Mark G. Lefsrud, Ph.D., P. Eng., P. Ag., William Dawson Scholar
Dr. Lefsrud is an Associate Professor at McGill University and leads the Biomass Production Laboratory. His upbringing on a farm and work in the oil fields of Alberta, Canada combined with his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering and a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology gives him a very strong background in the fields of agriculture, biology, and engineering. His research program deals with the development of bioprocesses and improvements in plant growth environmental energy usage. The laboratory is focused on four areas: 1) The development and improvement of new sources of biomass (food, fibre and/or fuel); 2) The improvement of energy efficiency of greenhouses and plant growth environments (light (LEDs) and heating systems); 3) The development quality practices for cannabis production; and 4) Development of monitoring techniques for plants and microorganisms using machine vision, nutrient monitoring, proteomics and metabolomics. His overall research philosophy is a holistic one in which focus on individual facets of an issue leads to a solution to the problem as a whole.
Sarah MacPherson, Ph.D., QAQCC Program Coordinator
Sarah’s love of biology stems from childhood summers spent near Pointe-au-Baril in northern Ontario. Sarah received her BSc. (Hons. Biology) from Concordia University in 1999 and was awarded her Ph.D. from McGill University (Microbiology & Immunology) in 2005. This was followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in the Infectious Diseases Division at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX, where she helped develop an animal model for protective autophagy and arboviruses targeting the CNS. Since then, she has pursued her interests in science communication and teaching at the post-secondary level, in addition to working as a medical writer. Sarah joined the Biomass Production Lab and the Department of Bioresource Engineering as a Research Associate in 2018. Most recently, she coordinates the NSERC-funded graduate research program, Quality Assurance and Quality Control for Cannabis Production, Products and Training.