Current Graduate Students


​Nora Hussain
PhD Candidate
September 2020 - Present 
[email protected]
ResearchGate

​Nora completed both her BSc in Microbiology and her MSc in Microbiology and Biotechnology (under Dr. Yann Boucher) at the University of Alberta. Nora's PhD project examines the microbial communities and immunotoxicity of a pilot-scale lake with remediated tailings from the Albertan oil sands on spatiotemporal scales. Nora is a horror movie and Batman aficionado. 

Samuel Amoah
PhD Student
​May 2023 - Present 
[email protected]

Samuel holds a BSc in Medical Laboratory Technology from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. His MSc thesis uses LITRs isolated from goldfish and their effect on neutrophil responses. In his spare time, Samuel likes to play FIFA and strum on his guitar. 

Aoxue Li
PhD Student
January 2024 - Present
[email protected]
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Aoxue completed her undergraduate studies at the Hubei University of Technology in China in Bio-pharmaceutical Engineering. She currently works on goldfish LITRs. Aoxue is a skilled guzheng player and enjoys traveling. 

Marj Gem Bunda-Fajunio
MSc Student
September 2024 - Present
[email protected]
LinkedIn​
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Marj earned both her BSc and MSc in Fisheries (Aquaculture) from the University of Philippines Visayas. Marj is currently investigating bioactive properties of oil sands process water. Additionally, she is a proud mother of two.

Nalan Shen
MSc Student
September 2025 - Present
[email protected]

Nalan has a BSc with Honors in Immunology and Infection from the University of Alberta. She will be examining metabarcoding of fish populations and work on eDNA and immune cells screens. Nalan has worked with both snails and goldfish during her BSc, and has dimple piercings - no, they don't leak when she drinks! 

Kanwal Khalid
PhD Student
September 2025 - Present
[email protected]

Kanwal completed an Masters in Life Sciences in Dr. Chit Laa Poh's lab in Sunway University, Malaysia. She will be examining immunotoxicity of anthropogenic contaminants for her PhD work.  

Current Undergraduate Students

Francesca Pon-An
September 2024 - Present
BIOL 499​
BIOL 399

Francesca is in her final year of undergraduate research and is investigating different treatment approaches of oil sands process affected waters using macrophage cell screens for her BIOL 499 project, expanding from her previous BIOL 399 work. 

Micah Truong
Jan 2024 - Present
BIOL 499
​BIOL 399
BIOL 298
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Micah explored the immunotoxicity of model naphthenic acid compounds for her BIOL 298 and BIOL 399 projects. Micah is currently investigating this further for her BIOL 499 research. 

Connor MacPherson
Sept 2025 - Present
BIOL 399
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Connor is completing a BIOL 399 project investigating LITR presence in different goldfish tissues. When he's not in the lab, he enjoys playing the guitar, listening to music, or going on a run! 

Owen Walker
Sept 2025 - Present
BIOL 399
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Owen is in his third year of his undergraduate degree majoring in biology. He is currently assisting with research examining the use of cell-based toxicity assays for evaluating environmental samples from oil sands process affected water treatment strategies. In his free time, Owen enjoys cheering on his Edmonton Oilers.