Faculty and Staff

Position: Department Chair

Melisa received her PhD in Experimental Medicine from the University of British Columbia. Her research interests relate to the relationship between cancer and the immune system (Cancer Immunology). She is particularly interested in how tumours manipulate the immune system so that immune cells foster tumour growth and metastasis instead of doing their "normal" job of killing tumour cells. The focus of Melisa’s post-doctoral work at the BC Cancer Research Centre was the role of myeloid cells  in promoting breast cancer metastasis and the development of novel cancer therapies that promote anti-tumour immunity.

In 2012, Melisa embraced her passion for teaching and joined Langara as  Faculty Instructor. She has specialized in Pathophysiology and Anatomy and Physiology, but has a broad teaching background that also includes First Year Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry.

Melisa loves learning about our world, whether it's by asking questions or getting out and exploring! When she's not teaching or taking care of her 2 young kids, she enjoys riding her bike, hiking, cooking, photography, and the beach.

Position: Assistant Chair of Faculty

Education: 

PhD (UBC) Behavioural Ecology of Sockeye Salmon

MSc (University of Saskatchewan) Environmental Toxicology

Position and courses taught: Biology Instructor

BIOL 1115, BIOL 1116, BIOL 1190

Position: Assistant Chair of Scheduling/Admin

Martha Nelson-Flower grew up here in Vancouver and received her BSc (Animal Biology, 1999) and her MSc (chloroplast genome of dinoflagellates, Department of Botany, 2003) from the University of British Columbia. She then volunteered as an intern at the Kalahari Meerkat Project for a year in 2004, and realized that her future lay in the field of behavioural ecology, and specifically in the intersection of behaviour with genetics. Martha completed her PhD on the influence of genetic relatedness on conflict and cooperation in southern pied babblers at the University of Cape Town (Percy FitzPatrick Institute) in 2010. Post-doctoral fellowships followed, in which she studied babblers (again) (UCT, 2012-2014) and the song sparrows of Mandarte Island (UBC, 2015-2017).

Since 2018, Martha has taught BIOL 1111, 1115, 1175, 1215, 1190, 1191 and 2330 at Langara. Martha really enjoys helping the students understand new concepts and seeing them master new ideas. In addition, she continues her research investigating how kinship affects southern pied babbler society, and how immune genes affect song sparrow fitness.

Position: Student Coordinator

Education: 

PhD (UBC) Interdisciplinary Oncology

BSc (UBC) Microbiology and Immunology

Courses taught: BIOL 1111, BIOL 1115, BIOL 1190, BIOL 2330, BIOL 2370

Anoush Dadgar has been an instructor at Langara College since 1991. He teaches first year university general biology courses and a second/third year university comparative vertebrate anatomy course.

Anoush was an Educational Travel Program Leader in Continuing Studies at Langara College. He taught part of the field school to Hawaii (1994), and has successfully run educational tours to Cuba (2002) and the Galapagos Islands (1999, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018) to study the flora and fauna of these unique places. He also taught a medical terminology course in Continuing Studies.

Anoush had been involved in the Rural Community Health Project in Mwanza, Tanzania, Africa in 2004. He created a HIV/AIDS module for the health educators in Mwanza to help prevent the spread of the disease in rural communities.

Caelin Rose McCarron received her B.Sc. in Biology at the University of British Columbia. While in her second year, she took her first class that introduced her to the fantastic world of Botany. She was soon hired as a Vascular Plants Collections Assistant at the UBC Herbarium. After that, Caelin began her B.Ed. in Secondary Science at UBC where she received an Outstanding Practicum Award for her work as a teacher candidate. As part of her B.Ed. she also worked with Education and Outreach at Beaty Biodiversity Museum to create an audio-tour and Explore Evolution Resource Package for secondary science teachers. 

Caelin is grateful to have a job where she can share her love for biology and the natural world. Her pedagogy is to ensure active, practical, and meaningful educational experiences for her students. She also aims to create awareness around mental health and its impact on academic success.

When not teaching, Caelin enjoys board games, audiobooks, and long walks on the beach … looking for algae. 

