2022
January: Kate co-authored the paper 'Overcoming drug resistance, the natural way' with Dr Matt Hutchings, published in Cell Host & Microbe.
February: Connie submitted her Masters thesis. Kate was invited to give a seminar for the American Society of Pharmacognosy (Natural Products Webinar Series).
March: Parra successfully defended his PhD having been examined by Dr. Matt Hutchings (University of East Anglia) and Dr. Leighton Pritchard. Lily gave a talk at the Royal Society of Chemistry Analytical Biosciences Group Early Career Researcher Online Meeting. Lily co-authored two papers; "Developing novel biointerfaces: using chlorhexidine surface attachment as a method for creating anti-fungal surfaces", published in Global Challenges (doi:10.1002/gch2.202100138), and "Efficacy of antimicrobial and anti-viral coated air filters to prevent the spread of airborne pathogens", published in Scientific Reports (doi:10.1038/s41598-022-06579-9). Kate was the Keynote speaker for the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) and attended the Conference on Marine Natural Products, Ventura, CA. USA. Marla started her PhD in the Duncan lab remotely from Mexico.
April: Darren gave an oral presentation and Lily presented a poster at the Microbiology Society annual conference in Belfast. Kate hosted Prof. Sharon Robinson from the University of Wollongong (Australia) for a research visit.
May: Marla arrives in Glasgow after starting her PhD remotely from Mexico in March! Kate was an invited speaker at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Symposium on linking genes to metabolites in Copenhagen, Denmark. Both Connie (MRes) and Cheryl (MSci) finish up their studies.
June: Kate gave an invited talk at the International Symposium for the Biology of the Actinomycetes (ISBA 2022) in Toronto. Marla presented her research at the Chemistry and Biology of Natural Products meeting in Edinburgh.
July: Dr Sam William visits the lab on a Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Discovery Fellowship for two weeks! Kate was an invited participant for the BBSRC NIBB High Value Biorenewables workshop on Bioactives held in York.
August: Darren starts as a Research Associate on our UK Government, Department of Environment, Food and Environmental Affairs [DEFRA]) funded grant in collaboration with the Natural History Museum (NHM), National Oceanographic Centre (NOC), University of Aberdeen, University of Southampton and international partners. Marla presented a poster and Darren gave a talk at the Glasgow Microbiology Collective meeting at the University of Glasgow. Kate was an invited speaker at the International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME 2022) in Lausanne, Switzerland in the Chemical Ecology session.
September: Kate gave a Keynote talk at the Challenger Society conference in London, Darren and Kate are hosted by NHM and NOC in London and Southampton respectively for research collaboration visits. We welcomed Duncan Ballantyne [data], Jamie Campbell [lab], Ermando Canga [lab] and Lirong Luo [lab] to the Duncan group for their undergraduate final (4th) year projects!
October: We welcomed Kate McDonald [lab] to the group, Kate starts her year MSci project and will be with us until April next year. Darren hosted collaborators from the Natural History Museum and the University of South Pacific (USP). Kate visited Denmark Technical University (hosted by Lone Gram) for a week.
November: Kate went to the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee as an invited speaker at their Postgraduate Symposium
December: We co-hosted the Molecular Microbial Ecology Group annual meeting at the Technology Innovation Centre, University of Strathclyde, At this two-day meeting, Darren was a co-chair. Kate visited the Cook Islands in the South Pacific for a week as part of the DEFRA-funded collaborative grant along with the Natural History Museum (NHM), National Oceanographic Centre (NOC), University of Aberdeen, University of Southampton and international partners.
February: Connie submitted her Masters thesis. Kate was invited to give a seminar for the American Society of Pharmacognosy (Natural Products Webinar Series).
March: Parra successfully defended his PhD having been examined by Dr. Matt Hutchings (University of East Anglia) and Dr. Leighton Pritchard. Lily gave a talk at the Royal Society of Chemistry Analytical Biosciences Group Early Career Researcher Online Meeting. Lily co-authored two papers; "Developing novel biointerfaces: using chlorhexidine surface attachment as a method for creating anti-fungal surfaces", published in Global Challenges (doi:10.1002/gch2.202100138), and "Efficacy of antimicrobial and anti-viral coated air filters to prevent the spread of airborne pathogens", published in Scientific Reports (doi:10.1038/s41598-022-06579-9). Kate was the Keynote speaker for the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) and attended the Conference on Marine Natural Products, Ventura, CA. USA. Marla started her PhD in the Duncan lab remotely from Mexico.
April: Darren gave an oral presentation and Lily presented a poster at the Microbiology Society annual conference in Belfast. Kate hosted Prof. Sharon Robinson from the University of Wollongong (Australia) for a research visit.
