Ensminger Lab

Flying High at KSR – Preparing the Alta X for new Missions

Experiments, Lab /

This week, the Ensminger Lab collaborated with members of the Flight Systems and Control Lab (Dr. Hugh Liu, UTIAS), Longhao Qian, Kevin Ji-Tong Chen, and Enoch Lo, for an exciting Alta X drone test flight at the Koffler Scientific Reserve (KSR). Our goal was to execute a full flight mission while tracking drone logs to record performance data. We also installed a dummy payload to simulate sensor weight and […]

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Showcasing Our Research in Germany: Anchalya Balasubramaniam at EPPC 2025

Climate Change, Conferences & Meetings, Research /

We are delighted that Anchalya Balasubramaniam presented her poster at the European Plant Phenomics Conference 2025 in Bonn (September 16–19). Her work, titled “Divergent Photoprotective Strategies in White Pine and White Spruce Under Moderate Drought,” showcases how these two conifers adopt distinct mechanisms to safeguard photosynthesis under water stress. This contribution highlights the innovative research from our team and underlines the

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From Climate Drivers to LiDAR: Ensminger Lab ROP Projects at Summer Research Day 2025

Lab, Students/Lab members /

The Ensminger Lab was proud to see our ROP students present their research at Summer Research Day 2025. A special congratulations to Aimun Malik, who received an Honourable Mention for her oral presentation. We are very proud of all three students for their hard work and excellent contributions this summer!

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Ensminger Lab at CSPB 2025 in Halifax, Nova Scotia 🌲🐋

Conferences & Meetings /

From August 9–12, members of the Ensminger Lab travelled to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to participate in the Canadian Society for Plant Biologists’ CSPB 2025 Conference. This annual meeting brings together plant scientists from across Canada and beyond to share cutting-edge research, network, and explore the latest advances in plant biology. Nova Scotia’s capital, Halifax, provided a beautiful

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Congratulations to Bridget K. Murphy on Her First First-Author Publication!

Publications, Research /

We’re excited to share that Bridget K. Murphy, PhD student in the Ensminger Lab, has just published her first first-authored paper in Plant Physiology! Her work, titled “Contrasting effects of warming and drought on autumn phenology of photosynthesis and growth in white spruce,” investigates how climate change-related stresses impact photosynthetic activity and growth timing in white spruce seedlings. 👏 Congrats, Bridget,

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High-Precision GPS & Tree Height Measurements at the Pickering Field Site

Experiments /

This summer, our team launched a field campaign to collect high-precision GPS data and manual tree height measurements at the Pickering experimental site — a critical step toward understanding how microsite variability influences white spruce performance. The campaign was led by Emilie Isasa (Postdoctoral researcher), with fantastic support from Grace (MSc student), and Adam and Tianqi (ROP students). Thanks to their hard work, we’re building a robust

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FastPheno 2025: Reconnecting and Collaborating: Highlights from the FastPheno Meeting at Université Laval

Conferences & Meetings, Lab, Research, Students/Lab members /

We had the chance to reconnect in person for our annual FastPheno meeting, this time hosted at Université Laval in Québec City, Canada. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas, and share the latest advances across the project. The team discussed progress on assessing adaptive traits, exploring contrasting environments, improving data processing pipelines,

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