For my master’s thesis, I investigated long-term population trends in several species of amphibian in Ontario, a project linked to broader concerns about global amphibian decline. After completing graduate work, I worked on a variety of conservation-based projects across the continent. These projects typically involved looking for population trends in a wide variety of species: fish, amphibians, turtles, small mammals, furbearers, and birds. I have taught at Langara since 2002. My writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Georgia Straight, the Vancouver Sun, and the Toronto Star. My first book, The Endangered Species Road Trip, was published by Greystone Books in June 2013. You can read the Publisher's Weekly Review here.

Current interests: Biologically, I am most interested in fisheries and conservation biology, particularly the plight of endangered species. I also enjoy writing about ecology for general audiences, wildlife photography, and bird watching. 

Emily Betz received her BSc. in Biology at the University of British Columbia in 2016. In her second year, she stumbled into the fantastic world of fungi, and it has been her passion ever since. During her undergraduate degree, she had the chance to work as a Research Assistant in a mycology lab where she performed molecular studies on chytrid fungi.

Still pursuing all things fungi, Emily enrolled in an MSc. in Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University, from which she graduated in 2020. Her research focused primarily on fungal pathogens of wasabi plants, but she got to dabble in research on all different kinds of plant-microbe interactions. She also had the opportunity to teach (as both a TA and a lab instructor) the lab of SFU’s Algae and Fungi class in which she won a Teaching Award for Outstanding Biology TAs. This is when Emily realized that she much preferred teaching to research, and she took workshops to further her pedagogical practice (such as the ISW and the CPUTL).

At Langara College, Emily is currently a lab demonstrator for BIOL 1111, BIOL 1115, and BIOL 2330. She loves the fact that part of her job is to pass on knowledge about the biological world to her students. She aims to be enthusiastic and inclusive in her teaching practice. She is a firm believer that with determination and perseverance, anyone can be a scientist.

When not teaching, Emily enjoys reading, trivia, exploring the city, and hiking. Unfortunately for anyone accompanying her – her version of hiking is honestly just stopping every 3 meters to point out lichens, mushrooms, or cool plants.

Garyen Chong received his B.Sc. as well as his M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, and completed his B.Ed. and M.Ed. there. He has worked in administrative positions in both the secondary and post-secondary systems. Garyen participated in the Rural Community Health Projects in Mwanza, Tanzania.

He has taught courses in cell biology, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology as well as pathology. His main interest has always been in the clinical area. He helped to establish the Health Sciences Department at Langara College and taught a number of courses with that department. His current research interest is in the study of medicinal mushrooms.

Geoff Nemeth is a former Langara biology program graduate and UBC Animal Welfare Program alumnus. He teaches labs for  BIOL 1111, 1215, 1118 and 1218. His interest has always been in applied animal biology, specifically animal behaviour and welfare. He earned his B.Sc from UBC in 2012 where he investigated humane alternatives to CO2 for laboratory rodent euthanasia. He then earned his M.Sc from UBC in 2017 where he studied the effects of using experienced social models when introducing young dairy cattle to housing systems in an effort to improve welfare outcomes and reduce abnormal behaviours. 

Although his degrees are in applied animal biology, he has a strong background and interest in ecology, botany, and molecular biology. When not teaching he enjoys playing loud music in various projects, volunteering as a scout leader, and keeping his fiancé and parrots out of as much trouble as possible.

Hayley Kellam graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Masters in Biological Sciences focused on agricultural pest management in greenhouse crops. Throughout her graduate studies she developed a love for teaching, focused on fungi, algae, and brewing science. In her spare time, Hayley loves escape rooms, board games, hiking, and naps.

She currently instructs BIOL 1111, BIOL 1215, BIOL 1118 and BIOL 1218.

Janaina (Jana) Brusco obtained her Ph.D in Neuroscience at the University of São Paulo (Brazil), in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH-USA) in 2012. Her PhD focused on the influence of sexual hormones in synaptic plasticity in the mammalian brain. During her PhD she also collaborated with scientists in Woods Hole (Marine Biological Laboratory, MBL-MA), in England (Newcastle) and France to research Alzheimers, Epilepsy and synaptic transmission.  Jana’s Postdoctoral Research at UBC looked at the role of molecular pathways driven by mitochondria in synaptic plasticity and neurodevelopment.

