Profile

Ben is a PhD student in the department of Population Medicine. After recieving his Bachelors of Science (Hon) in Microbiology from the University of Victoria in 2012, he moved to Lethbridge, AB to pursue a Masters degree in Biological Sciences while working for the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory @ Lethbridge. While in Lethbridge, he developed novel methodologies for studying the genomic epidemiology of the foodborne bacterial human pathogen Campylobacter jejuni.

Now, enrolled in the Epidemiology PhD program working in the Pearl Laboratory, Ben hopes to continue to develop novel analytics for performing genomic epidemiology by investigating whole-genome sequence (WGS) data from Salmonella enteritidis circulating in the poultry production systems of southern Ontario. He aims to study WGS data to elucidate the transmission of genetic elements related to antimicrobial resistance throughout poultry and human populations.   

In his spare time, Ben loves to travel and is an avid outdoorsman, he loves camping and has spent most of his summers hiking in the Rocky Mountains. Ben is also an enthousiast homebrewer, applying his love of Microbiology to the fermentation of beers, wines and ciders!