The Annual Biology Conference at the University of Canterbury is an opportunity for students of Biological Sciences to present their findings to colleagues, peers, and the wider scientific community.
As a sponsor, Lab Supply awarded prizes in two categories: Most innovative research (presentation) and 1st PhD paper (publication). Cassidy Weavers is the winner of the Most Innovative Research (presentation).
Cassidy’s research is centred on developing techniques to cultivate extremophiles. Extremophiles are organisms with the ability to thrive in extreme environments, such as hydrothermal vents. They are the target of a steadily increasing interest and have several applications in food, bioenergy, cosmetics, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, textile, chemical industries, and more.
Given that less than 1% of the world’s microbial diversity (bacteria and archaea) have been cultivated under laboratory conditions, the ability to grow novel microorganisms, especially those that are useful in an industrial context, is highly desirable.
Cassidy shared more about her research and her plans going forward.
What does winning the award mean to you?
I'm very thankful for being awarded most innovative research. I’ve only just begun my own research, being early in my Master’s career, so it means a lot to me that others find it just as interesting and exciting as I do. I’m glad I could follow in the footsteps of my scholarship supervisor Moritz, who was also presented with the same award, and guided me through my first experiences in a research lab back in 2020. I look forward to sharing my findings and learning a lot along the way as I progress further with my Master’s.
How do you see your research creating impact in society and/or in the scientific world?
I would like to see my research become a useful tool in isolating and cultivating more extremophile microbes, especially novel microbes that could potentially lead to the discovery of previously unknown pathways and give us greater insight to the wide diversity of microbial life we have yet to cultivate. I look forward to my research being built upon and being used in future isolation of extremophile microorganisms.
What’s next? For you and your research.
As I’m only three months into my Master’s, I have most of the research plans I covered in my talk left to do. The next steps for me are to run known mixes of bacteria through the cell sorter isolated from Okeover stream before beginning the collection, sorting, and culturing of bacteria from hot pool samples. However, I'm sure these plans will change as new information becomes available, methods require more development, and I expect to learn a lot along the way.
As I considered my strengths in the planning of this research, I’m focusing on lab methods that were new to me and widely applicable. I hope to have a wide range of opportunities following on from my Master’s but have no set plans at this stage. I just know I enjoy being in the lab and always learning new things so hope to continue doing research in whatever form that may be.
A very big thank you to my supervisor Matthew Stott for his help developing this research and continual guidance, along with the support of the rest of the Xphiles lab group and other groups we bounce ideas around with.
Thanks also to Lab Supply, for sponsoring our Annual Biology Conference and presenting me with this award.
We’re excited to follow Cassidy’s progress as she furthers her research and wish her the best of luck!