Dr. Maria Cleveland was born in Moscow, Russia and lived concurrently between Sudbury, Ontario and Moscow, Russia until she graduated high school. Subsequently, she completed her undergraduate degree at Queen's University with a Major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. She then pursued her P.h.D. in Chemistry at the University of British Columbia under the supervision on Dr. Harry Brumer working on biomass valorization using copper radical oxidases. After completing her degree in 2021, Dr. Cleveland moved back to Kingston to pursue her postdoctoral work in the Department of Chemistry at Queens under the guidance of three supervisors: Dr. Ross, Dr. Howe and Dr. Zechel. Dr. Cleveland’s work focussed on marine natural products discovery and enzymatic plastic degradation.  

Amir Bunyat-zada was born and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan. He received his Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Queen’s University. Early in his undergraduate career Amir worked on a mass spectrometry project under the supervision of Dr. Diane Beauchemin. Towards the end of his undergraduate career and for his thesis project, he studied silent biosynthetic gene clusters in marine bacteria Pseudoalteromonas and ways to activate them using CRISPR genetic engineering under the supervision of Dr. Avena Ross. He stayed in Dr. Avena Ross’ lab for his Master’s and has recently joined the Howe lab to work on characterising an exciting thermostable variant of Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenase enzyme. Outside the lab, you can find Amir fixing broken electronics, mountain biking, kayaking, going through AI papers that he barely understands and reading historical essays so that he can anno…impress people at parties with “Did you know…” statements.

Neil Grenade is from in Scarborough, Ontario. He studied biological chemistry at University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). Neil is currently a 4th year PhD student in the labs of Drs. Graeme Howe and Avena Ross studying bacterial natural product evolution, mechanistic enzymology and physical organic chemistry with the goal of advancing therapeutic discovery, development and access. When he is not in the lab, Neil can be found gaming, writing music, Olympic weightlifting or swimming.

Jun Heo received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Food Science and Biotechnology from Seoul National University. He worked on the discovery and characterization of a lipase from an agricultural product during his Master's degree. He then joined the Howe lab as a Ph.D. candidate to work on the enzymatic degradation of nylons and understand the catalytic mechanisms of the enzymes to improve their activities by protein engineering. When he is not in the lab, Jun is either playing story-rich video games or hitting the gym in Queen's ARC.

Zhenyu Hu is a Ph.D. candidate in the Howe Group. Originally hailing from Wuhan, China, he received his B. Eng degree in Pharmaceutical Engineering from Wuhan University of Technology. During the first two years of his undergrad, he had the privilege of leading two national-funded undergraduate projects in biological fermentation focusing on converting CO2 into bioplastic under the supervision of Dr. Tian Zhang and Dr. Pier-Luc Tremblay. Later, he worked with Dr. Huali Qin to construct indolizine-containing aliphatic sulfonyl fluorides. He then dedicated his graduation thesis to pharmacology, under the mentorship of Dr. Kai Yang, where he explored the relationship between the Pannexin channel and Parkinson's disease in mice. His research journey continues in the Howe Group, where he's involved in studying the enzymatic degradation of PET. He's excited to apply his diverse research experiences to contribute to future projects. When he's not doing experiments, you'll find him singing, cooking, and staying active by playing badminton. His current biggest wish is to secure a chance to attend Adele's concert.

Nick Smith lived in Kanata, Ontario, for his whole life before attending Queen's for a BScH degree in biology. He completed an undergraduate thesis project with Dr. George diCenzo (Queen's Biology), who is co-supervising his O project. Nick is interested in applying biochemistry and genetics to solve global challenges. Specifically, he is working to develop biotechnological tools that leverage symbiotes for legume growth, helping reduce pollution and increase agricultural outputs. Outside of Chernoff Hall or the Biosciences Complex, Nick enjoys reading, painting, and lifting weights.

Stephan Ducharme grew up in Exeter, Ontario, before moving to Kingston to pursue an undergraduate degree in chemistry at Queen’s. In the final year of his undergraduate, Stephan worked with Amir Bunyat-zada to complete a thesis project which focused on the characterisation of a thermostable fusion between a Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase and phosphite dehydrogenase. Stephan is now pursuing a Master’s degree in the Howe Lab, focusing on a unique Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase which converts ketones to carbonates, rather than the typical reaction which converts ketones to esters. Outside the lab, Stephan enjoys taking on various woodworking and construction projects, running and snowboarding.

Esther Hoffman was born and raised in Barrie, Ontario. She is currently in her final year of her Bachelor of Science at Queens University and has just started the Accelerated Master’s Program in Chemistry. She joined the Howe Group this past summer as an NSERC USRA student, assisting Amir Bunyat-zada in studying a thermostable fusion Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenase enzyme, which she named syncycleMO. Currently, she is working with Jun Heo on  the enzymatic degradation of nylon and is looking forward to learning more about genetic engineering. When not in the lab, Esther spends her time bouldering, reading, sampling various teas, and embroidering flowers on all her clothes.

Kennedy Quigg is a current 1st-year Master’s student in the Howe Lab.  Kennedy is originally from William’s Lake, British Columbia, although she spent most of her life in Watertown, New York. Before beginning her undergraduate studies, Kennedy spent two gap years working seasonal outdoor jobs, travelling, and volunteering across Canada and Southeast Asia. Kennedy completed her BScH in Life Sciences at Queen’s University, including a 4th-year independent study on the biodegradation of polystyrene in Dr. David Zechel’s lab. To continue her work on the biodegradation of plastic materials, Kennedy transferred to Dr. Howe’s lab to study the potential of amidase enzymes for polyurethane degradation. Kennedy is passionate about blending science and communication to better the lives of others. In her free time, Kennedy enjoys doing just about anything outside, as well as reading and spending time with loved ones.

Interested in mechanistic organic chemistry or biochemistry?

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