Dennis has successfully passed his doctoral exam and presented his PhD project. In his project: "Moss evolution and ecology in the Canadian tundra: An integrative approach", Dennis will be addressing the phylogeography, clonality and microbiome evolution of a charismatic nordic moss. Tune in for further results from his research. Congratulations Dennis!    

If you happen to be interested in doing arctic research and working on bryophytes and/or lichens.. there are excellent opportunities here: https://sentinellenord.ulaval.ca/fr/formation  

Marta attended the annual Botanical Society Meeting (#Botany2019) in Tucson, Arizona. Marta presented her work on the lichen Cladonia stellaris, an emblematic member of the lichen woodland in Eastern North America (for a timely review done by a colleague at Laval, see here). Marta has used population genomics tools to assess diversity and population dynamics of the southernmost lichen woodland in Eastern Canada, here the abstract.        

Dennis Escolástico, with Kim Damboise and Catherine Boudreault (lichen specialists), spent nearly 2 weeks doing fieldwork in the Hudson's Bay, especifically in Kuujjuarapik and Umiujaq. They were still blocks of ice in the sea! The aim of the field trip was to continue the project of the Québec lichen flora (spearheaded by Serge Payette and Catherine Boudreault). Dennis had the opportunity to collect the woolly mos Racomitrium lanuginosum for his doctoral project. He will be dissecting th...

This is the first paper of the collaborative grant led by Fay-Wei Li to do a worldwide assessment of the symbiosis between hornworts and nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. What's so new about a vanadium nitrogenase? The nitrogenase with a vanadium co-factor had only been  reported from free-living bacteria and cyanobacteria associated to boreal lichens. This "alternative" nitrogenase  is thought to be more active at low temperatures (below 14C) and it plays a crucial role in the nitrogen cycl...

The latest Marta's interview about her research: http://fseneca.es/secuenciacion-de-adn-para-entender-el-funcionamiento-de-los-bosques Congrats Marta!

Gabriel Felipe Penaloza, an ELAP fellow visiting the lab, has obtained a grant from the International Association of Plant Taxonomists (IAPT)  to work on the diversity of the epiphytic hornwort Dendroceros  and symbiosis Nice job!!  Hornworts still rock!

Camille Lavoie has obtained a very competitive NSERC scholarship to pursue her master's program. Camille will be working with Philip Archambault on the biology of benthic organisms. In our lab, Camille has done a wonderful work on the functional diversity of cyanobacteria (Stigonema/Nostoc) associated with lichens and the use of alternative nitrogenases. Congratulations Camille!

Camille Lavoie is presenting a poster about her research at the Colloque de Biologie on Thursday 5-7. A copy of the poster can be found here: Une histoire de fidelité chez les lichens. Diversité et recrumente des symbiontes associés au lichen Stereocaulon spp.

Gabriel Felipe Penaloza, an ELAP fellow visiting the lab, has obtained a grant from the Rufford Foundation to work on hornwort diversity and conservation! Nice job!!  Hornworts still rock!