Meet Florence Joseph, Research Assistant and NSERC Student Research Award Recipient, working in Innovative Work to Reveal Evolutionary Differences and Adaptations in the Visual and Skeletal Systems of Birds.
Florence is a recent MSVU graduate (spring 2024) with a BSc in Biology and one of six students who received an Undergraduate Student Research Award this summer, from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Through this award, Florence secured an assistantship position in Dr. Tamara Franz-Odendaal’s Bone Development Lab.
Dr. Franz-Odendaal is the Chair of the Biology department and the President of the Canadian Society of Zoologists, past President of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science and a co-founder and lead ally of the Canadian Black Scientists Network. Her research focuses on bone development, within the evolutionary developmental biology framework.
The project Florence is assisting with aims to understand if papillae spacing in birds’ eyes is consistent throughout their growth stages. It will also provide insights into how developmental processes regulate papillae spacing in bird eyes over time.
Florence had this to share about her experience so far: “It is interesting to know that birds have papillae in their eyes that induce bones to form and that these papillae form in a unique pattern throughout their development process. I am humbled to be part of such a prestigious lab and innovative research.”
Florence, who is soon going to start a Physician Assistant Master’s program at Dalhousie University, impressively finished her 4-year bachelor’s degree at MSVU in 2.5 years. Now, she’s acquiring a depth of research skills that will serve her well in her future studies. The bird dissections she’s been doing, for example, have helped her develop the skills she will need in her planned career of assisting with surgeries.
“I would like to personally thank Dr. Franz-Odendaal for taking me as one of her students and the NSERC for the USRA award,” Florence concludes.