P2GS Researchers 2024
Below you will find the researchers and research projects available for the 2024 Pathway to Graduate Studies Program.
Dr. Mary Adedayo - Applied Computer Science
As a discipline of forensic science, digital forensics focuses on the process of identifying, preserving, analyzing, documenting, and presenting evidence from digital sources. Identifying the type of a file by its structure is an important aspect of digital forensics and computer security. Methods involving the analysis of a file header and trailer, and fragments of deleted files have been widely for this. More recently machine learning techniques have also been used. My research in forensic digital document examination focuses on authenticating digital documents using methods that have been explored for file type identification and other new approaches. We address questions such as, how do we identify the tool that created a document? how do we tell if documents have the same origin or source? Can we classify document creators based on their features using machine learning? Students in the P2GS program will work together with other students to identify and extract features for classification, learn about existing methods used in file type identification, and work towards identifying the tool (application) that created a specific type of document.
To learn more about Dr. Adedayo’s research, please visit her website: www.maryadedayo.com
Dr. Stephanie Bugden - Psychology
We rely on our numerical abilities to make decisions every day, such as determining when to leave the house to attend class on time, splitting a restaurant bill between friends, and taking the correct dosage of medication when we are sick. How do we acquire those numerical and math skills? Why do some people excel in math, while others struggle and fail? How can we improve math skills in children who have difficulties? How can identifying individual differences in the developing brain answer these questions? These questions inspire me to use behavioural and functional brain imaging methods to explore the basic cognitive and neural mechanisms that support numerical and math development in typically developing children, and to examine how they differ in children with math learning difficulties. My research also involves testing the efficacy of screening tools that can be used to identify children at risk for developing math learning difficulties, as well as how engaging children in math games improves learning. In May 2024, students in the P2GS program will have the opportunity to support several research projects that explore the cognitive processes involved in producing numerical sequences in adults and children; and how we can leverage tools like functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to understand how the brain supports the development of number word knowledge in children.
Students who work in my lab gain valuable hands-on experience conducting developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience studies.
To learn more about Dr. Bugden’s research, please visit Dr. Bugden's lab webpage:
Numeracy Development & Learning Laboratory
Dr. Nora Casson - Geography
Our lab works to unravel relationships between water and nutrient cycling, to understand how patterns and processes vary across the landscape and how human activities impact the surface waters that drain forested ecosystems. We combine field work, laboratory studies and data synthesis to expand understanding of how human activities impact ecosystems, by diving deep into the mechanisms that underpin observed changes and also by looking broadly at controls on regional-scale patterns. The P2GS student will assist with building and deploying field equipment either within Winnipeg or at a forested site near Kenora and processing soil and water samples in the lab.
To learn more about Dr. Casson's research, please visit her team's website:
https://noracasson.weebly.com/
Dr. Alberto Civetta - Biology
Genes that encode for reproductive proteins (RPs) change rapidly between different species. This pattern is consistent across plants and animals. The rapid changes experienced by RPs has been for long assumed to be driven by selection favouring different specialization and adaptations between species. Recent work has challenged this idea, and shown that many such proteins have simply allowed mutations to freely accumulate, indicating a rather neutral effect of such changes. My lab has contributed extensively to this question, as it is central to evolutionary process and the origin of diversity. We have hypothesized that it is not changes in DNA or amino acid content but rather changes in the amount (expression) made by each gene. To test this hypothesis, a student will 1) use available data on genome-wide expression 2) use genes ontology (function) databases to identify reproductive genes function 3) measure, using the available data, differences in expression within and between species and apply evolutionary biology analytical tools to test the role of selection in driving changes in genes expression.
