Bertrand Lab
Marine Microbial Proteomics and Trace Nutrient Biogeochemistry
Department of Biology, Dalhousie University
The Bertrand Lab at Dalhousie University employs physiological, biochemical, and bioanalytical approaches to improve our understanding of controls on marine microbial activity and how microbes influence major biogeochemical processes in the ocean.
Lab News
New Paper!
Production and utilization of pseudocobalamin in marine Synechococcus cultures and communities is out now!
October 24th, 2024
Dr. Catherine Bannon publishes a significant dataset of pseudocobalamin measurements in both culture and environmental sampling, helping to understand the role of this molecule in marine microbial communities
New Paper! Nitrogen fixation in the widely distributed marine γ-proteobacterial diazotroph Candidatus Thalassolituus haligoni is out now!
​July 31st, 2024
PhD candidate, Sonja Rose, isolates and characterizes a globally relevant diaztroph, helping to further our understanding of the role of diazotrophs in marine nitrogen fixation.
Congratulations, Dr. Catherine Bannon!
July 25th, 2024
Cat successfully defended her PhD at the end of July. She is now beginning a new journey as a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology! We will miss her a lot but are so proud of her accomplishments!
Patrick White is a recipient of the 2024 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research
July 2024
PhD student, Patrick White, wins prestigious doctoral scholarship awarded to graduate students studying natural sciences in Canada's north.
New Paper! Rubisco in high Arctic tidewater glacier-marine systems: A new window into phytoplankton dynamics is out now!
February 16th, 2024
MSc graduate, Megan Roberts (current lab manager) measures Rubisco across phytoplankton taxa in an Arctic region influenced by tidewater glaciers.
New Paper! Shedding light on cobalamin photodegradation in the ocean is out now!
December 14th, 2023
PhD student Catherine Bannon highlights the importance of making accurate measurements of cobalamin in the ocean.
Congratulations, Dr. Loay Jabre!
October 4th, 2023
Loay has officially graduated from his PhD and is off to WHOI to work as a post doc! We will all miss him but are very proud.
Congratulations to Lena Beckley for defending her MSc thesis! You can read it here
August 18th, 2023
Erin awarded 2023 CNC-SCOR Early Career Ocean Scientist Award
June 1st, 2023
This award recognizes outstanding contribution to the marine sciences (in the broadest sense) within Canada.
New Paper! The first chapter from Maria Soto, MSc graduate is out now!
March 15th 2023
Cobalamin producers and prokaryotic consumers in the Northwest Atlantic. Read the paper here!
Pi Day Sweep!
March 14th 2023
​Bertrand lab members once again take the cake (or pie...) at this year's deapartmenal Pi day competition. Congrats to Megan and Scott!
Our seafarers are back on land after completing their research cruises and the office is buzzing with activity!
June 20, 2022
Planky the Planktoscope is on the move! Planky joined PhD candidates Loay Jabre and Scott Pollara on the RV Celtic Explorer to take some snapshots of all of the photo-ready critters in the NW Atlantic Ocean. Say photosynthesis! Here is a phaeocystis colony (top right) and a Chaetoceros chain (bottom right) captured by Loay. Read more about his time at sea here.
June 6, 2022
MSc student Lena Beckley is out on the water with the Atlantic Zone Offshore Monitoring Program (AZOMP). Here she's holding a diatom-rich filter collected in the Labrador Sea.
May 12, 2022
Happy spring! We met up outdoors to catch up and chat science this week.
April 20, 2022
Congratulations to Catalina Albury for defending their MSc thesis! You can read it here.
March 30, 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Scott McCain for defending his PhD! Check out Scott's most recent publication in ISME here.
December 10, 2021
New Paper: Fe and temperature interactions in diatom growth
May 25, 2020
PhD student Loay Jabre leads this new work-Â We found that temperature and iron interactively influence growth in an important polar diatom - warming alleviated Fe demand, allowing cells to maximize growth under low Fe availability
Feb 11, 2020
​If I can see her, I can be her. Developed by Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Canadian Museum of Nature, #MySTEMjob tells the stories of twenty inspiring women from across Canada through video shorts designed to spark curiosity in young women and inspire them to pursue STEM careers.
Just Accepted! Journal of Proteome Research- Prediction and consequences of cofragmentation in metaproteomics
September 6, 2019
Congratulations PhD student Scott McCain- first thesis chapter published. Metaproteomics, almost by definition, is more complex than single-organism proteomics. One of the consequences of this complexity is messy spectra - when two peptides are selected together and produce overlapping 'fingerprints' (MS/MS spectra). This paper empowers proteomics researchers to understand biases arising from this complexity.
Welcome new PDF Insa Rapp, PhD students Cat Bannon and Charvanna Dhoonmoon, and MSc student Megan Roberts!
September 2019
Exciting times in the lab- we're growing!
August 9, 2019
In a new paper led by postdoctoral scholar Miao Wu and PhD student Scott McCain, our lab has led a collaboration that identifies manganese as a key micronutrient for shaping primary productivity in the Southern Ocean
Congratulations on successful honours degrees Catalina Albury and Tor Kitching! We couldn't be prouder
May 31, 2019
​Thankfully, they aren't going too far!
PhD student Loay Jabre wins best Biology Department Pi Day Pie, and a Lett Symposium Research Talk award!
April 5, 2019
Loay's been busy growing diatoms and perfecting his baking skills! He's won first place in our Departmental Pi Day Pie contest (winning pie shown on right) and one of three prizes for best research talk at the Dalhousie Biology Graduate student-led 2019 Lett Symposium. Congratulations Loay!
January 31, 2019
An exciting collaboration between many researchers working in the new field of marine microbial proteomics
Erin wins a Nova Scotia Discovery Award for Emerging Professional
November 2018
​The Discovery Centre does important work towards building a culture of curiosity in our province, and Erin is honoured to accept this award from them