- Congratulations to Tharangani Somarathna on the successful completion of MSc defense (July 21, 2025)
Welcome back as a PhD student this September, and congratulations on receiving the PhD Recruitment Scholarship!
- We are not only good at biotech research, but also pretty good at cooking and sharing food.
- Congratulations to Madeline Lehmann on the very well-written thesis and outstanding performance in the MSc defence on July 4, 2025.
- Some photos from the past two convocations – uploaded in July, 2025
Congratulations to Drs. Juli Wang, Udaya Subedi, Kethmi Jayawardhane, and Qiong Xiao for completing their PhD studies, and to Joshua Lawal and Mohammed Musthafa Mukthar for being awarded their MSc degrees! Also, thank you all for giving me the opportunity to wear my PhD gown again.
Thank you very much to the co-supervisors, Drs. Singer, Poudel, and Laurie. It has been fantastic working together, and we look forward to celebrating the graduation of other students and welcoming new ones who will be joining our labs soon.
- Thank you Yohana!
It’s great to work together in the group and thank you for your contribution. Congratulations on the job.
- Congratulations to Elias, Tharangani and Mianmian for the achievements in the 1st ALES Graduate Conference. Well done.
This transmission electron microscopy image depicts the pyrenoid, a specialized compartment within the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas that plays a central role in CO2 fixation. Understanding its structure and function is key to advancing carbon sequestration strategies and bioresource innovation for a more sustainable future. Scale bar = 0.5µm.
- “Bioengineered red yeast turns wood waste into a valuable fatty acid” Another report about our research. Thank you all.
- Congratulations Limin! Very well deserved.
- Kallum stopped by. Happy to know all is well and congratulations on the new job. Cheers!
- Report about our recent results about producing punicic acid in baker’s yeast via genetic engineering. Thank you Juli. Cheers.
https://phys.org/news/2025-01-genetically-yeast-high-healthy-fatty.html#google_vignette
- Happy New Year!
We arranged it in Jan this time, after Qiong passed her defense, Yue joined the group, and Elias came back from vacation.
Elias: we fully understand that you could not join us this time. Well, sorry but the food is really good 🙂
- Congratulations to Dr. Qiong Xiao on the successful completion of PhD defense on Jan 10, 2024!
- Yue Du joined out lab as a PhD student. Welcome!
- Congratulations to Mohammed Musthafa Mukthar Kethmi Jayawardhane on the successful completion of your MS defense today. Kudos also to his primary supervisor Dr. Hari Poudel and the other co-supervisory Dr. Stacy Singer. (Dec 12, 2024)
- Congratulations to Kethmi Jayawardhane on the successful completion of PhD defense today. Kudos also to her co-supervisor Dr Stacy Singer. Thank you Dr. Stephen Strelkov for being a committee member, and Drs. Leonardo González and Belay Ayele as examiners. (Dec 11, 2024)
- Congratulations to Udaya on the successful completion of PhD defense today. Kudos also to his primary supervisor Dr Stacy Singer. I’m proud to have served as the co-supervisor on this journey (November 2024)
- Joshua Lawal passed his MSc defense. Congratulations! Kudos also to his primary supervisor Dr. John Laurie at AAFC! (Sept 2024)
- Juli passed his PhD defense. Congratulations, Dr. Wang! (May 2024)
And, Congratulations on winning the 2024 ALES PhD Thesis Award!
- And just got another email: Madeline Lehmann got the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship. Congratulations Madeline (Nov 17, 2023)
- Some of us attended the CSPB2023 AGM. A fantastic conference and trip, and some of us got awards. Congratulations.
- Welcome our new postdoc fellow, Dr. Khadim Hussain.
- Welcome our new lab members Tharangani and Elias.
group photos on June 30, 2023
- Kallum McDonald passed the MSc defense. Congratulations!
And, Congratulations on winning the 2023 ALES Graduate Student MSc Thesis Award!
- Holiday group lunch. Dec 2022 🙂
- Farewell group lunch for Siyu. Thank you and it’s fun to do research together. Oct 2022.
- Yingyi just passed the MSc defense. Congratulations.
- Thank you Brock for the great contribution to our team!
- Our comprehensive DGAT review in the high-impact Progress in Lipid Research is online now. Here is the link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163782722000364?via%3Dihub
- Feb 17, 2022: Lucas visited us today.
Time flies. All people are young, but some people are younger than others (Others = the ones in the photos on the wall) 😛
- Photos are taken in the pandemic [ 🙂 and 🙁 ]. It’s a pity we could not organize a farewell party for Elias.
