Background: I received my Ph. D. from Queen’s University in physics in the area of nonlinear optical microscopy. For my postdoc, I worked with David Weitz and Jeff Fredberg at Harvard University in the area of cell mechanics and soft matter physics before moving to uOttawa.
Research: I work on developing new optical techniques for the characterization of condensed, heterogeneous media and their applications in biophysics and geology. In both biological and geologic systems, the lack of contrast and high degree of scattering can be limiting. Nonlinear optical microscopy offers many tools to overcome these obstacles. While I use many different imaging modalities, coherent Raman microscopy is the primary technique used because it offers label-free, chemical-specific imaging at relatively high speeds. In biological systems, I am interested in non-contact methods of assessing cell mechanical properties and understanding how local changes participate in mechanical feedback loops within cellular collectives. For geologic systems, I am exploring how multimodal optical microscopy can be developed for screening in mining applications.