Biology

Maryse completed her bachelor’s degree in Biology and her PhD in Biochemistry, both at McGill University. Her doctoral's thesis focused on the role of the innate immune system on the development of colorectal and breast cancer. She worked at the Canadian Cancer’s Society before joining John Abbott college in 2019.

Shireef is an inveterate mycophile (lover of fungi) and invites one and all to come talk about the wonderfully weird world of mushrooms, molds, and yeasts. He is passionate about the arts, particularly music and literature, and is an avid collector of vinyl records.

Jason completed his undergraduate (BSc. in Biology) and graduate studies (MSc. in Anatomy and Cell Biology) at McGill University; his Master’s thesis focused on cell signaling in insect immune responses. Afterwards, he remained in the laboratory to explore new fields of biological research; namely, signaling pathways in single cell injuries and identifying apoptosis-protective genes. Later, he moved to South Korea to teach academic and scientific writing to undergraduate students at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Grade 10-12 earth science, biology, and anatomy at Global Prodigy Academy. In 2017, he returned to Montreal and began working in the Biology Department at John Abbott College where he enjoys teaching anatomy and physiology. During his time at the college, he has participated in several projects involved in creating digital pedagogical materials and implementing new technologies in the classroom, the latter including the use of virtual reality equipment and developing educational video games.

His leisurely pursuits are fairly nerdy; he enjoys playing board games and video games and reading science fiction and is usually pretty up-to-date on popular television shows. He enjoys weight-lifting, jiu-jitsu, cycling, and snowboarding, while his more creative hobbies include cooking, fermenting (beer and kimchi), and woodworking.

I was born and raised in the English Townships. I completed my first college diploma in social sciences. Luckily, the program required that students take two biology courses. I realized immediately that I wanted to study life sciences and spent a third year in college in order to complete a second DEC in science. At McGill, I completed a B.Sc. -Honors in Immunology- which is a nice mix of anatomy, physiology, cell biology, microbiology and molecular biology. Then I signed up for graduate school and studied the effect of certain chemokines on the maturation and activation of B lymphocytes. I was granted a M.Sc. in experimental medicine. I decided to become a biology teacher so I completed a B.Ed. I taught science in high school for two years before joining the John Abbott College faculty in 2006.Today I teach the very same biology course that prompted me to switch from social science to life sciences when I was in CÉGEP. As well, I teach anatomy and physiology for technical programs and the pre-university science program. My teaching practice is guided by the principles of active learning and universal design in hopes that my instruction continuously becomes more accessible and engaging to students, so that they can take part in meaningful learning and become life-long, independent learners.

Katie completed her Honors Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Western Ontario in 2007, where her honors thesis investigated nest parasitism by cowbirds. She then completed her Masters of Science at the University of Alberta in 2010, where she looked at use of under-road tunnels by an endangered population of salamanders in Waterton Lakes National Park. In 2015, Katie finished her PhD at McGill University, where she looked at the impacts of invasive species on aquatic communities. In 2015, Katie began teaching at another CEGEP while completing a post-doctoral fellowship at UQAM and also course lecturing at McGill University. As of 2018, Katie has been teaching full-time at John Abbott College, where she can commonly be found teaching to core Science Program courses, as well as being one of the coordinators of the Independent Research Project in Science Course.

Katie loves sharing her passion for science and learning beyond the classroom, through her science comedy podcast, Learn Real Good, and by running workshops where she teaches science communication skills to researchers using improv games. Katie is also an avid knitter, bass player, improv comedy performer, and model-builder.

I bounced quite a bit while growing up, moving between Fredericton, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. After falling in love with Staphylococcus aureus in my first year at McGill, I went on to study Microbiology and Immunology. After spending three months in Vietnam, I decided to focus my studies on neglected tropical diseases. I joined Terry Spithill at the Institute of Parasitology at McGill, Macdonald campus, to study the veterinary parasites Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. I joined the Biology department at John Abbott in 2009, where I have been happily sharing stories about bacteria, viruses and parasites with technical program students (Nursing, Pre-Hospital Emergency Care and Dental Hygiene) and science students alike.