To learn more about Dr. Civetta's research, please visit:
Article: Nonadapative Molecular Evolution of Seminal Fluid Proteins in Drosophilia
Dr. Ed Cloutis - Geography
We explore the solar system to understand our place in it and how life arose on Earth. Searching for life beyond Earth is a big part of exploring the solar system. In our lab, we study Earth rocks that do and don’t contain evidence of life. Rocks that contain evidence of life are called “biosignatures” (also commonly called fossils). We also study meteorites from the asteroid belt, the Moon, and Mars, to further our understanding of the history of the solar system. Me and my students are part of the Science Team of the NASA Perseverance rover that is exploring the surface of Mars, so the research that we do here finds it way to helping to explore Mars. Our study of meteorites helps us better explore and understand the Moon and asteroids – the building blocks of the solar system. P2GS students will analyze meteorites and Earth rock samples that are relevant to the search for life on Mars and understanding the origin and evolution of the solar system. For Mars, we focus on how the science instruments on the Perseverance rover can recognize biosignatures. The search for life is complicated and multidisciplinary, so students from a wide range of science disciplines can participate and contribute.
We are also part of the recently approved Canadian Lunar Rover Mission (LRM). This rover will go to the Moon in 2025, land in an area near the South Pole of the Moon and look for ice in shadowed regions. As part of this mission, we will explore places on Earth that have geological similarities to the Moon so that we can develop expertise for LRM.
To learn more about Dr. Cloutis' research, please read the article below:
UWinnipeg team supports search for signs of life on Mars
Dr. Amy Desroches - Pyschology
Children learn spoken language from infancy with little effort. In contrast, learning to read develops slowly through the school years and some children have many difficulties with this process. A lot of the research in my lab looks at the changes that undergo the neurocognitive language network with the development of reading skill. The research shows that there is substantial restructuring of the language network occurs to support reading.
The ongoing work in my lab examines questions like: How do children learn to read? Why do some children struggle with reading? How to we acquire language? How do we use more than one language? We are carrying out studies that are designed to investigate these questions. In May 2024, depending on student interests, students in the P2GS program can be involved in research projects that examine reading development in children, and/or projects that examine language processing in bilingual adults. Students who work in my lab will learn to administer reading and language assessments, they will learn about electrophysiological brain responses, and learn how we collect and analyze EEG data.
To learn more about Dr. Desroches' research, please visit her website:
Development of Reading & Language Laboratory
Dr. Brandon Goulding - Psychology
Many adults believe that we will one day accomplish things that are, for now, entirely unattainable. They believe that we will someday go to Mars, cure cancer, or bring back the dinosaurs. In contrast, young children usually deny the possibility of anything that seems strange or unlikely. For example, a 5-year-old would probably say it is impossible for a person to own a pet peacock, wear pajamas to work, or drink onion juice. How can we explain why adults believe in the impossible while children deny the merely improbable? This is the main question my lab is trying to understand. Our research involves asking children what they think is possible, and trying to figure out how children can be led to accept new possibilities. As a P2GS student, you’ll work on one of our recent projects; this could include data collection in the community, data analysis and visualization with R, and potentially experimental design. I’ve also explored topics such as children’s reasoning about their future selves, their reasoning about property and territory, and their understanding of what it means to “believe” or “know” things. There might be an opportunity to help with one of these lines of work as well.
To learn more about Dr. Goulding's research, please watch the video below:
My Research Journey - Dr. Brandon Goulding
Dr. Joshua Hollett - Chemistry
Our research is focused on creating tools for understanding the electronic structure and using what we learn to devise more accurate and efficient models of electrons in atoms and molecules. Besides gaining a more fundamental understanding of quantum mechanics, the development of improved models of electronic structure enables the study of the chemical and physical properties of materials with unprecedented accuracy. Our current work involves the analysis of correlated electron motion within important chemical phenomena, such as bond breaking and photoexcitations. It also involves the testing of new models for electronic excited states and their comparison to near-exact quantum chemical calculations. A student project could vary from the analysis of new quantum mechanical properties of the electronic wavefunction, to benchmark excited-state calculations on a database of molecules. The research is carried out using technical computing software (e.g. Mathematica), graphical computational chemistry software, quantum chemistry software packages, and in-house software. There is an opportunity to learn how to run calculations using a supercomputing facility, perform theoretical chemistry derivations, and program in scientific computing language.
