Dr. Geitmann’s research focuses on the cellular processes that are involved in plant reproduction and those that lead to the formation of plant organs and functional tissues. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Biomechanics of Plant Development at McGill University and leads an interdisciplinary team of biologists and engineers. Dr. Geitmann's research combines cell biology with micromanipulation methodology and mathematical concepts to reveal novel aspects of plant functioning. Dr. Geitmann currently serves as President of the International Association of Plant Reproduction Research and she serves on the editorial boards of multiple scientific journals including Cell and Plant Physiology.

Dr. Mark Belmonte is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Mark received his BSc (2001) and MSc (2003) from the University of Calgary before moving to Winnipeg where he obtained his PhD in plant science in 2008. After a brief postdoctoral fellowship at UC Davis, Mark moved back to Winnipeg to start his own lab in the Faculty of Science. Dr. Belmonte’s group uses cutting edge next generation molecular tools to improve crop production of some of Canada’s most important agricultural crops. Mark has published his work over 55 times, been the recipient of numerous awards, and is devoted to promoting science education and research at outreach events across Canada and takes pride in training the next generation of young scientists.

Dr. Yang Xu is currently a Research Associate in Dr. Christoph Benning’s lab at Michigan State University. She got her PhD degree in Plant Science under the supervision of Dr. Randall Weselake from the University of Alberta in 2018 and then worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Guanqun (Gavin) Chen’s lab at the University of Alberta for more than two years. Her research focuses on plant and microalgal lipid biochemistry and biotechnology.

Dr. Peter Constabel is Professor and Chair of Biology at the University of Victoria, and former Director of the UVic Centre for Forest Biology. He first became fascinated with secondary plant metabolism during his MSc studies with G. H. Neil Towers at the University of British Columbia. He obtained his doctorate in Molecular Biology from the Université de Montréal working with Normand Brisson, then did post-doctoral research with Clarence Ryan at Washington State University. His research has focused on the biosynthesis, regulation, and function of phenolic secondary metabolites in poplars and other trees. He has published extensively on plant tannins. In 2018, received the CSPB's David J. Gifford Award in Tree Biology.

Dr. Abel Rosado is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair Tier 2 in Plant Cellular dynamics at the University of British Columbia. He obtained his doctorate in plant stress physiology from Malaga University (Spain) working with Miguel Botella. He discovered his passion for plant microscopy as a Fulbright postdoctoral scholar with Natasha Raikhel at UC-Riverside, and later developed an independent research line in cellular stress physiology as a Marie Curie researcher. His current research uses the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and aims at understanding how cellular structures known as membrane contact sites regulate the non-vesicular transfer of information during stress episodes.

Dr. Alice Cheung is currently Professor in the Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA. Received her B.A. (Biochemistry) from Smith College and PhD in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University and postdoc in Plant Biology at the Harvard University. Alice have a long-standing interest in plant reproduction, especially in various male-female interaction processes that lead to fertilization. Particularly interested in understanding the signaling strategies that underlie the cell-cell communicative events during the pollination process. Her work spans molecular and cell biology and also rely heavily in transgenic and biochemical approaches. Our most recent efforts have been on the role of several signaling pathways that mediate pollen-pistil interaction from pollen deposition on the stigma to sperm release in the embryo sac.

Dr. Jacqueline Monaghan is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Queen’s University, and a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Plant Immunology. Jacqueline studied undergraduate biology at the University of Toronto and was an NSERC graduate scholar at the University of British Columbia. She continued as an EMBO Long-term Fellow and BBSRC Future Leader Fellow at the Sainsbury Laboratory Norwich. Her research group at Queen’s University focuses on immune signal transduction and fine-tuning mechanisms with a particular interest in calcium-dependent protein kinases.