Hello, my name is
Jade Shivak
Marine Microbiologist
- jade.shivak@botany.ubc.ca
- @JadeShivak
- Google Scholar
About me
I am a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia studying marine invertebrate microbiomes.
Although I grew up in the landlocked province of Saskatchewan, my love of the ocean drove me to Vancouver where I have lived for the past six years while going to school. I recently finished my Master’s degree with the Keeling Lab at UBC. My interests include symbiosis, evolutionary biology, and ocean conservation. In my free time, I read fantasy novels, practice my coding skills, and play guitar. I spend every summer training for the annual Terry Fox Run to raise money for cancer research and I enjoy SCUBA diving and kayaking.
My Research
The microbiome is a collection of fungi, viruses, bacteria, and protists associated with a particular organism. I am interested in investigating the microbiome of marine invertebrates in relation to their physiology, evolution, and ecology.
Host-Symbiont Interactions
Corallicolids are a newly discovered anthozoan symbiont and my goal is to use transcriptomics to analyze the change in gene expression between infected and uninfected host cells in order to learn more about their impact on the host.
Coral-algal competition
Turf algae is one of the main competitors of coral reefs, especially as corals face increased threats due to climate change. By analyzing the change in microbiome and gene expression at the interface of competition, we can gain insight into these interspecies conflicts.
Origin of Microbiomes
I am investigating the microbes associated with marine insects and their terrestrial relatives to learn about how organisms develop their microbiomes. Are they passed down between generations, taken from the environment, or a combination of the two?
Education
2021-Present
University of British Columbia
M.SC Botany
Thesis: De Novo Assembly of a Zoanthid Transcriptome for the Study of Corallicolids
2017-2021
University of British Columbia
B.Sc Honours in biology with distinction
Thesis: Marine Midge Microbiome
Teaching Experience
2020-2021
Introductory Molecular Biology Laboratory, UBC
Teaching Assistant
I led lab sections of upper-level students learning molecular techniques such as restriction analysis, transformation of recombinant plasmids, and bioinformatic analysis. I also held office hours, delivered in-lab lectures, marked assignments, and monitored discussion boards.
Research Experience
2021-2022
Keeling Lab, UBC
Graduate Researcher
I maintained four large aquariums of corals, octocorals, and zoanthids, which were used as samples for sequencing. Using bioinformatics tools, I annotated transcriptomics data. I also prepared, sectioned, and imaged coral tissue using Transmission Electron Microscopy.
2020-2021
Keeling Lab, UBC
Undergraduate Researcher
I implemented microbiome analysis in QIIME2 and R on amplicon sequence data from multidimensional coral ecosystem samples and marine midge samples to generate figures for publication. Furthermore, I collected and screened local sea anemones for apicomplexan parasites using DNA extractions, PCR, and gel electrophoresis
2018-2020
Martone Lab, UBC
UNDERGRADUATE Researcher
I maintained algal cultures, completed morphometric analysis on herbarium specimens, and analyzed morphological data in R.