Jekyll2026-06-09T05:21:27+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/feed.xml(Ben) Matthews LabHome of the Ben Matthews Lab at UBC ZoologyBen Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caCongratulations, Jonathan2026-04-24T05:00:00+00:002026-04-24T05:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/congrats%20jonathanCongratulations to successful Genome Sciences and Technology M.Sc. graduate Jonathan Chiang, who defended his thesis today. Well done, Jonathan!

Jonathan holding a bottle of beverage following his successful defence

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caHappy genome day, Aedes togoi2026-04-13T20:00:00+00:002026-04-13T20:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/togoi%20togoi%20togoiHappy genome day to the coastal rock pool mosquito Aedes togoi!

After a long journey of sequencing, assembling, scaffolding, curating, polishing, annotating, and much more, Jonathan Chiang has completed a chromosome-scale genome for our favourite salt-tolerant coastal mosquito. Read the pre-print here

Along with dream team Andrea Durant and her Ph.D. student Elissa Khodikian (UW Biology), Jonathan, along with former lab members Dan Peach, Orna Phelan and Ana Parra, worked hard to get this assembly together alongside transcriptomic insights into its unique larval ‘salt gland.’ This genome opens the door to new questions about osmoregulation, sensory systems, and ecological specialization in mosquitoes. Huge thanks to everyone involved in the project!

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caAedes aegypti prefer rough surfaces to lay eggs2026-03-09T20:00:00+00:002026-03-09T20:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/textureThis one was a long time coming - we’re thrilled to finally share Aleks Anoshina’s behavioural insights into mechanosensory control of egg-laying behaviour in Aedes aegypti. Read the pre-print here

Aleks, an undergraduate Honours student, showed alongside fellow undergrads Lauren Semkow and Annie Zeng, that Aedes aegypti egg-laying behaviour is deeply influenced by surface texture - rough beats smooth, every time. Former technician Nick Tochor filmed this behaviour in action and showed that gravid mosquitoes can’t wait to get off a smooth surface and onto a rough patch, where they will preferentially deposit their eggs. This work sets the stage for a major current focus of the lab on the molecular, cellular, and behavioural roles of mechansensation in guiding mosquito behaviour.

Fly, albatross, fly!

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caHappy Holidays 20242024-12-06T20:00:00+00:002024-12-06T20:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/happy%20holidaysA happy holidays from us at the Mosquito/Salmon/Hairworm lab! We were also celebrating the end of a very productive and successful three-month visit from Roenick Olmo sponsored by the French Consulate and Green College.

brasil

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caWelcome Auguste2024-09-01T20:00:00+00:002024-09-01T20:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/welcome%20augusteA very warm welcome to Auguste de Pennart, joining us as a Zoology PhD student. Auguste did his undergraduate work at UBC (including directed studies work with our frenemies, the other Matthews lab, followed by a M.Sc. degree with Maria Dacke in the Lund University Vision group.

Auguste will be working on mechanosensation in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Welcome!

auguste

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caCanadian Association of Neuroscience 20242024-05-23T20:00:00+00:002024-05-23T20:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/CAN2024Congratulations to Leisl for a successful poster presentation at the Canadian Association of Neuroscience 2024 Annual Meeting!

CAN1

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caLab retreat!2024-05-08T20:00:00+00:002024-05-08T20:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/retreatWe had a great lab retreat to Loon Lake, in the UBC Malcolm Knapp Research Forest to welcome new members and spend some time on the water before embarking on our summer research adventures. Hopefully a tradition in the making!

retreat1 retreat2 retreat3 retreat4

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caFish? Fish.2024-05-01T20:00:00+00:002024-05-01T20:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/BCSRIFWe are in desparate need of re-vamping our laboratory name - no longer simply the ‘mosquito lab’, we also work on host-parasite interactions in a cricket-hairworm system (driven by Dr. Jeff Doherty) and now fish, as part of a collaborative project with Colin Brauner’s lab. We welcome two new M.Sc. students, Eric Reich and Ralitza Sevova, who will join Dr. Ian Bouyoucos to study the impacts of water acidification on olfactory imprinting in Pacific Salmon. It took 4 years, but we’ve got the fish bug!

logo Credit to Eric Reich for the logo

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caCongratulations Ivan!2024-04-10T20:00:00+00:002024-04-10T20:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/congrats%20ivanIvan Lo defended his M.Sc. thesis today, entitled “Strategies for improving the genetic toolbox in Aedes aegypti mosquito.”

Congratulations Ivan!

ivan1 ivan2

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.caCongratulations Tahnee!2024-03-27T20:00:00+00:002024-03-27T20:00:00+00:00http://bnmtthws.github.io/lab/news/congrats%20tahneeBig congratulations to newly minted Zoology M.Sc. Tahnee Ames (co-supervised with Phil Matthews)

Tahnee’s thesis was entitled “Molecular pathways underlying Chaoborus air-sac structure and function” - congratulations Tahnee!!

]]>Ben Matthewsben.matthews@zoology.ubc.ca