- Dr. Yang (Sarena) Xu accepted a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor offer from the University of Guelph. Congratulations! (April 2021)
- Happy to know that former Postdoctoral fellows Yang (Sarena) Xu and Kristian Caldo are awarded the prestigious Carl Douglas Postdoctoral Prize (2021) from the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists and NSERC postdoctoral Fellowship, respectively. Congratulations. (March 2021)
- Sarena’s ACBP-DGAT paper was selected as the featured article of the issue (May 2020).[link]
- Yingyu’s patatin-like phospholipase A paper was selected as the cover of the Dec 2019 issue by Plant Molecular Biology (Dec 2019) [link]
- Sarena’s transferase interactome paper was selected as the featured article of the Oct 11, 2019 issue by JBC (Oct 2019)
The illustration of our article “Transferase interactome that may facilitate channeling of polyunsaturated fatty acid moieties from phosphatidylcholine to triacylglycerol” has been selected as the cover of the Oct 11, 2019 issue by the Journal of Biological Chemistry [link].
- Kristian’s CCT1-SnRK1 paper in JBC was recommended in F1000Prime (Sept 2019).
Our article: Rabidness CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase 1 is phosphorylated and inhibited by sucrose nonfermenting 1-related protein kinase 1 (SnRK1)., The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2019 (DOI: 10.3410/f.736484326.793565055), has been recommended in F1000Prime as being of special significance in its field.
Click the badge for more information: 
- Our lab is recognized as one of the outstanding examples of safe work spaces (Gold Stars) on campus in 2019.
Thank you everyone for keeping our work space safe. Safety first. https://www.ualberta.ca/risk-management/insurance-and-risk-assessment/loss-prevention
- Our DGAT variant paper was selected as the featured article and research highlight of the issue (2017). [link]
- Lucas Falarz passed his MSc exam on May 31, 2019. Congratulations.
- Trinh Nguyen passed her MSc exam on Nov 14, 2018. Congratulations.
TRAINEES’ AWARDS – CONGRATULATIONS！
- Tharangani Somarathna – University of Alberta Graduate Recruitment Scholarship (PhD), 2025
- Tharangani Somarathna – Mary Louise Imrie Graduate Student Award (Graduate Student Travel Award), 2025
- Winston Liu – Mary Louise Imrie Graduate Student Award (Graduate Student Travel Award), 2025
- Xiaoyu Wang – Mary Louise Imrie Graduate Student Award (Graduate Student Travel Award), 2025
- Xiaoyu Wang – George H Duff Travel Bursary for the CSPB conference, The Canadian Society of Plant Biologists, 2025
- Kethmi Jayawardhane – George H Duff Travel Bursary for the CSPB conference, The Canadian Society of Plant Biologists, 2025
- Tharangani Somarathna – George H Duff Travel Bursary for the CSPB conference, The Canadian Society of Plant Biologists, 2025
- Elias Rietzschel – 2nd Place Oral Presentation PhD Category, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences Graduate Research Conference 2025
- Tharangani Somarathna – 1st Place in the Oral Presentation MSc Category, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences Graduate Research Conference 2025
- Mianmian Zhu – Top 3 Research Photo Contest, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences Graduate Research Conference 2025
- Juli Wang – 2024 ALES Graduate Student PhD Thesis Award, 2024
- Winston Liu – Plant Pathology Society of Alberta Scholarship, 2024
- Mohammed Mukthar – Best Oral Presentation Award in the Forage category, 2024, Canadian Society of Agronomy (Plant Canada conference 2024)
- Sameena Alam – Graduate Students’ Association Academic Travel Grant, 2024
- Sameena Alam – J Gordin Kaplan Graduate Student Award, 2024
- Qiong Xiao – J Gordin Kaplan Graduate Student Award, 2024
- Sandhya Gautam – J Gordin Kaplan Graduate Student Award, 2024
- Madeline Lehmann – Robert Simonet Graduate Scholarship, 2024
- Udaya Subedi – Best student oral presentation award for CAPB, Plant Canada, 2024
- Udaya Subedi – George H. Duff Travel Bursary for CSPB. Plant Canada, 2024
- Udaya Subedi – Helen & Fred Bentley Forage Crops Graduate Scholarship in Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences, 2023/24
- Udaya Subedi – Robert Simonet Travel Award – Doctoral Level, 2023/24
- Udaya Subedi – Rogers Sugar Graduate Scholarship, 2023/24, University of Alberta
- Udaya Subedi – Western Grains Research Foundation Endowment Fund Graduate Scholarship. 2023/24
- Udaya Subedi – Student Travel Award, North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference 2024
- Madeline Lehmann – Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship, 2023-2024
- Kallum McDonald – 2023 ALES Graduate Student MSc Thesis Award
- Madeline Lehmann – Honourable Mention for the Presidents’ Award, poster, The Canadian Society of Plant Biologists Conference, 2023
- Madeline Lehmann – George H. Duff travel bursary CSPB 2023 annual conference, 2023
- Madeline Lehmann – Robert Simonet Graduate Scholarship, 2023
- Mianmian Zhu – ThermoFisher poster award, The Canadian Society of Plant Biologists Conference, 2023
