Sally Leys | sleys at ualberta.ca I am completely fascinated by the many things sponges do, without conventional nerves. In our group we explore how sponges coordinate sneezes, how they sense changes in their environment, and how they cohabit with a multitude of other creatures. By understanding better how sponges live we are able to help others understand how important these odd animals are to our lakes, rivers and oceans. Some of that work has helped guide the formation of Marine Protected Areas.
We also gain insight into how multicellular animals might have come about in the early oceans.
Left: a lab field trip to the Burgess Shale fossil beds in the Canadian Rockies.
Vanessa Ho MSc student | ATP signalling in Ephydatia muelleri Maria Diluvio BSc Project student 2023 | Do environmental parameters trigger contractions in a sponge in situ Veronica Price BSc Summer Research Assistant | Investigating the function of the ciliated epithelium in Oscarella lobularis Sara Bradshaw Technician 2023 | Photoreceptor evolution in sponges Pablo Aragones SuarezMSc Student 2021 | [email protected] - See his MSc thesis paper here Evgeni Matveev Research Assistant | when he is not working as an outreach coordinator at the Elk River Alliance in Fernie Shun Sogabe Postdoc | 2022 | Mechanisms of transfection in Ephydatia muelleri Emma Esposito PhD 2022 | Physiology in sponges Nikita Sergeenko MSc 2021 | 3D computer tomography of glass sponge reefs and sponge reef biodiversity Curtis Dinn MSc 2019 | Arctic and Boreal sponges taxonomy and systematics Nathan Grant MSc 2019 | Responses by glass sponges to sediments and importance to Marine Protected Areas Warren Gallin | Professor Emeritus: exploring mechanisms of transfection in Ephydatia muelleri ---------- Project students 2023: - Veronica Price - exploring ciliary beat rates in metazoans - Dinara Nanayakkara - exploring the function of cilia in homoscleromorphs - Sarah Robinson - do freshwater sponges clean themselves using mucus pathways?
