2009-present: The goal of the Nematode Diversity Project is to identify new species of nematodes and perhaps a sister species of C.elegans. Students completing honours thesis projects employ a variety of techniques including fieldwork, microscopy, genetic crosses, behavioural analysis, DNA sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis. We have had 6 to 8 undergraduate students every year for four years and each has isolated and studied a distinct strain. The accumulated data will be stored on a public database, a draft of which is available here: (http://www.macwormlab.net/wp/).
This project was first funded by a grant from the Centre for Leadership and Learning (CLL) in Spring 2010. In Spring 2013 we received a grant from the Academic Science Fund to increase the number of students that can take the course. The grant money is being used in part to develop an iBook Lab Manual that would provide students with interactive media that guides them through the lab protocols and data analysis.
Kimberley J. Dej, PhD 