News

The Department ofPlant Food and Environmental Sciences would like to annoucne the following appointments.

Dr. Rhea Lumactud – Assistant Professor of Microbiology joined the department July 4^th and is located in the PFES Office Cox 280B (rheaamor@dal.ca, 902-843-0042).

Bio:  Rhea Lumactud is a soil and microbial ecologist. She holds a PhD in Microbial Ecology from the University of Toronto, an MSc in Soil Ecology from the University of Manitoba, and a Master's in Nematology from the University of Ghent, Belgium.

She has previously held a postdoctoral position in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology at Pennsylvania State University, where she worked on pilot research to determine the impact of the introduction of Trichoderma on the soil-borne Fusarium-infected tomato rhizosphere microbiome under greenhouse conditions to understand why biocontrol organisms often fail in the field. She also explored the fungal-bacterial volatile-mediated interactions and their roles in biocontrol. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta investigating the microbiome structure in humic-based amended agricultural fields across four ecological zones in Alberta and drought stress under greenhouse conditions.

Her research aims to understand the patterns and processes governing microbial diversity and their ecosystem functions under differing land use and management strategies in the face of various biotic and abiotic stressors underpinning soil health. She also seeks to unravel the intricate relationships and dynamics of belowground soil biota at the plant-soil interface, aiming to broaden our understanding of the vital role of soil biodiversity and its implications for sustainable land management. 

Dr Tudor Borza – Instructor of Plant Science and Genetics. Tudor has been a Long Term Instructor for the past few years and  commenced his new position  July 1^st. He can be found in Cox room 378A (tudor.borza@dal.ca, 902-893-3405).

Bio: Tudor Borza is a BS Honours graduate of Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He received his PhD degree in Plant Genetics at the same university. While a PhD student, he also studied at Vienna Biocenter, Department of Plant Genetics, Austria, as a fellow of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research. Between 1993 and 2003 he successively held positions of instructor, assistant professor and lecturer at Babes-Bolyai University.

His first postdoctoral experience was at Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, in the Laboratory of Structural Chemistry of Macromolecules. After that, he worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Iowa State University in Ames, USA, in the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology. In 2003 he moved to Canada, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, and as a research scientist at Genome Atlantic.

Between 2010 and 2020 he worked as a research associate at PFES, Faculty of Agriculture at Dalhousie University, in the laboratories of Dr. Gefu Wang-Pruski and Dr. Balakrishnan Prithiviraj, and as a part time academic. From fall 2020 he has been working as a limited-term instructor in the PFES department. As a part time academic and instructor at Dal AC Dr. Borza taught over 10 different courses (lectures and labs). He is also author or co-author of 75 research papers and of 93 contributions at scientific meetings.

Dr. Agnieszka Lesanko – Instructor of Chemistry joined the department July 10^th and is located in Cox room 378B (ag264239@dal.ca, 902-893-7430).

Bio:  Dr. Agnieszka Lesanko was a chemistry instructor at Concordia University of Edmonton, Alberta as well as a chemistry instructor at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). She obtained her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, and her post-doctoral training at the University of Alberta. Dr. Lesanko obtained her B.Sc. Chemistry from Warsaw University, Poland. In the recent past, she has taught a portfolio of chemistry courses at the Concordia University of Edmonton. Her multidisciplinary research encompasses organic chemistry and combinatorial chemistry, and her interests include food chemistry, analytical chemistry, and biochemistry.

Dr. Mason MacDonald  – Assistant Professor in Plant Ecophysiology. Mason has been an Long Term Instructor for the past few years and commenced his new position July 1^st. He can be found in Cox room 280C (Mason.MacDonald@dal.ca, 902-893-3135).

Bio:  Mason is an alum of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, earning his BSc (Agr). He then went on to earn an MSc in Agriculture from Dalhousie University followed by a PhD in Plant Biology from Université Laval. Mason then completed several years of postdoctoral work in plant ecophysiology, where he focused on lipidomic and metabolomic differences in balsam fir genotypes in response to abiotic stress.

Professionally, Mason became an Instructor in Dalhousie’s Faculty of Science before returning to the Faculty of Agriculture, where he served briefly as a Program Manager in Extended Learning then as an Instructor for the past six years. Mason’s teaching has focused on plant ecophysiology, environmental sciences, and chemistry-based courses at the Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences. Mason’s research has continued to focus on environmental stress in plants with a emphasis on improving resilience to climate change, with emphasis on natural antioxidants and plant growth regulation.