Bertrand Lab
Marine Microbial Proteomics and Trace Nutrient Biogeochemistry
Department of Biology, Dalhousie University
Dr. Erin Bertrand (she/her)
Associate Professor
Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Marine Microbial Proteomics. Erin's research is driven by her passion for connecting molecular-level processes with global scale implications. Before Erin moved to Halifax, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Scripps Inst. of Oceanography and the J. Craig Venter Institute in California and earned her PhD from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program. When Erin isn't in the lab, classroom or at sea, you can find her running on beautiful Nova Scotia trails or listening to live music in Halifax.
Dr. Elden Rowland (he/him)
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Elden originally hails from Newfoundland and completed his PhD research on proteolysis in Arabidopsis chloroplasts at Cornell University where he used N-terminal proteomics to identify chloroplast protease substrates and specificities.
In the Bertrand Lab, Elden performs targeted mass spectrometry of marine meta-proteomes and metabolomes. We endeavor to detect the smallest possible amounts of proteins in complex microbial communities in order to assess metabolic responses to changing environmental conditions and nutrient availability.
Megan Roberts (she/her)
Lab Manager
Megan grew up on the coast of British Columbia and returned to Halifax and the Bertrand lab to complete her MSc ('22) after completing her honours project in the lab (BSc ’17). Her MSc project used a proteomic approach to examine the influence of glacial input on marine primary productivity in the Canadian Arctic and was a part of a multidisciplinary project in collaboration with glaciologists and oceanographers. She now takes responsibility for a variety of organizational tasks around the lab, field work logisitcs and helps projects progress by processing protein and matobilte samples.
Dr. Insa Rapp (she/her)
OFI Postdoctoral Fellow
Insa started as an Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) postdoctoral fellow in the Bertrand lab in September 2019 and is interested in how Greenland’s ice melt is influencing Arctic phytoplankton communities and their metabolic function. She is investigating microbial proteins as indicators of nutrient stress and in collaboration with the LaRoche lab is also assessing the potential for nitrogen fixation in the Arctic. Insa completed her PhD at GEOMAR in Kiel (Germany) where she worked on marine trace metal biogeochemical cycling in tropical oxygen minimum zones
Elis Jones (he/him)
OFI Visiting Fellow
Elis works at the intersection of philosophy, sociology and marine sciences. He is visiting the Bertrand Lab through the Ocean Frontier Institute’s Visiting Fellowship programme, and is looking at the philosophical underpinnings and implications of biogeochemical concepts. Elis completed his PhD at the University of Exeter in the UK in 2023, which involved philosophical and sociological study of coral science and coral scientists, looking at the different roles that value plays in coral science. Outside of the lab Elis enjoys swimming, running and scuba diving, although maybe not in Canadian winter.
Scott Pollara (he/him)
PhD Candidate
Scott grew up in Massachusetts before completing a BSc in biology (’19) at
Haverford College outside of Philadelphia PA. At Haverford, Scott studied the
impacts of bacterial quorum sensing molecules on marine phytoplankton. Scott joined the Bertrand lab in 2021 as part of a collaborative project characterizing biological carbon pump activity in the Labrador Sea. His research focuses on using proteomics to characterize microbial interactions impacting biological carbon pump activity in the Northwest Atlantic. When not in the lab, you can find Scott running, hiking, or brewing his own cider and beer.
Sonja Rose (she/her)
PhD Candidate
Sonja Rose is a PhD candidate at Dalhousie university, supervised by Drs. Julie LaRoche and Erin Bertrand. Her research focuses on substrate preference and nitrogen fixation regulation within a cultured heterotrophic bacterial diazotroph (Candidatus Thalassolituus haligoni) from Bedford Basin, NS. Her specific interests involve trying to understand the relationships between Nitrogen and Carbon metabolism through multi-omic approaches, 15N2 isotope measurements, and development of a genome informed metabolic model. Her work also examines the global distribution and community dynamics of the isolate along the coastal and open oceans as most heterotrophic diazotrophs are only found regionally and not widespread. Overall, her work aims to examine the physiological changes of the isolate when exposed to different nitrogen environments and use Cand. T.haligoni as a model species for this understudied and underrepresented group of marine diazotrophs.