May: Marla arrives in Glasgow after starting her PhD remotely from Mexico in March! Kate was an invited speaker at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Symposium on linking genes to metabolites in Copenhagen, Denmark. Both Connie (MRes) and Cheryl (MSci) finish up their studies.
June: Kate gave an invited talk at the International Symposium for the Biology of the Actinomycetes (ISBA 2022) in Toronto. Marla presented her research at the Chemistry and Biology of Natural Products meeting in Edinburgh.
July: Dr Sam William visits the lab on a Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Discovery Fellowship for two weeks! Kate was an invited participant for the BBSRC NIBB High Value Biorenewables workshop on Bioactives held in York.
August: Darren starts as a Research Associate on our UK Government, Department of Environment, Food and Environmental Affairs [DEFRA]) funded grant in collaboration with the Natural History Museum (NHM), National Oceanographic Centre (NOC), University of Aberdeen, University of Southampton and international partners. Marla presented a poster and Darren gave a talk at the Glasgow Microbiology Collective meeting at the University of Glasgow. Kate was an invited speaker at the International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME 2022) in Lausanne, Switzerland in the Chemical Ecology session.
September: Kate gave a Keynote talk at the Challenger Society conference in London, Darren and Kate are hosted by NHM and NOC in London and Southampton respectively for research collaboration visits. We welcomed Duncan Ballantyne [data], Jamie Campbell [lab], Ermando Canga [lab] and Lirong Luo [lab] to the Duncan group for their undergraduate final (4th) year projects!
October: We welcomed Kate McDonald [lab] to the group, Kate starts her year MSci project and will be with us until April next year. Darren hosted collaborators from the Natural History Museum and the University of South Pacific (USP). Kate visited Denmark Technical University (hosted by Lone Gram) for a week.
November: Kate went to the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee as an invited speaker at their Postgraduate Symposium
December: We co-hosted the Molecular Microbial Ecology Group annual meeting at the Technology Innovation Centre, University of Strathclyde, At this two-day meeting, Darren was a co-chair. Kate visited the Cook Islands in the South Pacific for a week as part of the DEFRA-funded collaborative grant along with the Natural History Museum (NHM), National Oceanographic Centre (NOC), University of Aberdeen, University of Southampton and international partners.
2021
January: Ally, Parra, Lily and Darren all presented posters at the SIPBS Research Day, with Ally winning the prize for best poster. Ally was also awarded the runner-up Manton student talk prize at the British Phycological Society Meeting. To cap off an amazing month, Ally's first lead author paper was published in Microorganisms (https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9020311) and Duncan Lab alum Sylvia was lead author on a paper published in Marine Drugs on which both Ally and Kate were co-authors.
February: All current members of the Duncan lab attended the Scottish Natural Products Network (SNaPNet) launch event, with Darren, Ally and Parra presenting posters and Darren, Ally and Duncan Lab alum Robyn chairing discussions on what Scotland contributes to the world of natural products research.
March: Duncan lab member Ally and alumnus Sylvia were invited to participate in the FEMS International Women's Day Stream (https://fems-microbiology.org/opportunities/international-womens-day-2021-live-discussion/). They were also interviewed for a perspective piece afterwards (https://fems-microbiology.org/perspectives-internationalwomensday-2021-choosetochallenge/).
April: Parra, Lily and Darren presented posters at the 2021 Microbiology Society annual conference, which was hosted online due to the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Lily co-authored the paper "Stability of cell-penetrating peptide anti-VEGF formulations for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration", published in Current Eye Research (https://doi.org/10.1080/02713683.2020.1830117).
May: Ally wrote a piece for the ASP newsletter about sexual harassment against women in marine science (https://www.pharmacognosy.us/making-stem-a-safer-place/).
June: Darren presented a talk at the Chemistry and Biology Natural Products XIV hosted by the University of Warwick. Ally presented a poster at the World Microbe Forum, a joint conference between FEMS and ASM.
July: Parra and Ally presented their research at Vanguards of Natural Products meeting (American Society of Pharmaconosy) https://aspmeetings.pharmacognosy.us; Parra presented his research at the 13th ISME Latin American Regional Conference/5th Pan American Regional Conference 2021
August: Connie presented at Strathclyde Microbiology Group. Parra presented a poster in the symposium "Natural Products: From Discovery to Application" at the 48th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress.
September: Kate delivered a plenary lecture on Marine Chemical Ecology and Metabolomics at the XII European Conference on Marine Natural Products https://ecmnp2021.squarespace.com; Darren presented a flash talk at the Microbiology Society ECM Forum Summer Conference.
October: Parra, Darren and Kate took part in the MIBiG 'annotathon' for the upcoming version of the MIBiG platform.
November: Ally successfully defended her PhD having been examined by Prof. Iain Hunter and Dr. Matt Davey.