To learn more about Dr. Hollett's research, please visit their research website below:
Quantum Chemical Theory and Simulation Lab
Dr. Blair Jamieson - Physics
My research group is leading research in collaboration with physicists in several other countries to search for a possible difference in the oscillation of neutrinos from anti-neutrinos. A difference in the oscillation of neutrinos from anti-neutrinos could explain why the universe appears to be made of matter instead of anti-matter. To conduct this research on weakly interacting neutrinos requires high-intensity beams of neutrinos, and large detectors. The beam and detectors are located 295 km apart in Japan. One of the world's highest intensity neutrino beams is produced at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Center (J-PARC) located 100 km north of Tokyo, and the world's largest water Cherenkov neutrino detector (25 m tall, and 40 m diameter) called Super-Kamiokande is the far detector. The focus of his research this summer is on the development of photogrammetry and calibration of photomultiplier tube (PMT) modules of large Water Cherenkov detectors. Photogrammetry uses photographs of the inside of the detector to accurately locate the under-water light sensors and calibration devices in the detector to the mm accuracy over distances of tens of meters. A facility in Richardson college is being commissioned to do underwater tests of the photogrammetry equipment and do calibrations of the PMT modules. I am looking for students with an interest in big data analysis, machine learning, optics, photography, robotics, electronics development, and design, who want to push the limits of our knowledge in physics.
To learn more about Dr. Jamieson's research, please read the article below:
UWinnipeg Collaborates with Super-Kamiokande
Dr. Evan McDonough - Physics
Dr. Evan McDonough is an Assistant Professor at the University of Winnipeg and the Director of the Winnipeg Institute of Theoretical Physics. Dr. McDonough applies cutting-edge theoretical physics, such as quantum fields and extra dimensions, to problems in cosmology and astrophysics, following in the tradition of such greats as Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. In this P2GS project, students will begin with a crash-course on topics in theoretical physics and cosmology, such as the math of curved spacetime, and how to code it into Python. P2GS students will then use equations and coding to compute the cosmic evolution of quantum fluctuations in the very early universe.
To learn more about Dr. McDonough's research, please visit their website:
Evan McDonough - Theoretical Physicist
Dr. Jay Maillet - Geography
Dendrochronology is the study of tree time. Essentially with a little knowledge of tree growth and its response to environmental conditions over time, we can interpret the stories that trees have to tell. Trees can’t get up and move, and some can grow for thousands of years. Over this time, they internalize a record of their environment in the form of their rings. By “reading" these rings we can essentially talk to the trees. They can tell us stories about environmental change and disturbance, or of interactions with humans. For this reason, dendrochronology is a tool that is used across several disciplines, from geography and ecology, to archaeology and even glaciology. Dr. Maillet is currently building capacity for dendroclimatological research, meaning studying tree rings to understand past and future climate, with the goal of assessing the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems in the Canadian boreal.
Dr. Melanie Martin - Physics
As a physicist specializing in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), I am developing a noninvasive empirical method to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and other nervous system disorders earlier in the progression of the disease. I am also using MRI to follow the effectiveness of treatments over the course of time and to understand more about diseases. My program is multi-disciplinary. Students who work with me strengthen the skills they have and develop new skills in other disciplines. Projects include data analysis.
To learn more about Dr. Martin's research, please visit the webpage below:
Experimental Magnetic Resonance Imaging Physics Group
Dr. Yannick Molgat-Seon - Kinesiology and Applied Health
The human respiratory system is the first and last line of defence for the maintenance of arterial oxygen and carbon dioxide homeostasis. Fulfilling this critical, life-sustaining function is challenging, particularly during exercise when our metabolism is elevated well above resting levels. In our laboratory, we seek to better understand how the respiratory system responds to exercise and how this response is affected by biological factors such as aging, sex, and chronic respiratory disease. To do so, we employ an integrative approach that involves the assessment of respiratory, cardiovascular, and muscular function in humans during whole-body and isolated-muscle exercise. Students who work in our laboratory will be directly involved in one of several ongoing projects focused on determining the impact of sex-differences in lung and airway size on the integrative response to exercise. This unique training opportunity will enable students to gain hands-on experience in human physiological research as well as learn research-related skills that will assist them in pursing graduate studies or a career outside of the academy.
