Welcoming Brazilian Friends

The Scott Lab had a great visit at McMaster with our Brazilian friends, Sofia da Silva Matos and Luciane Gargaglioni Batalhão from UNESP Jaboticabal. It was great to host them in our lab to share ideas, teach each other a few techniques, and have some time to socialize. Looking forward to the next visit!

Left to right: Graham, Evelyn, Patrick, Kayla, Luciane, Naomi, and Sofia.

Congrats to Dr. Saleem!

Congratulations to Ranim Saleem on an excellent PhD defense! Ranim conducted lots of great research on the mitochondrial basis of high-altitude adaptation in small mammals, and her oral defence was excellent. Great job Ranim!!

Congratulatory mito-cake
Ranim and Graham after the successful defence.
Post-defence celebrations with the Scott Lab (from left to right): Patrick, Evelyn, Caileigh, Ranim, Kayla, Derek, and Graham.

The Scott Lab in Florence at SEB 2026

Kayla, Caileigh, and Graham had a blast at the Society of Experimental Biology (SEB) meeting in Florence. It was a great conference with lots of excellent talks, and the Scott Lab’s research was very well received. We also had some great opportunities for sightseeing, impromptu gelato breaks, and tasting some delicious Italian wine!

Graham, Kayla, and Caileigh (left to right) atop the Duomo at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
Kayla, Jack, Graham, and Caileigh in the Cathedral’s Bell Tower.

BUS 2026

Congratulations to the Scott Lab’s excellent undergrad thesis students – Andrew, Anna, Isabella, and Naomi – for their excellent thesis presentations in the McMaster Biology Undergraduate Symposium this year! Special congrats to Anna for winning a physiology presentation award. Great job everyone!

Anna (centre) flanked by her proud grad student mentors, Evelyn (left) and Ranim (right)
The Scott Lab at BUS 2026 (left to right): Evelyn, Patrick, Andrew, Isabella, Naomi, Ranim, Anna, Kayla, Graham, and Derek.

The Scott Lab at Rice Lake 2026

The Scott Lab had a great weekend at the Annual Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry Workshop at Rice Lake this year. The workshop featured many great student presentations, including awesome posters by Derek, Evelyn, and Patrick. Good times!

Team Deer Mouse overlooking Rice Lake at the 2026 Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry Workshop, including Derek, Grant McClelland, Patrick, Graham, Cayleih Robertson, and Evelyn.

The Scott Lab at IUPS 2025

Graham and Ranim represented the Lab the 40th Congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) in Frankfurt, Germany. There was lots of inspiring talks in fundamental and comparative physiology, and the Scott Lab’s research was very well received. Great science was mixed with some fun opportunities for sightseeing, and of course some delicious schnitzel!

Graham and Ranim on a city boat tour on the Main River.

Caileigh Tomas, MSc!

Congratulations to Caileigh Tomas on a successful defense of her MSc today! Caileigh conducted great research on the role of the microbiome in high-altitude adaptation, she wrote an excellent thesis, and her oral defence was outstanding. Great job Caileigh!!

Caileigh in the biology lounge, enjoying a delicious and appropriately shaped cake pop after her defence.
Caileigh and Graham enjoying a celebratory drink at the Phoenix.

To Argentina!

Kayla and Zainab are taking some exciting next steps in our work on the world’s highest dwelling animal, the Punta de Vacas leaf-eared mouse (Phyllotis vaccarum) (See “Studying the World’s Highest Dwelling Animal!” from May 2024). We had a fantastic trip to Mendoza Argentina to collaborate with Paola Sassi and her research group at the Argentinian Institute for Arid Zone Research (IADIZA) to examine how these impressive animals cope with chronic hypoxia. Great science, great new friends, excellent wine, and delicious asado!

Zainab, Kayla, and Graham in Plaza Independencia
Zainab, Kayla, and Graham at Casa Vigil Bodega
Left to right: Fiona, Paola, Rosalita (Chari), Josefina, Kayla, Emmanuel, Zainab, Graham, and Naim
Graham getting an asado lesson from Emmanuel

The Scott Lab at CSZ 2025

The Scott Lab had a great time at the 2025 Canadian Society of Zoologists conference in Waterloo! The excellent zoological research in Canada was on full display, with lots of great talks and posters from across the country. The lab was well represented with excellent talks by Derek, Caileigh, and Ranim, and great posters by Jess and Patrick. Well done Scott Lab!

A big congrats to Ranim, who also won the George F. Holeton Prize for the most outstanding student poster in Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry. Way to go Ranim!