December: Darren presented his work and Lily presented a poster at the Molecular Microbial Ecology Group meeting at the John Innes Centre in Norwich.
February: All current members of the Duncan lab attended the Scottish Natural Products Network (SNaPNet) launch event, with Darren, Ally and Parra presenting posters and Darren, Ally and Duncan Lab alum Robyn chairing discussions on what Scotland contributes to the world of natural products research.
March: Duncan lab member Ally and alumnus Sylvia were invited to participate in the FEMS International Women's Day Stream (https://fems-microbiology.org/opportunities/international-womens-day-2021-live-discussion/). They were also interviewed for a perspective piece afterwards (https://fems-microbiology.org/perspectives-internationalwomensday-2021-choosetochallenge/).
April: Parra, Lily and Darren presented posters at the 2021 Microbiology Society annual conference, which was hosted online due to the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Lily co-authored the paper "Stability of cell-penetrating peptide anti-VEGF formulations for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration", published in Current Eye Research (https://doi.org/10.1080/02713683.2020.1830117).
May: Ally wrote a piece for the ASP newsletter about sexual harassment against women in marine science (https://www.pharmacognosy.us/making-stem-a-safer-place/).
June: Darren presented a talk at the Chemistry and Biology Natural Products XIV hosted by the University of Warwick. Ally presented a poster at the World Microbe Forum, a joint conference between FEMS and ASM.
July: Parra and Ally presented their research at Vanguards of Natural Products meeting (American Society of Pharmaconosy) https://aspmeetings.pharmacognosy.us; Parra presented his research at the 13th ISME Latin American Regional Conference/5th Pan American Regional Conference 2021
August: Connie presented at Strathclyde Microbiology Group. Parra presented a poster in the symposium "Natural Products: From Discovery to Application" at the 48th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress.
September: Kate delivered a plenary lecture on Marine Chemical Ecology and Metabolomics at the XII European Conference on Marine Natural Products https://ecmnp2021.squarespace.com; Darren presented a flash talk at the Microbiology Society ECM Forum Summer Conference.
October: Parra, Darren and Kate took part in the MIBiG 'annotathon' for the upcoming version of the MIBiG platform.
November: Ally successfully defended her PhD having been examined by Prof. Iain Hunter and Dr. Matt Davey.
December: Darren presented his work and Lily presented a poster at the Molecular Microbial Ecology Group meeting at the John Innes Centre in Norwich.
2020
February: Huge congratulations to our Duncan Lab undergraduates Aimee and Robyn on finalising and submitting their theses! It's been great having them with us in the lab doing some really cool science! Onwards and upwards!
March: A busy month for the members of the Duncan research group. Laia presents at the DGHM and VAAM joint conference 2020, at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Ally gives an invited seminar talk at the Scottish Association for Marine Sciences, Oban. Lily, Darren, Robyn and masters student Diana give a presentation to Mearns Primary students as part of their STEM fortnight. Parra, Lily and Darren return to Glasgow Science Centre to take part in the latest edition of Curiosity Live, presenting an activity based on the theme 'Coasts and Shorelines'.
April: Ally participated in Skype A Scientist with middle school students in Canada.
July: Ally gave a talk at the SfAM MicroTalks seminar series on specialised metabolite production in marine microalgae.
September: Ally wrote two blog articles for FEMS to celebrate International Microorganisms Day. The two articles were 5 Pandemics That Changed The World (https://www.internationalmicroorganismday.org/blog/5-pandemics-that-shaped-the-world) and How Microbes Are Essential for Tasty Food (https://www.internationalmicroorganismday.org/blog/microbes-in-food)
October: Ally co-organised and chaired the SULSA (Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance) event "Through The Looking Glass: Breaking Barriers in STEM", an action-focused event on improving diversity and inclusion in STEM. Duncan Lab alumni Diana also gave a talk at the event. Kate selected for the Young Academy of Scotland (2020 to 2025 - youngacademyofscotland.org.uk).
March: A busy month for the members of the Duncan research group. Laia presents at the DGHM and VAAM joint conference 2020, at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Ally gives an invited seminar talk at the Scottish Association for Marine Sciences, Oban. Lily, Darren, Robyn and masters student Diana give a presentation to Mearns Primary students as part of their STEM fortnight. Parra, Lily and Darren return to Glasgow Science Centre to take part in the latest edition of Curiosity Live, presenting an activity based on the theme 'Coasts and Shorelines'.
April: Ally participated in Skype A Scientist with middle school students in Canada.
July: Ally gave a talk at the SfAM MicroTalks seminar series on specialised metabolite production in marine microalgae.