 In addition to teaching Anatomy, Physiology and Pathophysiology at Langara, Jana is a sessional Professor at UVic. Jana loves the outdoors, and everything we see by the sun, animals, water and mountains. Whenever possible she goes skiing, kayaking, hiking, camping...

Education and thesis topic:

MSc Biology (Microbiology), Simon Fraser University (2008). Thesis title: Examining the early transcriptome of the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus in response to iron limitation imposed by human serum

BSc Biology (Cell/Molecular Biology), Cert. Lib. Arts, Simon Fraser University (2000)

Position/courses taught: Lab Demonstrator: Cell Biology, Intro to Genetics, Molecular Genetics, Anatomy & Physiology

Academic interests: Microbiology, Cell/Molecular Biology

Jennifer Woolcock completed her BSc with honours in 2016 from the University of Alberta, and her MSc in 2020 from the University of British Columbia in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. For her graduate research, Jenn investigated the antioxidant properties of Pseudo-nitzschia ferritin using X-ray crystallography and found her passion for teaching while working as a TA for several introductory biology courses. Outside of science, Jenn enjoys reading, movies, gaming, trivia, hiking, and travelling. 

Jenn is currently a lab instructor for:

Biol 1111 - Concepts of Biology: Introduction to Human Biology 

Biol 1115 - General Biology I

Biol 1215 - General Biology II

Biol 2330 - Introduction to Genetics 

Biol 2415 - Cell Biology

Position: Instructor of General Biology I (Biol 1115), and of Vascular and Non Vascular Botany (Biol 2340 and 2440).

Education and Research Interests:

I obtained my BSc (Biology) and MSc (Botany) at the University of British Columbia, and my PhD (Plant Evolutionary Biology) at the University of California Santa Barbara. For my PhD thesis, I investigated mating patterns between two species of columbines with different pollination syndromes (Aquilegia formosa and A. pubescens). The photo was taken at my field site in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California. It is one of the most beautiful places I have visited.

I did my Postdoctoral fellowship at the UBC Biodiversity Research Center. I investigated a number of different research projects including the genetic diversity of cacao (Theobroma cacao), the population structure of the rare bird pollinated Canarian Island Lotus, and the evolution of mating systems in the native BC plant, the checker mallow (Sidalcea hendersonii).

At Langara, I am investigating the genetic identity and diversity of BC feral hops (Humulus lupulus) using SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) markers. The goal of the project is to develop new and novel varieties of hops unique to BC.  

I’m interested in many different areas of biology including population genomics, evolutionary biology, mating system, pollination biology, conservation genetics and ethnobotany. I’m fascinated about how nature functions in its complex and intricate ways and I want to convey this knowledge to my students.

Joanna Woltosz first became attracted to cancer research during studies in her home country, Poland, where she completed a combined five-year BS/MS program in Molecular Biology. During her master's degree studies, her research focused on the role of abnormal angiogenesis in cardiovascular disease and cancer. She received her PhD in Biochemistry studying defects in mitochondrial metabolism and its role in the process of transformation at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland, USA). Her Post-Doctoral Fellow position at the Massey Cancer Center of Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, USA) and Research Associate position at the Genome Sciences Centre in BC Cancer Agency expanded her extensive knowledge in the field of oncology into the roles of transcription factors in the transformation process and the role of stem cells in malignant hematological disorders.

She truly loves research and acknowledges the opportunities it provided her with. One of them being her other passion - teaching and mentoring students while in Langara.

And as her idol (Maria Sklodowska) once said she is “among those who think that science has great beauty.” And she hopes she can make her students think alike.

When not at work, she enjoys cooking and baking. Loves music, film and long walks…

Julia Wong completed her PhD at the University of Alberta where she looked at how bacteria sense and respond to environmental stresses, such as excess metals. The following postdoctoral years split her time between Australia and Canada, where she expressed bacterial genes in plants with a goal of improving the efficiency with which those plants use nitrogen. Just before Julia came to teach at Langara, she looked at how exposure to multiple antibiotics changed the RNA-RNA interaction networks in a pathogenic bacterium. She is always keen to talk gene regulation and she is excited to share her enthusiasm for biology with the students at Langara.

Courses taught: BIOL 1111, 1190, 2415, and 2192.

