Dr. Katie Gilmour (University of Ottawa)
Hot and bothered: How fish facing challenges cope with a warming world
Tuesday April 29th 2025
Dr. Katie Gilmour is a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa. Her current research explores two themes. First, she aims to understand the mechanisms through which fish maintain gas exchange, and ion and acid-base balance in diverse environments and in response to environmental challenges. Second, she uses the formation of dominance hierarchies in fish and the resultant social stress as a means of studying chronic stress. Questions of interest include how the stress axis functions during chronic stress, and the physiological consequences of chronic stress on metabolism, growth and tolerance of environmental challenges such as elevated temperature. Gilmour also enjoys the teaching side of academic life, sharing her enthusiasm for comparative physiology in general and fish in particular through undergraduate lecture and lab courses, as well as the supervision of both undergraduate and graduate research students. Gilmour serves as a Monitoring Editor for the Journal of Experimental Biology and is the Vice-Dean, Governance and International Affairs for the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Matthew Pamenter (University of Ottawa)
What can extremophiles teach us about life in a warming and hypoxic world?
Monday April 28th 2025
Dr. Matthew Pamenter joined the Biology Department at the University of Ottawa as the Tier II Canada Research Chair in Comparative Neurophysiology in 2015. He has a diverse background in comparative physiology and has conducted studies in 25+ species, including reptiles, birds, mammals, fish (and sharks!), and invertebrates. Originally trained as a neuroscientist, Dr. Pamenter’s research program now explores exciting questions across a broad swathe of physiology and is focused on naturally evolved adaptations to environmental hypoxia in some of the most hypoxia-tolerant animals from around the globe. As a National Geographic Explorer, Dr. Pamenter seeks out thrilling field work opportunities for his team and recent projects in the Pamenter lab have incorporated international collaborations on the ground (or in the ocean!) in Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Beyond the lab, Matt is mostly busy herding his 3 young children but loves to swim, run long distances, read (fiction only), or just play some videogames if he can find some spare time. He is very excited to share his teams’ recent work exploring metabolic adaptations to hypoxia in some very cool animal models!
Dr. Dalal Hanna (Carleton University)
Ditching Despair Through Stewardship of Land and Water
Tuesday April 29th 2025 Pubtalk @ NOX Eatery & Public House Inc
Dr. Dalal Hanna is a professor of conservation science at Carleton University where she leads the Watershed Stewardship Research Collaborative. As a freshwater ecologist, science communicator and National Geographic Explorer, Dalal works to generate the information and momentum required for society to shift toward more sustainable and equitable living. Her focus is on how freshwaters can be best stewarded to ensure their continued contributions to people’s well-being. She is also the co-founder and director of Riparia, a Canadian charity that works to create better connections between young women, science and water by bringing youth on free, multi-day, freshwater science expeditions.