September: Ally wrote two blog articles for FEMS to celebrate International Microorganisms Day. The two articles were 5 Pandemics That Changed The World (https://www.internationalmicroorganismday.org/blog/5-pandemics-that-shaped-the-world) and How Microbes Are Essential for Tasty Food (https://www.internationalmicroorganismday.org/blog/microbes-in-food)
October: Ally co-organised and chaired the SULSA (Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance) event "Through The Looking Glass: Breaking Barriers in STEM", an action-focused event on improving diversity and inclusion in STEM. Duncan Lab alumni Diana also gave a talk at the event. Kate selected for the Young Academy of Scotland (2020 to 2025 - youngacademyofscotland.org.uk).
2019
January: Kate in Argentina (1 week) and Antarctica (3 weeks) as one of two science faculty and one of 10 leadership faculty for the third cohort of Homeward Bound, a global women in science leadership program; IBioIC Annual Conference (Ally selected for oral presentation, Kate - delegate).
March: Scottish Association for Marine Science visit (Kate); Ally hosts algal researchers from the James Hutton Institute; Duncan lab writing retreat.
April: University of Aberdeen visit (Kate); Microbiology Society Annual Conference, Belfast - Parra poster. Laia selected for oral presentation, Kate co-chaired the Chemistry and Biology of the Antibiotic Makers session. Ally began her 1-year industrial placement at Xanthella Ltd, where she will use their MicroPharos photobioreactors to study the effect of light stress on phylogenetically diverse marine microalgal species; Kate has a Strathclyde Doctoral School Centre of Doctoral Training (SDS CDT) on Developing Technologies to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance funded along with fellow co-I's Drs Damion Corrigan, Paul Murray and Christopher McCormick.
May: Alejandro presents a poster at a Natural Products conference in Copenhagen, Denmark; Kate attends a UK-Mexico links meeting at Glasgow University by the British Council, Mexico.
June: Kate travelled to Aberystwyth, Wales to act as a PhD external examiner at the School of Biological Sciences, Aberystwyth University.
July: Laia spent a training week at the National Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry Imaging at the National Physical Laboratory, London; Invited Seminar, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California (Kate); FEMS Annual Conference, Glasgow (Parra - poster presentation, Laia - volunteer, Ally - volunteer and poster presentation, Kate - invited talk), Jack Wilkins joined the lab for a three week summer internship from Queen Mary University, London.
September: Ally presents a poster at the joint XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products and XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products in Peniche, Portugal. Laia and Parra both present at the Glasgow Microbiology Collective.
October: Duncan research group alumni Dr Natalie Millán-Aguiñaga of the University of Baja California (a visiting research fellow, funded by MASTS) has her paper, titled "Awakening ancient polar Actinobacteria: diversity, evolution and specialized metabolite potential" published (https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000845). Laia presents and Ally gives a flash talk at the Natural Products in the Bio-economy meeting, at Aberdeen University.
November: Parra, Lily, Darren, Laia, Ally and Kate are joined by undergraduate students Aimee and Robyn to present an informative activity table at Curiosity Live, an event organised and hosted by Glasgow Science Centre. Laia and Ally both present at the Scottish Metabolomics Network Symposium at the University of Strathclyde.
December: Parra presents a seminar at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Costa Rica (UCR). Ally, Laia, Kate, and former PDRA Sylvia co-author "The Natural Products Atlas: An Open Access Knowledge Base for Microbial Natural Products Discovery" which is published in ACS Central Science.
March: Scottish Association for Marine Science visit (Kate); Ally hosts algal researchers from the James Hutton Institute; Duncan lab writing retreat.
April: University of Aberdeen visit (Kate); Microbiology Society Annual Conference, Belfast - Parra poster. Laia selected for oral presentation, Kate co-chaired the Chemistry and Biology of the Antibiotic Makers session. Ally began her 1-year industrial placement at Xanthella Ltd, where she will use their MicroPharos photobioreactors to study the effect of light stress on phylogenetically diverse marine microalgal species; Kate has a Strathclyde Doctoral School Centre of Doctoral Training (SDS CDT) on Developing Technologies to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance funded along with fellow co-I's Drs Damion Corrigan, Paul Murray and Christopher McCormick.
May: Alejandro presents a poster at a Natural Products conference in Copenhagen, Denmark; Kate attends a UK-Mexico links meeting at Glasgow University by the British Council, Mexico.
June: Kate travelled to Aberystwyth, Wales to act as a PhD external examiner at the School of Biological Sciences, Aberystwyth University.
July: Laia spent a training week at the National Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry Imaging at the National Physical Laboratory, London; Invited Seminar, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California (Kate); FEMS Annual Conference, Glasgow (Parra - poster presentation, Laia - volunteer, Ally - volunteer and poster presentation, Kate - invited talk), Jack Wilkins joined the lab for a three week summer internship from Queen Mary University, London.
