Student Research Publications

This webpage celebrates scientific publications done by our undergraduate Biology students.

Join a Biology lab in some capacity (Honours, Directed Studies, volunteer, etc.) and you may end up coauthoring a scientific article yourself!

Student names are highlighted in boldface:

2025

Adams, Victoria E., Subash R. Chettiar, Tanner M. Clow, Emily Gendron, Amber L. Gough, Brianna E.M. Stewart, E.K. Cameron, and J. Toxopeus (2025). Invasive adult jumping worms in Atlantic Canada are chill-susceptible. Biological Invasions 27: article 5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-024-03462-8

Adams, Victoria E., Maranda L. van Oirschot, and J. Toxopeus (2025). HSP70 is upregulated after heat but not freezing stress in the freeze-tolerant cricket Gryllus veletisComparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 300: article 111791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.111791

Lauff, R.F., Lucas Daut, Mattisen DiRubio, Gabrielle McLaughlin, Y. Alarie, S. Chordas, and B.R. Taylor (2025). The hypopagea: an unexplored habitat for winter-active insects. Aquatic Insects, online first. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650424.2024.2443443

2024

Craik, S.R., A. Doucet, M. Manuel, C. Roy, T.M. Brown, Emilie J. Knighton, D. Shutler, R.F. Lauff, D. Ethier, A.L. Kouwenberg, and P.D. Taylor (2024). Irruptive fall migrations are linked to elevated breeding abundance but are not associated with body condition or stopover duration in Northern Saw-whet Owls. Ornithology 141: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukad057

Lemay, Katelyn, Mackenzie Moore, Page Brown, L. Gadey, G.J. Ragland, and J. Toxopeus (2024). Conserved cold tolerance of Rhagoletis species from different host fruits, elevations in Colorado, USA. Physiological Entomology 49: 216-226. https://doi.org/10.1111/phen.12439

Levangie, Nicholas D. and R.A. Scrosati (2024). Trends in ocean temperature influencing snow crab catch along the Scotian Shelf. Journal of Sea Research 200: article 102519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2024.102519

Wilson, Emmerson R., Katerina Basque, Meaghan MacDonald, Amelia F. MacKenzie, Michelle Hodgson, R. Stuart, T. Smith-Palmer, and R.C. Wyeth (2024). Biodegradable surfactants do not improve antifouling or fouling-release performance of polydimethylsiloxane. Journal of Coatings Technology and Research 21: 1217-1229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-023-00884-2

2023

Manning, Abigael M. and R.A. Scrosati (2023). Are pelagic mussel stages chemically attracted to barnacle stands for settlement? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 21: 23. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2601

McIntyre, Trinity, L. Andaloori, G.R. Hood, J.L. Feder, D.A. Hahn, G.J. Ragland, and J. Toxopeus (2023). Cold tolerance and diapause within and across trophic levels: Endoparasitic wasps and their fly host have similar phenotypes. Journal of Insect Physiology 146: article 104501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2023.104501

Ucciferri, Carmen C. and R.C. Wyeth (2023). Chemosensory afference in the tentacle nerve of Lymnaea stagnalis. Invertebrate Biology 142: article e12414. https://doi.org/10.1111/ivb.12414

2022

Purvis K., Kylie H. Curnew, Alexis L. Trevors, Allanique T. Hunter, Emmerson R. Wilson, and R.C. Wyeth (2022). Single Ultraviolet-C light treatment of early stage marine biofouling delays subsequent community development. Biofouling 38: 536-546. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927014.2022.2095906

Wilson, Emmerson R., K.J. Murphy, and R.C. Wyeth (2022). Ecological review of the Ciona species complex. The Biological Bulletin 242: 153-171. https://doi.org/10.1086/719476

2021

Bishop, C., Emil Jurga, and L. Graham (2021). Patterns of bacterial diversity in embryonic capsules of the spotted salamander Ambystoma maculatum: An expanding view of a symbiosis. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 97: 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiab128

Fraser, Megan R., Tyler Winsor, J. Williams, R.C. Wyeth, and D.J. Garbary (2021). Assessing the viability of pre-industrial sediment prior to remediation using primary producer (Zostera marina and Spartina alterniflora) growth and survival. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 78: 361-370. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2019-0415

MacKenzie, Amelia F., Katerina Basque, E.A. Maltby, Michelle Hodgson, Alexa Nicholson, Emmerson Wilson, R. Stuart R, T. Smith-Palmer, and R.C. Wyeth (2021). Effectiveness of several commercial non-toxic antifouling technologies for aquaculture netting at reducing mussel biofouling. Aquaculture 543: article 736968. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.736968

