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Shawn MacFarlaneI completed my undergraduate degree here at Trent, studying Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. My Master’s research focuses on the amphibian stress axis and how it affects phenotypic plasticity within amphibians. More specifically, my interests surround processes affected by stress in the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) and the northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens). My goal is to assess if natural stress, such as that produced within prey species via perception of predators, has been accurately and relevantly modelled using previous laboratory methodologies; which involve the administration of exogenous stress hormones to larval amphibians. I will then use such a model to assess how stress affects larval amphibians at the behavioral, morphological and molecular level.
My research also focuses on regeneration, a process which both anurans (frogs and toads) and urodeles (salamanders) are capable of. However, unlike the anurans, which lose their regenerative ability post-metamorphosis, urodeles retain their capacity for regeneration throughout all stages of their lives, making them of particular interest to me. My research with salamanders is aimed at identifying how their regenerative process is affected by stress at the molecular and morphological levels. |
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Contact:
email: shawnmacfarla[at]trentu[dot]ca
email: shawnmacfarla[at]trentu[dot]ca