September: Ally presents a poster at the joint XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products and XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products in Peniche, Portugal. Laia and Parra both present at the Glasgow Microbiology Collective.
October: Duncan research group alumni Dr Natalie Millán-Aguiñaga of the University of Baja California (a visiting research fellow, funded by MASTS) has her paper, titled "Awakening ancient polar Actinobacteria: diversity, evolution and specialized metabolite potential" published (https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000845). Laia presents and Ally gives a flash talk at the Natural Products in the Bio-economy meeting, at Aberdeen University.
November: Parra, Lily, Darren, Laia, Ally and Kate are joined by undergraduate students Aimee and Robyn to present an informative activity table at Curiosity Live, an event organised and hosted by Glasgow Science Centre. Laia and Ally both present at the Scottish Metabolomics Network Symposium at the University of Strathclyde.
December: Parra presents a seminar at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Costa Rica (UCR). Ally, Laia, Kate, and former PDRA Sylvia co-author "The Natural Products Atlas: An Open Access Knowledge Base for Microbial Natural Products Discovery" which is published in ACS Central Science.
2018
January: Carnegie Trust Collaborative Research Grant Meeting, with Computer Sciences collaborators from the University of Glasgow visit us at the University of Strathclyde; Industrial Biology Innovation Centre (IbioIC) Conference (Ally - poster presentation, Kate - delegate); Invited Seminar, John Innes Centre, Norwich.
February & March: Kate traveled to Argentina (1 week) and Antarctica (3 weeks). Kate was selected as one of 80 women worldwide for the second cohort of Homeward Bound, a global women in science leadership program.
March: Sylvia presents her postdoc work at the Gordon Conference on Marine Natural Products, Ventura, California; Kate visits the Technical Federico Santa Maria University, Valparaiso, Chile on a Santander Visiting Fellowship (pictured L-R: Augustina, Juan Ugalde, Bea Cámara); The First Annual Duncan Lab Retreat, Isle of Bute. L-R: Ferry to the island (Sylvia, Ally, Laia, Florent), the Isle of Bute with blue sky and palm trees!, our accommodation, making public outreach activities, our super bugs, a visit to Mount Stewart.
April: Microbiology Society Annual Conference, Birmingham (Kate, Ally, Laia). Ally and Laia both attended their first PhD conference, presenting posters in the environmental & applied microbiology and imaging mass spectrometry sections respectively. Kate co-oroganised and chaired a session on Imagine Mass Spectrometry with invited speakers including Theodore Alexandrov (EMBL, Germany), Laura Sanchez (Chicago, USA) and Ian Gilmore (NPL, Teddington); Kate went on the second part of her Scottish Life Science Alliance (SULSA) Funded Visiting Fellowship, Marnix Medema's Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Netherlands. This included an invited seminar at NIOO-KNAW (the Netherlands Institute of Ecology); Scottish Life Science Alliance (SULSA) Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) (Kate and Laia). Photo credit Nick Tucker via twitter (@Tucker303). Kate was an invited speaker, Laia presented her PhD research as a poster.
May: Salma and Cailin start their MSc lab work. Sample Collection Loch Lomond (Ally, Salma, Cailin, Florent) - Photo credits: Ally via twitter @fablach3592; Ally selected for the BBSRC PHYCONET funded UK and Chinese microalgae junior researchers workshop in China; Laia selected for an oral presentation at CBNP XII (Chemistry & Biology of Natural Products) conference in Warwick.
June: Ally selected for "I'm a Scientist...Get Me Out of Here"; Publication "Temperature driven changes in benthic bacterial diversity influences biogeochemical cycling in costal sediments" link here.
July: Jonathan (Parra) joins the lab from Costa Rica for his PhD.
September: Laia selected for a talk at Glasgow Microbiology Collective. Kate and PhD students Jonathan, Ally and Laia attended. This was the second oral presentation Laia has done (both in her 1st year of her PhD). Ally chaired the first session of day 1 of the conference; Ally was selected as one of 10 UK participants (one of five early career researchers) to attend the 1st Sino-British forum on Algal Biotechnology in Wuhan, China. Ally visited the Center for Microalgal Biotechnology and Biofuels at the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, China in September. In addition to participating in the meeting, Ally was selected as a panel member and won the 1st place poster prize! Kate traveled to the University of Aberdeen for an MRes viva in the Chemistry Department.
October: Darren, Calum and Hannah join the lab for their 4th year dissertation projects; Emzo de Los Santos visited the Duncan lab from the University of Warwick for a week from the 1st-4th October. As part of his visit, Emzo gave a research seminar and led a bioinformatics genome mining workshop (pictured), in addition to having research discussions with all members of the Duncan group, collaborators and members of the microbiology group at Strathclyde. Kate and Laia attended the postgraduate National Physical Laboratory PGI NPL meeting, Laia presented her research as a poster. Ally was selected for a fully-funded place at the Aquaculture for Biotechnology training course taking place at the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa (CCAP) in Oban. Kate was selected to talk at the final BBSRC NPRONET community meeting in Manchester.