Katherine Cheung obtained her BSc specializing in Animal Biology and BEd specializing in Secondary Sciences from the University of British Columbia (UBC). Her teaching career spans 10+ years and includes teaching high school Biology, Chemistry and Math, teaching first and second year labs courses at Langara, and TAing first and second year Biology courses at UBC.

She completed her MSc in Zoology from UBC in 2019. Her thesis addressed the role of embryonic incubation temperature on growth, development, and thermal tolerance in white sturgeon through early ontogeny.

Katherine currently teaches labs for BIOL 1111, 1115, 1190, and 1191.

I earned a PhD in insect ecology from Simon Fraser University and worked as a postdoc and researcher in private industry, mostly in the area of insect chemical ecology. I regularly teach invertebrate zoology and first year biology but have also taught courses in anatomy and physiology, ecology, environmental science, natural history, and health sciences.

My most recent research interests focused on the ecology of social insects and medicinal uses of plant secondary compounds. Highlights of my time at Langara include seeing students get excited about nature, and participating in field schools in East Africa and Haida Gwaii. I have also been lucky enough to participate in public health projects in East Africa and help develop a number of courses in the Health Sciences Department.

I have a lifelong interest in paleontology and mineralogy and try to work that into my teaching.

Kyra Janot completed her BSc in Marine Biology at UBC in 2011, and followed it up with a PhD in Botany at UBC in 2018. Her graduate research focused on the cell wall chemistry and biomechanics of coralline algae, with an emphasis on convergent traits amongst articulated species. During this time, she also gained experience in algal identification and biodiversity through her involvement in annual surveys on Calvert Island through the Hakai Research Institute, and she assisted in teaching several field, lab, and lecture-based courses on seaweed diversity at both UBC and the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.

Kyra started lecturing at Langara College in 2019, where she has since taught BIOL 1175, 1111, 1115, 1215, and 1191. While her passion is the marine world, she finds all biological topics fascinating, and she is excited to help students find the ones that interest them the most! When not teaching, Kyra is working on documenting the diversity of intertidal seaweeds around the Greater Vancouver Area using both traditional surveys and environmental DNA methods.

Position: Instructor

Education 

PhD, Molecular Biology and Evolution. Biology Department, University of Ottawa, 1991-1995. Research topic: Molecular evolution of plant actin genes. 

MSc, Molecular Genetics. Botany Department, University of British Columbia, 1989-91. Research topic: Molecular biology of plant-pathogen interactions.

BSc, Cell Biology. Biology Department, University of British Columbia, 1986-89. Honors thesis topic: Genetic analysis of senescence mutants in Neurospora crassa.

University-Transfer Program in Biology, Langara College. 1984-1986.

Education: Ph.D. (Experimental Medicine, UBC), B.Sc. (Hons. Cell Biology, U. of Ottawa), B.A. (Philosophy, U. of Ottawa).

I began my studies at the University of Ottawa, obsessed with discovering what constitutes life, and intending to write a grand novel based on what I had discovered. It was not as easy as I thought. I studied biochemistry, but after exposure to things like microtubules and metaphysics, shifted my focus to cell biology and philosophy (which turned out to be a fascinating mix of courses, by the way).

Areas of activity:  My primary area of focus is on human disease processes and my main area of teaching is medical sciences. Between 1997 and 2008 I led a federally-funded international development program in support of community health programs in the Mwanza district of Tanzania. Other international work has included public health work for the Canadian International Development Agency and International Development Research Centre focusing on the less developed regions in Africa and Asia. Over the last fifteen years.

I have a shady parallel life as a novelist. Still have not yet written the ultimate novel of life. My published novels are The Lions (1994), Red Dust, Red Sky (2008, and Because of Nothing At All (2022).

My current areas of academic interest are human disease, medical sciences, and  international health. 

Courses taught currently at Langara: Pathophysiology I and II, Global Perspectives on Health, Anatomy and Physiology I and II

Originally from Fiji, I started my Bachelor’s degree (Hons Biochemistry) at Langara and completed it at UBC. My PhD work involves developing new antibiotics against ‘superbugs’ such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and also understanding the mechanism of action of these peptide drugs.

It is fascinating how mother nature functions and I love conveying this knowledge to my students which is very satisfying. I can easily relate to my students as I was a student at Langara few years ago. In my spare time I like to participate and watch many sporting activities such as rugby and soccer!