- Mianmian Zhu – George H Duff Travel Bursary, The Canadian Society of Plant Biologists Conference, 2023
- Xiaoyu Wang – George H Duff Travel Bursary, The Canadian Society of Plant Biologists Conference, 2023
- Kallum McDonald – Dr Bruce Jeffery Canola Travel Award – Master’s Level 2022/23
- Kallum McDonald – Robert Simonet Graduate Scholarship, 2022/23
- Kallum McDonald – Robert Simonet Travel Award – Master’s Level 2022/23
- Kallum McDonald – Simone Demers-Collins Graduate Travel Scholarship in Agriculture 2022/23
- Mohammed Mukthar – The 1st place prize in Poster Presentation, Joint Annual General Meeting, Canadian Weed Science Society & Canadian Society of Agronomy, 2022
- Mohammed Mukthar – Ali Navabi Grad Student Travel award, Canadian Society of Agronomy, 2022
- Juli Wang – Professor JB McQuitty Graduate Scholarship 2022/23
- Juli Wang – Bern and Donna Kotelko Travel Award in Bioresource Excellence, 2022
- Juli Wang – Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship, 2022-2023
- Juli Wang – Donald A Shaw Memorial Graduate Scholarship 2022/23
- Juli Wang – Dr Michael E. Stiles Graduate Scholarship in Applied Microbiology 2022/23
- Xiaoyu Wang – Alberta Canola Producers Graduate Award in Canola Production Research, 2022
- Mianmian Zhu – Bern and Donna Kotelko Travel Award in Bioresource Excellence, 2022
- Udaya Subedi – Graduate Student Travel Award 2023/24
- Udaya Subedi – Helen & Fred Bentley Forage Crops Graduate Scholarship in Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences 2022/23
- Udaya Subedi – Henry Kroeger Memorial Graduate Scholarship 2022/23
- Udaya Subedi – Robert Simonet Scholarship – Doctoral Level 2022/23
- Kallum McDonald – Member of The Canadian Agricultural Youth Council, 2022-2023
- Kallum McDonald – The 1st place on the student’s oral presentation, Canadian Association for Plant Biotechnology 2022 Conference
- Kallum McDonald – Travel award, Canadian Association for Plant Biotechnology 2022 Conference
- Kallum McDonald – Travel award, Canadian Association for Plant Biotechnology 2022 Conference
- Kallum McDonald – Canadian Society of Plant Biologists Waygood Award – – Canadian Society of Plant Biologists west regional meeting, 2021
- Kallum McDonald – the best oral presentation – Canadian Society of Plant Biologists west regional meeting, 2021
- Kallum McDonald – ALES travel grant, 2021
- Juli Wang – Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship, 2021-2022
- Juli Wang – Professor JB McQuitty Graduate Scholarship 2021/22
- Mianmian Zhu – Alberta Canola Producers Graduate Award in Canola Production Research, 2021
- Mianmian Zhu – Guelph Food Technology Centre (GFTC) Legacy Fund Scholarship, 2021
- Sandhya Gautam – Molly and Spencer Dier Memorial Scholarship 2021
- Kethmi Jayawardhane Agrisera Award in the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists annual meeting, 2021
- Udaya Subedi – Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship 2020/2021; 2021-2022
- Udaya Subedi – Canadian Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting Award, 2021
- Udaya Subedi – Henry Kroeger Memorial Scholarship, 2021
- Mianmian Zhu – University of Alberta Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship, University of Alberta, 2021
- Xiaoyu Wang – University of Alberta Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship, University of Alberta, 2021
- Qiong Xiao – Alberta Canola Producers Graduate Award in Canola Production Research, 2020
- Udaya Subedi – Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship 2020-2021
- Udaya Subedi –Western Grains Research Foundation Graduate Scholarship, 2020
- Kethmi Jayawardhane – Plant Pathology Society of Alberta Scholarship, 2019
- Kethmi Jayawardhane – Best Student Presentation Award at the 40th Plant Pathology Society of Alberta Annual Meeting, 2019
- Qiong Xiao – Alberta Canola Producers Graduate Award in Canola Production Research, 2019
- Juli Wang – University of Alberta Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship, University of Alberta, 2019
- Junhao Lu – Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI) Undergraduate Researcher Stipend, University of Alberta, 2019
- Junhao Lu – First Class Standing, University of Alberta, 2019
- Junhao Lu – Graduation with Distinction, University of Alberta, 2019
- Udaya Subedi – University of Alberta Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship, University of Alberta, 2019
- Kethmi Jayawardhane – Simone Demers-Collins Graduate Travel Scholarship in Agriculture, 2018
- Kethmi Jayawardhane – Alberta Canola Producers Graduate Award in Canola Production Research, 2018
- Lucas Falarz – George H Duff Travel Bursary for the CSPB conference, The Canadian Society of Plant Biologists, 2018
- Lucas Falarz – Travel Award, Department of Biological Sciences & Faculty of Science, University of Manitoba, 2018
- Lucas Falarz – Travel Award, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Manitoba, 2018
- Lucas Falarz – International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship, University of Manitoba, 2017
- Trinh Nguyen – George H Duff Travel Bursary for the CSPB conference, The Canadian Society of Plant Biologists, 2017