November: Kate and Sylvia attended the two-day Scottish Metabolomics Network annual meeting at the Discovery Centre in Dundee, Sylvia presented a poster; Parra, Ally, Laia and Kate hosted a visit of postgraduate researchers from the Centre of Mathematics Applied to the Life Sciences (CMALS), University of Glasgow; Ally and Kate hosted the Industrial Photobiology Network meeting at the University of Strathclyde, starting Ally's photobioreactor cake (pictured)!; Kate and Ally were selected for oral presentations at the final BBSRC PHYCONET meeting in London; Invited Seminar (Kate), Wellcome Dundee Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee; Invited talk (Kate), Shell, London on medicines from the sea and Homeward Bound / women in science leadership; Kate was invited by the University Principal, Sir Jim McDonald (with Jana HB4 participant and Kirsty HB3 participant) to talk about HB2 and women in science leadership to the University Court at Ross Priory Strategy Days.
December: Invited Seminar (Kate) at the University of West Scotland, Department of Biological Sciences; Duncan lab Petri dish exchange.
February & March: Kate traveled to Argentina (1 week) and Antarctica (3 weeks). Kate was selected as one of 80 women worldwide for the second cohort of Homeward Bound, a global women in science leadership program.
March: Sylvia presents her postdoc work at the Gordon Conference on Marine Natural Products, Ventura, California; Kate visits the Technical Federico Santa Maria University, Valparaiso, Chile on a Santander Visiting Fellowship (pictured L-R: Augustina, Juan Ugalde, Bea Cámara); The First Annual Duncan Lab Retreat, Isle of Bute. L-R: Ferry to the island (Sylvia, Ally, Laia, Florent), the Isle of Bute with blue sky and palm trees!, our accommodation, making public outreach activities, our super bugs, a visit to Mount Stewart.
April: Microbiology Society Annual Conference, Birmingham (Kate, Ally, Laia). Ally and Laia both attended their first PhD conference, presenting posters in the environmental & applied microbiology and imaging mass spectrometry sections respectively. Kate co-oroganised and chaired a session on Imagine Mass Spectrometry with invited speakers including Theodore Alexandrov (EMBL, Germany), Laura Sanchez (Chicago, USA) and Ian Gilmore (NPL, Teddington); Kate went on the second part of her Scottish Life Science Alliance (SULSA) Funded Visiting Fellowship, Marnix Medema's Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Netherlands. This included an invited seminar at NIOO-KNAW (the Netherlands Institute of Ecology); Scottish Life Science Alliance (SULSA) Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) (Kate and Laia). Photo credit Nick Tucker via twitter (@Tucker303). Kate was an invited speaker, Laia presented her PhD research as a poster.
May: Salma and Cailin start their MSc lab work. Sample Collection Loch Lomond (Ally, Salma, Cailin, Florent) - Photo credits: Ally via twitter @fablach3592; Ally selected for the BBSRC PHYCONET funded UK and Chinese microalgae junior researchers workshop in China; Laia selected for an oral presentation at CBNP XII (Chemistry & Biology of Natural Products) conference in Warwick.
June: Ally selected for "I'm a Scientist...Get Me Out of Here"; Publication "Temperature driven changes in benthic bacterial diversity influences biogeochemical cycling in costal sediments" link here.
July: Jonathan (Parra) joins the lab from Costa Rica for his PhD.
September: Laia selected for a talk at Glasgow Microbiology Collective. Kate and PhD students Jonathan, Ally and Laia attended. This was the second oral presentation Laia has done (both in her 1st year of her PhD). Ally chaired the first session of day 1 of the conference; Ally was selected as one of 10 UK participants (one of five early career researchers) to attend the 1st Sino-British forum on Algal Biotechnology in Wuhan, China. Ally visited the Center for Microalgal Biotechnology and Biofuels at the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, China in September. In addition to participating in the meeting, Ally was selected as a panel member and won the 1st place poster prize! Kate traveled to the University of Aberdeen for an MRes viva in the Chemistry Department.
October: Darren, Calum and Hannah join the lab for their 4th year dissertation projects; Emzo de Los Santos visited the Duncan lab from the University of Warwick for a week from the 1st-4th October. As part of his visit, Emzo gave a research seminar and led a bioinformatics genome mining workshop (pictured), in addition to having research discussions with all members of the Duncan group, collaborators and members of the microbiology group at Strathclyde. Kate and Laia attended the postgraduate National Physical Laboratory PGI NPL meeting, Laia presented her research as a poster. Ally was selected for a fully-funded place at the Aquaculture for Biotechnology training course taking place at the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa (CCAP) in Oban. Kate was selected to talk at the final BBSRC NPRONET community meeting in Manchester.