Scrosati, R.A. and Janelle K. Holt (2021). Recruitment and post-recruitment dynamics of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides on a wave-exposed headland in Atlantic Canada. Frontiers in Marine Science 8: article 799514. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.799514

Wyeth, R.C., Theora Holden, H. Jalala, and J.A. Murray (2021). Rare-Earth magnets influence movement patterns of the magnetically sensitive nudibranch Tritonia exsulans in its natural habitat. The Biological Bulletin 240: 105-117. https://doi.org/q0.1086/713663

2020

Fougere, Breton, Katelyn R. Barnes, Magen E. Francis, Lauren N. Claus, R.R.F. Cozzi, and W.S. Marshall (2020). Focal adhesion kinase and osmotic responses in ionocytes of Fundulus heteroclitus, a euryhaline teleost fish. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology 241: article 110639. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.110639

Halat, Laryssa, M.E. Galway, and D.J. Garbary (2020). Cell wall structural changes lead to separation and shedding of biofouled epidermal cell wall layers by the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum. Protoplasma 257: 1319-1331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-020-01502-3

Jurga, Emil, L. Graham, and C.D. Bishop (2020). Oophila is monophyletic within a three-taxon eukaryotic microbiome in egg masses of the salamander Ambystoma maculatumSymbiosis 81: 187-199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-020-00693-w

Scrosati, R.A., Heather L. MacDonald, C.A. Córdova, and G.N. Casas (2020). Length and biomass data for Atlantic and Pacific seaweeds from both hemispheres. Frontiers in Marine Science 7: article 592675. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.592675

2019

Ballesteros-Cillero, R., Evan Davison-Kotler, N. Kohli, W.S. Marshall, E. García-Gareta (2019). Biomimetic in vitro model of cell infiltration into skin scaffolds for pre-screening and testing of biomaterial-based therapies. Cells 8: 917-931. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8080917

Davison-Kotler, Evan, W.S. Marshall, and E. García-Gareta (2019). Sources of collagen for biomaterials in skin wound healing: Current standards and future developments. Bioengineering 6: 56-71. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering6030056

MacKenzie, Amelia F., Ella A. Maltby, N. Harper, C. Bueley, D. Olender, and R.C. Wyeth (2019). Periodic ultraviolet-C illumination for marine sensor antifouling. Biofouling 35: 483-493. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927014.2019.1616698

Young, A.P., Carmen F. Landry, D.J. Jackson, and R.C. Wyeth (2019). Tissue-specific evaluation of suitable reference genes for RT-qPCR in the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis. PeerJ 7: article e7888. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7888.

2018

MacDonnell, Mallory, B.R. Taylor, and R.F. Lauff (2018). Chemical light sticks as bait to trap predaceous aquatic insects: Effect of light colour. Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science 49: 235-252. https://doi.org/10.15273/pnsis.v49i2.8162

Marshall, W.S., J.P. Breves, Ellen M. Doohan, C.K. Tipsmark, S.P. Kelly, G.N. Robertson, and P.M. Schulte (2018). claudin-10 isoform expression and cation selectivity change with salinity in salt-secreting epithelia of Fundulus heteroclitus. Journal of Experimental Biology 221: article jeb168906. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.168906

2017

Garbary, D.J., M.E. Galway, and Laryssa Halat (2017). Response to Ugarte et al.: Ascophyllum (Phaeophyceae) annually contributes over 100 % of its vegetative biomass to detritus. Phycologia 56: 116-118. https://doi.org/10.2216/16-44.1

Sherker, Zachary T., J.A. Ellrich, and R.A. Scrosati (2017). Predator-induced shell plasticity in mussels hinders predation by drilling snails. Marine Ecology Progress Series 573: 167-175. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12194

Tait, Janet C., Evan W. Mercer, L. Gerber, G.N. Robertson, and W.S. Marshall (2017). Osmotic versus adrenergic control of ion transport by ionocytes of Fundulus heteroclitus in the cold. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology 203: 255-261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2016.10.003

Webber, Marissa P., James W.S. Thomson, J. Buckland-Nicks, R.P. Croll RP, and R.C. Wyeth (2017). GABA-, histamine-, and FMRFamide-immunoreactivity in the visual, vestibular, and central nervous systems of Hermissenda crassicornis. The Journal of Comparative Neurology 525: 3514-3528. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.24286

2016

Ells, Veronica, N. Filip, C.D. Bishop, M.E. DeMont, T. Smith-Palmer, and R.C. Wyeth (2016). A true test of colour effects on marine invertebrate larval settlement. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 483: 156-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2016.07.011

Filip, N., A. Pustam, Veronica Ells, Kathleen M.T. Grosicki, Jin Yang, Ikenna Oguejiofor, C.D. Bishop, M.E. DeMont, T. Smith-Palmer, and R.C. Wyeth (2016). Fouling-release and chemical activity effects of a siloxane-based material on tunicates. Marine Environmental Research 116: 41-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2016.02.015

