Natalie Donaher
Biography
Natalie has been instructing the second and third year biochemistry courses in conjunction with the departmental faculty since January 2019. Students journey from first-time pipette initiates to independent lab users comfortable with macromolecule extractions, protein purification, assays (kinetic/enzymatic & end-point/colourimetric), genetic manipulations (cloning/CRISPR) and mathematical modelling. Focus in second year is on formatting written data presentation (formal lab reports) and practicing verbal science communication with short lab presentations.
Previously Natalie held a position on campus as a support staff member for several research labs in the biology and biochemistry departments, maintaining grant-funded equipment, ensuring proper training, and organizing visiting researchers while completing benchwork for projects in fish toxicology and phytoplankton physiology.
Publications
Response of the sea-ice diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus to simulated polar night darkness and return to light (2019) Morin, P.-I., Lacour, T., Grondin, P.-L., Ferland, J., Forget, M.-H., Massicotte, P., Donaher, N. A., Campbell, D. A., Lavaud, J., Babin, M. Limnology and Oceanography
Combined effects of simulated acidification and hypoxia on the harmful dinoflagellate Amphidinium carterae (2019) Bausch, A.R., Juhl, A.R., Donaher, N.A., Cockshutt, A.M. Marine Biology
Decoupling light harvesting, electron transport and carbon fixation during prolonged darkness supports rapid recovery upon re-illumination in the Arctic diatom Chaetoceros neogracilis (2019) Lacour, T., Morin, P.-I., Sciandra, T., Donaher, N., Campbell, D. A., Ferland, J,. Babin, M. Polar Biology
Connectivity among Photosystem II centers in phytoplankters: patterns and responses (2017) Xu, K., Grant-Burt, J.L., Donaher, N.A., and Campbell, D.A. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics
A Hard Day's Night: Diatoms continue recycling Photosystem II in the dark (2016) Li, G., Woroch, A.D., Donaher, N.A., Cockshutt, A.M., and Campbell, D.A. Frontiers in Marine Science
The nitrogen costs of photosynthesis in a diatom under current and future pCo2 (2015) Li, G., Brown, C. M., Jeans, J. A., Donaher, N. A., McCarthy, A. and Campbell, D. A. New Phytologist
Complete nucleomorph genome sequence of the non photosynthetic alga Cryptomonas paramecium reveals a core nucleomorph gene set (2011) Tanifuji, G., Onodera, N.T, Wheeler, T.J., Dlutek, M., Donaher, N. and Archibald, J.M. Genome Biology and Evolution
The complete plastid genome sequence of the secondarily nonphotosynthetic alga Cryptomonas paramecium: reduction, compaction, and accelerated evolutionary rate. (2009) Donaher, N., Tanifuji, G., Onodera, N.T., Malfatti, S.A., Chain, P.S., Hara, Y. and Archibald, J.M. Genome Biology and Evolution
Fungal diversity during leaf decomposition in a stream assessed through clone libraries (2008) Sahadevan, S., Wynberg, N.* and Bärlocher, F. Fungal Diversity
Nucleomorph karyotype diversity in the freshwater cryptophyte genus Cryptomonas (2008) Phipps, K., Donaher, N., Lane, C.E., and Archibald, J.M. Journal of Phycology
Synthesis and catalysed hydroboration of styryl sulfanilamides (2005) Wynberg, N.*, Leger, L.J., Conrad, M.L., Vogels, C.M., Decken, A., Duffy, S.J. and Westcott, S.A. Canadian Journal of Chemistry
*Natalie (née Wynberg) Donaher
Education
Dalhousie University (Halifax NS) MSc 2009
Mount Allison University (Sackville NB) BSc 2006
Grants, awards & honours
NSERC CGS-M Canada Graduate Scholarship 2006
NSERC USRA Research Award 2005
The Lady Henrietta E. Banting Prize, Mount Allison University 2005