November: Kate and Sylvia attended the two-day Scottish Metabolomics Network annual meeting at the Discovery Centre in Dundee, Sylvia presented a poster; Parra, Ally, Laia and Kate hosted a visit of postgraduate researchers from the Centre of Mathematics Applied to the Life Sciences (CMALS), University of Glasgow; Ally and Kate hosted the Industrial Photobiology Network meeting at the University of Strathclyde, starting Ally's photobioreactor cake (pictured)!; Kate and Ally were selected for oral presentations at the final BBSRC PHYCONET meeting in London; Invited Seminar (Kate), Wellcome Dundee Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee; Invited talk (Kate), Shell, London on medicines from the sea and Homeward Bound / women in science leadership; Kate was invited by the University Principal, Sir Jim McDonald (with Jana HB4 participant and Kirsty HB3 participant) to talk about HB2 and women in science leadership to the University Court at Ross Priory Strategy Days.
December: Invited Seminar (Kate) at the University of West Scotland, Department of Biological Sciences; Duncan lab Petri dish exchange.
2017
February: Xanthella & The Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban; PhD viva (Chemistry Dept.) and afternoon with Prof. Dave Patterson (executive director of MASTS) at the marine institute.
April: Microbiology Society Annual Conference, Edinburgh; Scottish Crucible lab 1 - Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Parliament.
May: 18th International Symposium on the Biology of the Actinomycetes (ISBA), Jeju Island, Korea.
June: Scottish Crucible lab 2 - University of Stirling; National University of Ireland, Galway: invited participant at "Sustainability in Marine Biodiscovery" workshop; Natalie Returns to Scotland from Mexico (Marine Alliance of Science and Technology Fellowship); Co-chaired Glasgow Marine Group (with N. Banas Maths & Stats and D. McKee Physics). N. Milan presented (pictured with Neil); Chemistry and Biology of Natural Products Symposium, University of Warwick, UK. N. Milan and K. Duncan selected for oral presentations; Scripps Institution of Oceanography Jensen group reunion in Norwich.
July: BBSRC STARS "Next Generation Biologists" coding workshop, University of Leeds; Scottish Crucible lab 3 - University of West Scotland including dinner in Paisley Abbey (pictured); Soapbox Science, Edinburgh (Natalie and I volunteering in the rain!).
August: Duncan lab goodbye lunch for Natalie who finished her MASTS visiting fellowship (November-January 2016 and June-August 2017). Pictured back L-R: Sergio, Tom, Kate and front L-R: Jordan, Natalie; Invited Speaker at BBSRC Algal Biotechnology meeting in New Zealand (Cawthron Institute, Nelson, South Island); The Inaugural Meeting of the Glasgow Microbiology Collective (Chair: K. Duncan, Co-Chair M. Wojnowska) with Invited speakers Colin Kleanthous (Oxford) and Ian Henderson (Birmingham).
September: European Conference of Marine Natural Products (ECMNP), Crete, Greece (S. Soldatou and K. Duncan selected for oral presentations); Royal Society of Edinburgh Awards Reception, Edinburgh (Kate, Scottish Crucible); VAAM workshop "Biology of Bacterial Natural Product Producers”, Tübingen, Germany (K. Duncan oral presentation).
October: Welcome to the group Sylvia (PDRA), Laia (PhD Candidate) and Ally (PhD Candidate); Marine Alliance of Science and Technology (MASTS) Annual Meeting, invited talk (K. Duncan) on women in marine science; Ally visits Xanthella (PhD industrial partner) in Oban; Visit to the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) (K. Duncan); Undergraduates Brandon & Heather join the lab for their dissertation projects.
November: Scottish Metabolomics Network Meeting, Glasgow (K. Duncan, delegate); Science and Parliament Committee Delegate, Edinburgh (K. Duncan, Microbiology Society Policy Representative); Invited Seminar, University of York, Dept. of Evolutionary Biology.
December: Scottish Life Science Alliance (SULSA) Funded Visiting Fellowship, Marnix Medema's Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Netherlands; Duncan lab Petri dish exchange - each lab member pulls the name of another lab member from a hat, they then make their project in a Petri dish...crafter -> gift receiver L-R Top-Bottom: Brandon -> Kate; Ally -> Heather; Kate -> Sylvia; Laia -> Ally; Sylvia -> Brandon; Group Photo.
April: Microbiology Society Annual Conference, Edinburgh; Scottish Crucible lab 1 - Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Parliament.