Schwarz, Jonathan S., G.B. McCullagh, and R.C. Wyeth (2016). Detection of substrate-associated odour cues versus prey-associated cues by the oral veil in Tritonia diomedea. Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology 49: 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1080/10236244.2015.1123870

2015

Carrigan, Ian D., R.P. Croll, and R.C. Wyeth (2015). Morphology, innervation, and peripheral sensory cells of the siphon of Aplysia californica. The Journal of Comparative Neurology 523: 2409-2425. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.23795

Cozzi, R.R.F., G.N. Robertson, M. Spieker, Lauren N. Claus, Gabriella M.M. Zaparilla, Kelly L. Garrow, and W.S. Marshall (2015). Paracellular pathway remodeling enhances sodium secretion by teleost fish in hypersaline environments. Journal of Experimental Biology 218: 1259-1269. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.117317

Halat, Laryssa, M.E. Galway, Sarah Gitto, and D.J. Garbary (2015). Epidermal shedding in Ascophyllum nodosum (Phaeophyceae): seasonality, productivity and relationship to harvesting. Phycologia 54: 599-608. https://doi.org/10.2216/15-32.1

Marshall, W.S., Janet C. Tait, and Evan W. Mercer (2015). Salinity preference in the estuarine teleost fish mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus): Halocline behavior. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 89: 225-232. https://doi.org/10.1086/686037

Vasey, Gabrielle, R. Lukeman, and R.C. Wyeth (2015). Additional navigational strategies can augment odor-gated rheotaxis for navigation under conditions of variable flow. Integrative and Comparative Biology 55: 447-460. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icv073

2014

Malone, Alicia M., R.R.F. Cozzi, and W.S. Marshall (2014). Cold acclimation allows regulation of chloride secretion in a eurythermic teleost fish Fundulus heteroclitusComparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology 180: 68-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2014.11.010

Pustam, A., C. Smith, C. Deering, Kathleen Grosicki,  T.Y. Leng, S. Lin, J. Yang, D. Pink, T. Gill, L. Graham, D. Derksen, C.D. Bishop, E.M. DeMont, R.C, Wyeth, and T. Smith-Palmer (2014). Interactions of protamine with the marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. NCIMB 2021. Letters in Applied Microbiology 58: 225-230. https://doi.org/10.1111/lam.12177

Ryan, Shauna M., Sara T. Livingstone, J.P. Barry, P.J. Williams, and R.C. Wyeth (2014). Laboratory comparison of American lobster, Homarus americanus, foraging responses to invasive green crab, Carcinus maenas, and two traditional finfish baits. Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology 47: 291-297. https://doi.org/10.1080/10236244.2014.938504

Small, D.P., R. Scott Bennett, and C.D. Bishop (2014).  The roles of oxygen and ammonia in the symbiotic relationship between the salamander Ambystoma maculatum and the green alga Oophila amblystomatis during embryonic development. Symbiosis 64: 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-014-0297-8

2013

Barnes, Katelyn R., R.R.F. Cozzi, G.N. Robertson, and W.S. Marshall (2013). Cold acclimation of NaCl secretion in a eurythermic teleost: Mitochondrial function and gill remodeling. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology 168: 50-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2013.11.004

2012

Buhariwalla, H.E.C., E.M. Osmond, Katelyn R. Barnes, R.R.F. Cozzi, G.N. Robertson, and W.S. Marshall (2012). Control of ion transport by mitochondrion-rich chloride cells of eurythermic teleost teleost fish: Cold shock vs. cold acclimation. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology 162: 234-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.03.010

Johnston, Bradley R., M. Molis, and R.A. Scrosati (2012). Predator chemical cues affect prey feeding activity differently in juveniles and adults. Canadian Journal of Zoology 90: 128-132. https://doi.org/10.1139/z11-113

Lowe, Amanda J. and R.F. Lauff (2012). Arboreal burials in Nicrophorus spp. (Coleoptera: Silphidae). Psyche: A Journal of Enthomology 2012: article 578650. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/578650

Scrosati, R.A., Jessica L. Grant, and Jasmine D. Brewster (2012). Density and size gradients across species distribution ranges: testing predictions from the abundant-centre model using the vertical distribution of intertidal barnacles. Vie et Milieu - Life and Environment 62: 197-202. http://pdfpapers.weebly.com/uploads/7/0/7/1/70714283/vem12.pdf

2011

Scrosati, R.A., Amanda S. Knox, N. Valdivia, and M. Molis (2011). Species richness and diversity across rocky intertidal elevation gradients in Helgoland: Testing predictions from an environmental stress model. Helgoland Marine Research 65: 91-102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10152-010-0205-4

