NSERC USRA

NSERC

The NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) is designed to stimulate undergraduate interest in research in the natural sciences and engineering. Please view NSERC program guidelines and more information here.

2026 NSERC USRA Award Recipients

Student	Supervisor	Project Title
Furrah Malik	Laura Atkinson	Uncovering Nutrient-Driven Control of the Myogenic Transcriptional Program
Fatima Bhanji	Jared Fletcher	The Relationship between Muscle Strength and Tendon Stiffness Across the Menstrual Cycle
Martina Stankevic	Trevor King	Impacts of exercise in wildfire smoke on the vasculature: Sex differences and dose-response
Harmandeep Gill	Trevor Day	NSERC USRA 2026 - Gill and Day
Ayla Ventura	Andrew Bloch-Hansen	Algorithms for the Thief Orienteering Problem
Mary Ransom	Jennifer Scott	Extreme environments and paleoclimate cycles in the Kenya Rift Valley
Elaine Lamoureux	Nausheen Sadiq	Skin Deep Risk Assessment: Simulating Heavy Metal Permeation in Cosmetics Using Artificial Skin

2025

Student	Supervisor	Project Title
Caden Albright	Jeella Acedo	Characterization of the antimicrobial peptide, corynacin
Nicole Bushfield	Trevor Day	Accuracy of Capillary Blood Draws as a Surrogate for Arterial Blood Gas Measures
Samuel Trepac	Yasaman Amannejad	Dynamic Resource-Aware Configurations for Split Federated Learning Models
Sama Ghods	Nick Strzalkowski	Standing Balance and orthostatic hypotension at high altitude
Tai Shishiba	Aresh Dadlani	Modeling and Optimal Control of Polymorphic Malware Spread
Katie Rose Sand	Felix Nwaishi	Boreal wetland conservation and restoration for migratory bird habitat around Slave Lake,Alberta, Canada
Nejaunie Williams	Adam Humeniuk	Order bounds and optimization of matrix convex functions

2024

Student	Supervisor	Project Title
Nicole Johnson	Trevor Day	Assessing ventilatory acclimatization with rapid ascent and residence at 3500m
Malcolm Rogers	Jonathan Mee	Development of a genetic assay to differentiate whitefish (Coregonus) species in Yukon lakes
Xena Al-Hejji	Eric Chalmers	What can we learn from an artificial intelligence model of major depressive disorder?
Tobias Wondwossen	Ashok Krishnamurthy	The Dynamics of Infectious Diseases using Bayesian Data Assimilation
Birhan Gezahegn	Nausheen Sadiq	Simulating Heavy Metal Permeation in Cosmetic and Personal Care Products: A Comprehensive Risk Assessment Using Natural Polymer Skin Models.
Aimee Williams	Nausheen Sadiq	Trace metal analysis of sweat to determine sex, ethnicity, and age in forensic science using ICP-MS
Ayomiposi Osisami	Trevor King	The impact of exercise in wildfire smoke on the vasculature
Tyler Bray	Felix Nwaishi	Boreal wetland conservation and restoration for migratory bird habitat around Slave Lake, Alberta
Kayla Praill	Jenni Scott	Reconstructing the paleoenvironments of human ancestors in East Africa
Minhal Ahuja	Nick Strzalkowski	The sensory control of standing balance and acclimatization to high altitude

2023

Student	Supervisor	Project Title
Jenna Buragina	Jeella Acedo	Investigation of the Antimicrobial Activity of a Novel Bacteriocin from Bacillus wiedmannii
Dale Swampy	Yasaman Amannejad	Evaluating Closed Captioning for Cree Language
Senay Weldu Kahsay	David Bird	Creation of an abcg18 abcg19 double mutant of Arabidopsis using CRISPR
Marco Perizzolo	Trevor Day	Cyclist's knee: Uncovering tendinous strain during cyclical tasks
Jessica Dickenson	Trevor Day & Nick Strzalkowski	Balancing at new heights: The impact of hypoxia on the control of standing balance
Landon Odishaw-Dyck	Maryam Elahi	Designing a Low-Cost and Accurate Human Motion Capture System with Hybrid Sensor Networks
Olivia Stanley	Jared Fletcher	The energy cost of running-tendon energy storage relationship across the menstrual cycle.
Grace Pigott	Jonathan Mee	Diversity of Genetic Sex Determination Mechanisms in Brook Stickleback
Kaitlynn Bartlett	Felix Nwaishi	Effectiveness of trenching in the restoration of peatlands impacted by linear disturbances
Birhan Gezahegn	Nausheen Sadiq	Determination of Concentration of Heavy Metals in Topically Applied Plant-Based Cosmetic Products and In Vitro Study of Transdermal Permeation of Heavy Metals Through Porcine Skin in Modified Diffusion Cells
Tigist Tilahun	Nausheen Sadiq & Gwen O'Sullivan	Determination of exposure pathways of heavy metals and PAHs in plant species native to Alberta.

2022

Student	Supervisor	Project Title
Christian Hunter	Yasaman Amannejad	Evaluating the Quality of Federated Learning Models
Banin Al-Shimari	Micheal Asmussen	The role of tibialis posterior muscle-tendon function in medial-lateral stability
Eric Bennett	Jared Fletcher	Achilles tendon moment arm and muscle energetics
Evan Bishko	Felix Nwaishi	Assessing the recovery of hydrologic functions in peatlands impacted by well pads
Robert MacKeracher	Jenni Scott	Impact of hot-springs and climate swings on lake habitats of early hominins in East Africa
Lacey Gibson	Bob Uttl	Prospective Memory

2021

Student	Supervisor	Project Name
Ruby Morillo	Andria Dawson	Reconstructing Holocene Albedo and Leaf Area Index from Fossil Pollen Records
Anthony Marullo	Trevor Day	Quantifying the differential effects of breath holding vs. rebreathing on cerebrovascular regulation
Eric Bennett	Jared Fletcher	Tendon compliance and muscle energetics of in vivo human skeletal muscle
Emily Yap	Jonathan Mee	The ecological and genetic basis of adaptive traits in brook stickleback
Traelyn Rachar	Felix Nwaishi	Evaluating the effectiveness of novel restoration techniques on peatland ecosystem functions

2020

Student	Supervisor	Project Name
Joanna Keough	Trevor Day	Experience-Dependent Cardiorespiratory Effects Resulting from Acute Intermittent Hypoxia
Leo Champagne	Michelle DeWolfe	Tectonic and volcanic setting of mineralized Neoarchean rocks, Northwest Territories
Bryce Carson	Jonathan Mee	The interaction between local adaptation and conditionally deleterious mutations
Kaitlyn Willerth	Jonathan Mee	Morphological differences among spined and unspined brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans)
Reid Mills	Bob Uttl	Prospective Memory
Victoria Violo	Bob Uttl	Prospective Memory