May: 18th International Symposium on the Biology of the Actinomycetes (ISBA), Jeju Island, Korea.
June: Scottish Crucible lab 2 - University of Stirling; National University of Ireland, Galway: invited participant at "Sustainability in Marine Biodiscovery" workshop; Natalie Returns to Scotland from Mexico (Marine Alliance of Science and Technology Fellowship); Co-chaired Glasgow Marine Group (with N. Banas Maths & Stats and D. McKee Physics). N. Milan presented (pictured with Neil); Chemistry and Biology of Natural Products Symposium, University of Warwick, UK. N. Milan and K. Duncan selected for oral presentations; Scripps Institution of Oceanography Jensen group reunion in Norwich.
July: BBSRC STARS "Next Generation Biologists" coding workshop, University of Leeds; Scottish Crucible lab 3 - University of West Scotland including dinner in Paisley Abbey (pictured); Soapbox Science, Edinburgh (Natalie and I volunteering in the rain!).
August: Duncan lab goodbye lunch for Natalie who finished her MASTS visiting fellowship (November-January 2016 and June-August 2017). Pictured back L-R: Sergio, Tom, Kate and front L-R: Jordan, Natalie; Invited Speaker at BBSRC Algal Biotechnology meeting in New Zealand (Cawthron Institute, Nelson, South Island); The Inaugural Meeting of the Glasgow Microbiology Collective (Chair: K. Duncan, Co-Chair M. Wojnowska) with Invited speakers Colin Kleanthous (Oxford) and Ian Henderson (Birmingham).
September: European Conference of Marine Natural Products (ECMNP), Crete, Greece (S. Soldatou and K. Duncan selected for oral presentations); Royal Society of Edinburgh Awards Reception, Edinburgh (Kate, Scottish Crucible); VAAM workshop "Biology of Bacterial Natural Product Producers”, Tübingen, Germany (K. Duncan oral presentation).
October: Welcome to the group Sylvia (PDRA), Laia (PhD Candidate) and Ally (PhD Candidate); Marine Alliance of Science and Technology (MASTS) Annual Meeting, invited talk (K. Duncan) on women in marine science; Ally visits Xanthella (PhD industrial partner) in Oban; Visit to the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) (K. Duncan); Undergraduates Brandon & Heather join the lab for their dissertation projects.
November: Scottish Metabolomics Network Meeting, Glasgow (K. Duncan, delegate); Science and Parliament Committee Delegate, Edinburgh (K. Duncan, Microbiology Society Policy Representative); Invited Seminar, University of York, Dept. of Evolutionary Biology.
December: Scottish Life Science Alliance (SULSA) Funded Visiting Fellowship, Marnix Medema's Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Netherlands; Duncan lab Petri dish exchange - each lab member pulls the name of another lab member from a hat, they then make their project in a Petri dish...crafter -> gift receiver L-R Top-Bottom: Brandon -> Kate; Ally -> Heather; Kate -> Sylvia; Laia -> Ally; Sylvia -> Brandon; Group Photo.
2016
October: After starting the group in July - the medicinesfromthesea.com lab website goes live; sample collection at Ardmucknish Bay and Loch Etive.
November: Kate gave an invited Seminar at the National Physical Laboratory, London (hosted by Ian Gilmore, NiCE-MSI); presented in Nottingham for a BBSRC PHYCONET meeting and Manchester for a BBSRC NPRONET meeting and was awarded an "honorary research fellowship on drug discovery" of the Scottish Association for Marine Science. Kate visited The University of Aberdeen, Chemistry Department for an MRes examination and seminar at the Marine Biodiscovery Centre.
December: Dr Natalie Milan MASTS Visiting Research Fellow joined the lab from Mexico (pictured at Dunnotar Castle); the Duncan group on a well deserved break (pictured L-R: Kim, Natalie, Kim ,Jordan); Dr Natalie Milan visited the Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban. Kate presented at the University of Manchester at a BBSRC Global Challenges Research Fund meeting.
November: Kate gave an invited Seminar at the National Physical Laboratory, London (hosted by Ian Gilmore, NiCE-MSI); presented in Nottingham for a BBSRC PHYCONET meeting and Manchester for a BBSRC NPRONET meeting and was awarded an "honorary research fellowship on drug discovery" of the Scottish Association for Marine Science. Kate visited The University of Aberdeen, Chemistry Department for an MRes examination and seminar at the Marine Biodiscovery Centre.
December: Dr Natalie Milan MASTS Visiting Research Fellow joined the lab from Mexico (pictured at Dunnotar Castle); the Duncan group on a well deserved break (pictured L-R: Kim, Natalie, Kim ,Jordan); Dr Natalie Milan visited the Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban. Kate presented at the University of Manchester at a BBSRC Global Challenges Research Fund meeting.