Catherine Chan, Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry
Mentor and student landing research awards (2007)

Chan is an assistant professor who holds a joint appointment between the Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry. She joined UWW in the fall of 2005, and has kept an active research lab since. To date, she has worked with seven UWW undergraduates on a variety of research projects, using Arabidopsis thaliana (a model land plant) as a system to test the effects of various environmental factors on plant growth and development.

Research is an expensive activity and both Chan and her students are always on the lookout for funding opportunities. Fortunately, they have been very successful in obtaining support from UWW, such as the Undergraduate Research Program, as well as various external funding sources. For example, Chan received a UW Faculty Diversity Research Award which, apart from providing a research budget for her lab, relieved her of all teaching duties for the fall 2007 semester. Hers is one of six awards granted to applicants throughout the UW system. In addition, one of her students, Roxana Godiwalla, received a prestigious research fellowship from the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) in the summer of 2007. The award was one of only four given nationally in her category. She travelled with Chan to present her research, a collaborative work between Godiwalla and other students in Chan’s lab, at the ASPB national meeting in the summer of 2008 in Merida, Mexico.

Apart from promoting science teaching by being an active research mentor, Chan also participates in other activities that contribute to curricular improvements. She has worked on various curricular proposals that emphasize hands-on learning experiences and, working with colleagues in her departments and college, is applying for funding to expand course offerings and research opportunities in UWW. ‘I feel very fortunate to have the support of my colleagues, departments and college in all of my scholarly pursuits,’ said Chan.