Jenifer Spence (she/her)
PhD Candidate
Jen is a PhD Candidate at the University of Alberta, co-supervised by Drs. Kurt Konhauser and Erin Bertrand. Hailing from Vancouver, BC, she completed her BSc in Biochemistry and Immunology (’16) at the University of Victoria, followed by her MSc in Microbiology (’19) at the University of British Columbia. Jen’s PhD research focuses on how the shifting glacial landscape in the Canadian Arctic may be impacting the marine microbial community and geochemistry. Her goal is to use the information gleaned from the modern to help inform how the ancient oceans may have been impacted by global glaciation events, 720 million years ago. Jen likes to spend her spare time in the outdoors, or during those chilly Edmonton winters you can find her curled up with a good book.
Patrick White (he/him)
PhD Student
Patrick joined the Bertrand Lab in 2021 during his MSc, where he worked under the co-supervision of Maya Bhatia at the University of Alberta. During his MSc, Patrick gained new insights into how glaciers are shaping marine ecosystems in the Canadian Arctic. Starting in 2024, Patrick is pursuing his PhD in the Bertrand Lab, expanding on ideas from his MSc while exploring new biogeochemical implications for a changing Arctic Ocean. Outside of the office, Patrick enjoys photography and just about anything outdoors.
Vanessa Schiliro (she/her)
PhD Student
Originally from Montreal, Vanessa is driven to understand marine ecosystems and provide insights that benefit both people and marine life. She completed a BSc Honours ('24) in marine biology at Dalhousie University, where she applied a predictive model to forecast basking shark movements in Atlantic Canada. She also holds a BA in psychology and human relations ('18) from Concordia University. In 2024, Vanessa joined the Bertrand lab for her MSc in Biology. Her research is focused on assessing patterns in marine phytoplankton diversity in the Canadian Arctic. Outside the lab, she loves spending time in nature, expanding her vinyl collection, swimming, and practicing yoga.
Julia Contelo (she/her)
MSc Cadidate
Julia grew up on Prince Edward Island surrounded by beautiful beaches and plenty of ocean life which sparked her interest in science and marine biology from a young age. She completed her BSc Honours at Dalhousie University in the Bertrand Lab in 2022 during which she studied the effects of elevated temperature and light levels on the growth and photophysiology of a polar diatom species, Fragilariopsis cylindrus. After completing her undergrad, she worked at Dalhousie's department of Oceanography for one year on a collaborative research project with the National Research Council. During this time she isolated and characterized phytoplankton species from the Bedford Basin in Halifax to build a local culture collection for use in developing novel sensors of oceanic response to environmental change. In September 2023, Julia came back to the Bertrand Lab to start her MSc in Biology where she is co-supervised by Dr. Zoe Finkel in the Oceanography department. Her research will focus on characterizing the physiological response of Pelagomonas calceolata to nitrogen starvation using transcriptomic and proteomic techniques. When she's not in the LSC, Julia loves to get outside for a hike, play with her dog at the beach, and check out local cafés and breweries.
Anna Gleason (she/her)
Research Assistant
Anna grew up in Michigan and Ontario before coming to Dalhousie University. She has always been fascinated by marine microbiology, and this passion has since grown. Anna recently completed her honours degree in the Bertrand lab with a focus on exploring marine cobalamin dynamics through the culturing of phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria, although she also worked in the lab on and off throughout her entire undergrad. Currently Anna is working with us to continue cobalamin related culture work and to help process some of the large metabolite sample inventory of the Bertrand lab. Anna enjoys spending her free time hiking, swimming, and reading a good book in the outdoors.
Lab Alumni
Dr. Cat Bannon, PhD (2024)
Ryan Molin, co-op student and research assistance
Lena Beckley, MSc (2023)
Dr. Loay Jabre, PhD (2023)
Catalina Albury, MSc (2022) and Research Assistant
Dr. Scott McCain, PhD (2021)
Maria Soto, MSc (2021)
Gianpaolo Cardellini, Experiential Learning Student (2020) and Research Assistant
Tor Kitching, Honours Student (2019) and Research Assistant
Kiran More, Research Assistant
Dr. Miao Wu, Postdoctoral Scholar
Hugo Arriojas, Honours Student (2017)
Rebecca Aucoin, Honours Student (2016)
Meghan Chen, Honours Student (2016)