Scrosati, R.A., Ruth D. Patten, and R.F. Lauff (2011). Positive interspecific relationship between temporal occurrence and abundance in insects. PLoS ONE 6: article e18982. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018982

Valdivia, N., R.A. Scrosati, M. Molis, and Amanda S. Knox (2011). Variation in community structure across vertical intertidal stress gradients: how does it compare with horizontal variation at different scales? PLoS ONE 6: article e24062. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024062

2009

Belt, Kiva-Marie, S.W.B. Cole, and R.A. Scrosati (2009). Intertidal barnacles as indicators of the intensity of scour by sea ice. Marine Ecology Progress Series 381: 183-187. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07935

Longtin, C.M., R.A. Scrosati, Gillian B. Whalen, and D.J. Garbary (2009). Distribution of algal epiphytes across environmental gradients at different scales: Intertidal elevation, host canopies, and host fronds. Journal of Phycology 45: 820-827. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2009.00710.x

Marshall, W.S., Kaitlyn D. Watters, Leah R. Hovdestad, R.R.F. Cozzi, and F. Katoh (2009). CFTR Cl- channel functional regulation by phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase at tyrosine 407 in osmosensitive ion transporting mitochondria rich cells of euryhaline killifish. Journal of Experimental Biology 212: 2365-2377. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.030015

2008

MacPherson, Elizabeth A. and R. Scrosati (2008). Population structure of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides (Cirripedia) across intertidal environmental stress gradients in northern Nova Scotia, Canada. Crustaceana 81: 725-736. https://doi.org/10.1163/156854008784513393

Marshall, W.S., R.R.F. Cozzi, and C. Strapps (2008). Fish louse Argulus funduli (Crustacea: Branchiura) ectoparasites of the euryhaline teleost host, Fundulus heteroclitus, damage the ion-transport capacity of the opercular epithelium. Canadian Journal of Zoology 86: 1252-1258. https://doi.org/10.1139/Z08-108

Marshall, W.S., F. Katoh, H.P. Main, N. Sers, and R.R.F. Cozzi (2008). Focal adhesion kinase and β1 integrin regulation of Na+,K+,2Cl- cotransporter in osmosensing ion transporting cells of killifish Fundulus heteroclitusComparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology 150: 288-300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2008.03.013

Taylor, B.R., Jonathan Ferrier, R.F. Lauff, and D.J. Garbary (2008). New distribution records for flowering plants in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science 44: 109-123. http://hdl.handle.net/10222/70980

2004

Garbary, D.J., Sarah F. Fraser, Carrie Ferguson, and R.F. Lauff (2004). Use of eelgrass, Zostera marina, wrack by three species of ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in Prince Edward Island. Canadian Field-Naturalist 118: 225-228. https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v118i2.917

2002

Marshall, W.S., J.A. Howard, R.R.F. Cozzi, and E.M. Lynch (2002). NaCl and fluid secretion by the intestine of the teleost Fundulus heteroclitus: Involvement of CFTR. Journal of Experimental Biology 205: 745-758. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.205.6.745

Marshall, W.S., E.M. Lynch and R.F. Cozzi (2002). Redistribution of immunofluorescence of CFTR anion channel and NKCC cotransporter in chloride cells during adaptation of the killifish to seawater. Journal of Experimental Biology 205: 1265-1273. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.205.9.1265

2001

Daborn, K., R.R.F. Cozzi, and W.S. Marshall (2001). Dynamics of pavement cell-chloride cell interactions during abrupt salinity change in Fundulus heteroclitus. Journal of Experimental Biology 204: 1889-1899. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.204.11.1889

2000

Marshall, W.S., S.E. Bryson, and T. Luby (2000). Control of epithelial Cl- secretion by basolateral osmolality in the euryhaline teleost, Fundulus heteroclitus. Journal of Experimental Biology 203: 1897-1905. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.203.12.1897

1999

Galway, M.E., D.C. Lane, and J.W. Schiefelbein (1999). Defective control of growth rate and cell diameter in tip-growing root hairs of the rhd4 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana. Canadian Journal of Botany 77: 494-507. https://doi.org/10.1139/b99-010

Marshall, W.S., T.R. Emberley, S.E. Bryson and S.D. McCormick (1999). Time course of salinity adaptation in a strongly euryhaline estuarine teleost Fundulus heteroclitus: A multivariable approach. Journal of Experimental Biology 202: 1535-1544. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.202.11.1535

Partridge, V.L. and R.F. Lauff (1999). Expansion of the known range of two bog-dwelling beetles into Nova Scotia. Northeastern Naturalist 6: 31-34. https://doi.org/10.2307/3858437