and soil science examining the impacts of rare-earth elements on agricultural crops and soils. Minh is interested in learning about the behavior of soil microbial communities and the biological responses of crops under different conditions.

Oshadhi Ranasinghe

B.Sc. (University of Kelaniya), PGD (University of Moratuwa), M.Sc. Candidate

Oshadhi completed her BSc in Environmental Conservation and Management at University of Kelaniya and a Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Moratuwa. Her undergraduate research focused on evaluating the energy production potential of Propsopis juliflora Sw (Fabaceae) in Bundala National Park and building a Fuel Value Index for commonly used fuelwood species. Oshadhi joined the ASH group in Sept 2021 as a MSc. She is particularly interested in studying carbon sequestration, sustainable agriculture and climate change.

Ridmani Kualranthe

B.Sc., M.Sc. Candidate

Ridmani has a BSc in Botany and wide array of background in soil microbiological methods. She is currently working on a NSERC and CAP-funded project with the Quinte Farm and Research Stewardship Collaborative to assess how soil microbial nitrogen-cycling communities respond to stress (e.g. tillage) within agricultural systems. Ridmani looks forward to making good use of the new ASH lab facilities over the next two years as she completes her MSc. 

Emily Stewart

B.Sc. (Trent University)

Emily completed her BSc of Ecological Restoration at Trent University (2019) and Diploma of Ecological Restoration at Fleming College. Her honours thesis focused on using and optimizing spent brewer’s grain as a soil amendment to increase overall soil health. She takes special interest in the relationship humans maintain with the environment, especially when it comes to soil health in agricultural systems and restoration of degraded ecosystems.

Emily Sytsma

B.Sc. (Trent University)

Emily completed her BSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems at Trent. Having grown up on a farm, and spending much of her life cooking professionally, she has a long-standing interest in how we grow and connect with our food. She completed her honours research thesis in the ASH lab investigating the effects of cricket frass on plant growth and soil microbial carbon use.  She is interested in the value of agricultural by-products and how they can be applied in circular sustainable farming systems. 

Brittany Semmler

B.Sc. (Trent University)

Brittany completed her BSc majoring in Ecological Restoration, and completed her honours thesis in the ASH lab, which focuses on utilizing cricket frass as a soil restoration accelerator in degraded aggregate pits. Brittany is interested in learning about biological responses within soils and applying this knowledge to large scale ecological restoration projects in disturbed ecosystems.

Julia Gagnon

B.Sc. (Trent University)

Julia completed her BSc in ERS while completing her undergraduate research thesis studying soil microbial carbon dynamics under high-diversity cover crops mixes at operational farms in Ontario. After graduating, Julia plans to pursue a MSc in ecological restoration in British Columbia. 

Gavin Vance

B.Sc. (Trent University)

Gavin completed his BSc in the ERS program. In his undergraduate research thesis in the ASH lab, he studied the effect of crop rotation stage on physical soil health indicators. After graduation, he plans to work within the agricultural sector for a year while he prepares to pursue his masters in sustainable development.   

Brianna Foster

B.Sc. (Trent University)

Brianna completed her Honours BSc. with a double major in Environmental & Resource Science and Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems. Brianna’s research focuses on integrated pest management (IPM) and greenhouse pests, specifically Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), commonly known as the Western Flower Thrip. Brianna is interested in population dynamics, monitoring techniques, and biological control methods and hopes to continue this work and research into the future.

Pirmin Stohr

B.Sc., MITACS Globalink Intern

Pirmin completed his BSc degree in Biological Sciences at Heidelberg University, Germany. He is currently involved in the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship 2021 program, completing a three-month internship at Trent University. During his internship he focuses on finding and using existing sequence datasets of soil microbial communities to then identify common OTUs/ASVs between different studies and link these to different soil variables. After the internship, Pirmin is starting a MSc degree in Agricultural sciences at Hohenheim University, Germany.

Cameron McQuaid

Trent Farm Intern

Cam is entering his third year in the Environmental Geoscience program. He is currently working on soil sampling and analysis of the Trent Experimental Farm, as well as vegetation classification and GIS data management and presentation. Cam is preparing to write his Honours thesis and will pursue his education at Fleming College's GIS program in the future.

Yeukai Katanda

B.Sc. (University of Zimbabwe), M.Sc. (University of Manitoba), Ph.D. (Trent University), Visiting Research Fellow at Memorial University

Yeukai completed her MSc in soil science at the University of Manitoba before joining Trent for her PhD in ENLS. Yeukai studies many aspects of soil health and carbon and nitrogen cycling and recently completed her PhD while also acting as a research fellow at Memorial University in Newfoundland. Yeukai hopes to work as a soil health extension specialist in the government or non-profit sector.

B.Sc. (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology), M.A (Trent University)

Samuel obtained his undergraduate degree in Development Planning from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. After his undergraduate studies he served his mandatory National Service, working as a teaching and research assistant for the department of planning in KNUST. He defended his M.A Sustainability Studies graduate program at Trent University in September 2021 and is now working part-time as a Research Assistant on an Earth Institute Project w Dr. KT. Samuel’s research interests include community development, waste and water resource management, and international development.

Imesha Perera 

B.Sc. (University of Kelaniya), M.Sc. (Trent University)

Imesha completed her undergraduate BSc degree in Molecular Biology and Plant Biotechnology at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Her undergraduate research focused on plant growth promoting endophytic diazotrophic bacteria in Sri Lankan rice varieties using molecular methods. She is currently pursuing her MSc degree at Trent, and is studying the effects of climate change and soil nitrogen availability on soil microbial communities and cytokinin levels.