معرفی
Heath MacMillan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Carleton University, Faculty of Science. His research focuses on integrative insect physiology, particularly how environmental stressors like extreme temperatures, microplastics, and dietary changes affect molecular, biochemical, and whole-organism performance.
- Research Themes: Cold tolerance mechanisms, ionoregulatory collapse, microplastic pollution impacts, thermal acclimation physiology, and nutritional ecology for edible insects.
- Model Systems: Drosophila melanogaster, Gryllodes sigillatus, Aedes aegypti, and tropical butterflies.
- Techniques: Transcriptomics, metabolomics, in vitro osmoregulation assays, thermal gradient devices, and fluorescent microplastic tracking.
His lab collaborates with Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dr. Jennifer Provencher, and Entomo Farms to address both fundamental physiological questions and applied problems in sustainable insect protein production. Current work explores how thermal plasticity and cross-tolerance mechanisms interact with ecological stressors like hypoxia and desiccation.
Publications highlight his team's development of the ionoregulatory collapse model for cold tolerance, discovery of microplastic impacts on cricket growth, and characterization of thermal acclimation's role in maintaining central nervous system function. Research integrates molecular mechanisms with ecological predictions about species distribution and abundance under climate change.
Lab opportunities emphasize collaborative, interdisciplinary work across physiology, biochemistry, and ecology. Graduate students and postdocs are encouraged to develop independent projects within the lab's existing frameworks. Undergraduates gain hands-on experience through volunteer work and independent studies.
