Research

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

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

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

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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Tree Anatomy Reveals Secrets

Research / Ensminger Lab

In this image, Bridget is meticulously preparing semi-thin sections of White Spruce using the parafilm method. She carefully produces cuts of 15 µm in thickness to closely examine the xylem anatomy. Her analysis of the growth rings will reveals potential differences in tree structure that depend on both environmental factors and genetic predisposition.

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White Pine Under the Spectral Lens

Experiments, Lab, Research / Ensminger Lab

Siyu is measuring leaf spectral reflectance in white pine. Leaf spectral reflectance refers to the amount of light reflected by a leaf at different wavelengths across the visible and infrared spectrum. This technique helps assess plant health, photosynthetic efficiency, and water status by detecting subtle changes in leaf properties. Siyu and Ivory are grinding white

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Unraveling Climate Defenses: Drought, Photoprotection, and Resilience in White Spruce and White Pine

Experiments, Research / Ensminger Lab

Last summer, Anchalya, Olivia, and Maria took on a bold challenge in the UTM research greenhouse—simulating drier climates to test the resilience of white spruce and white pine, two vital conifer species. Their mission? To uncover how these trees defend themselves against climate stress using sustained non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), a powerful photo-protective mechanism. By exposing

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Bridget wins the Forest Ecophysiology Oral Presentation Award at AGU 2022!

Leave a Comment / Conferences & Meetings, Research, Students/Lab members / malaika

Congrats to Bridget on the award for her oral presentation at the 2022 AGU conference ! In her presentation, titled: “Coming in hot: increased carbon losses and reduced growth under warming in two genotypes of field-grown white spruce” ! Bridget presented her work on climate change impacts and the effect of warming in different white spruce

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Our drone data reaches new heights!

Exciting paper published today in Nature Plants!

Leave a Comment / Climate Change, Publications, Research / Ingo Ensminger

The Nature Plants paper “Chlorophyll a fluorescence illuminates a path connecting plant molecular biology to Earth-system science” was published today. Following a workshop held at the Hyytiälä Forestry Research Station in 2019, Albert Porcar-Castell from the University of Helsinki took the lead on this work. Finally it is here – I think this paper gives

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Bridget wins CSPB/SCBV award for outstanding oral presentation

Leave a Comment / Awards & Funding, Conferences & Meetings, Research, Students/Lab members / Ingo Ensminger

Congrats Bridget on the award for best oral presentation at the 2021 CSPB/SCBV Annual General Meeting! Bridget presented her work on climate change impacts and the effect of warming and drought on the timing of cold acclimation in different white spruce genotypes. In her talk she showed first results from her Ph.D. thesis project. This included

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Drone pilot training for Ensmingerlab

Leave a Comment / Research, Students/Lab members / Ingo Ensminger

Flying a drone in Canada requires an exam, flight training and final certification. Siyu, Erik and Ingo just completed their certification, they are now drone pilots! The photograph shows our instructor Harish Jadeja with Erik and Siyu during the flight training at the Koffler Scientific Reserve.

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