To learn more about Dr. Molgat-Seon's research, please read the article below:
Masks, Exercise and Masks During COVID
Dr. Natalie Richer - Kinesiology and Applied Health
Aging is accompanied by a loss of balance and an increased risk of falls, which can be debilitating, costly, and damaging to quality of life. Understanding the cause of falls is essential to preventing them. In our laboratory, we use electroencephalography (EEG) to examine which brain areas are involved in balance and how their involvement changes with age. We also aim to find new ways to improve balance in the elderly population. Students who work in our laboratory will be involved in a project that examines the effect of attentional focus on postural control in healthy aging. They will be trained to use EEG and a force platform and will help in data collections and data processing. This will allow them to gain experience in neuromechanical research and learn research-related skills.
To learn more about Dr. Richer's research, please visit their ResearchGate profile:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Natalie-Richer
Dr. Jamie Ritch - Chemistry
In my group, we make new molecules containing inorganic (non-carbon) elements. We focus on compounds containing the heavy elements selenium and tellurium because they tend to form bonds in unique ways compared to lighter elements, and have electronic properties well-suited for applications in improved solar cells and battery materials. Once we’ve made a new chemical, we need to verify its identity. The most powerful technique we use for this is called single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The interaction of X-rays with crystals gives a unique pattern which can be detected and analyzed to give the precise positions of all the atoms within the crystal.
A P2GS student will receive training in synthetic inorganic chemistry and crystal growth techniques. Crystals of new compounds will be screened for quality using polarized light microscopy, and the student will be able to observe the operation of our department’s new in-house X-ray diffractometer for structure determination.
To learn more about Dr. Ritch’s research, please visit their Department of Chemistry profile page:
https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/chemistry/our-department/jamie-ritch.html
Dr. Camilo Valderrama - Applied Computer Science
Identifying factors shaping birth weight is critical for multiple reasons. Birth weight is a significant indicator of newborn health and can influence short-term and long-term outcomes. By leveraging machine learning algorithms on datasets containing parent socioeconomic factors, maternal anthropological factors (e.g., height, weight), delivery method, and prenatal care attendance, we can develop predictive models to estimate birth weight more accurately. These models can aid healthcare providers in identifying high-risk pregnancies, allowing for timely interventions and personalized care plans to mitigate potential complications. Moreover, such models can facilitate the assessment of whether the standard threshold for low-birth-weight estimation (2.5 Kg) is appropriate across diverse demographic characteristics or if multiple factors necessitate consideration to classify a newborn as low birth weight.
To learn more about Dr. Valderrama’s research, please visit their Department of Applied Computer Science profile page:
https://sites.google.com/view/camilovalderrama/
Dr. Tabitha Wood - Chemistry
How do synthetic chemists put the atoms in the correct arrangement when they make molecules? The fundamental concept in Chemistry that "structure defines function" explains how the different arrangement of atoms in distinct molecules allow for the molecules to possess unique properties. In our research lab we experiment in the area of organic synthetic methodology (not a contradiction!), which is the study of how to build carbon-containing molecules. Our studies involve exploring the nature of various organic reactions in terms of their mechanisms, what kind of molecules they can accept as substrates, and what we can do to make them reliable and predictable technologies for use in the synthesis of new molecules. With this kind of information, we can investigate ways to apply the reaction to solving problems like making the production of difficult molecules easier, and accessing new molecules with interesting new properties. A student in the P2GS program may do work ranging from gaining confidence running reactions in fumehoods to running calculations on computers (and everywhere in between), depending on their interests. This project will help students reinforce concepts they learned in Organic Chemistry, or will help them get a sneak peak at what they would learn in that course!
To learn more about Dr. Wood's research, please visit their website:
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