Research

The primary goal of my research activities is to work with undergraduate students and provide them with the opportunity to include research as a part of their educational experience at UNBC. Students who share my interest in DNA and its role as the blue print of life, apply their knowledge to investigate genetic differences in rainbow trout and mountain whitefish.

We also use DNA barcoding methods to investigate the biodiversity of stoneflies, mayflies and caddisflies.

Undergraduate Students doing Research:

Undergraduate theses (6-credit):

Ray Lyle                          (2014) Taxonomy of stoneflies from the Crooked River

Chandandeep Sangha   (2014) Phylogenetics of rainbow trout in the Prince George area

Daemon Cline                 (2015) Skwala stoneflies of the Prince George area

Emily Yurkowski             (2015) Taxonomy of caddisflies from the Crooked River (co-supervised with Dezene Huber)

Jerry Doffe                       (2016) eDNA of invasive cyprinids

Claire Shrimpton             (2016)  Taxonomy of mayflies from the Crooked River (co-supervised with Dezene Huber)

Kristoff Ilou                      (2019) Chemical analysis of river water by MP-AES  

Undergraduate research (3-credit):

Ray Lyle                        (2012) Macro-invertebrate densities of the Willow and Crooked Rivers

Rashna Batiwalla          (2016) mtDNA analysis of mountain whitefish from the Bowron River

Emily O'Reilley               (2017) Analysis of gene expression in Pteronarcys californica

Jen Choi                         (2017) Sex determination in rainbow trout

Connor Johnson              (2018) Phylogenetics of Bowron River rainbow trout

Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) awards:

Natalie Sharman           (2013)  Macro-invertebrate densities of the Willow and Crooked Rivers

Kenton Nicholson         (2013) Developing and index for snout morphology in mountain whitefish

Kinton Sy                       (2014) Macro-invertebrate densities of the Willow and Crooked Rivers

Michael van Dijk            (2014) Macro-invertebrate densities of the Willow and Crooked Rivers

Matt Ewen                      (2015) Body shapes of mountain whitefish in the Prince George area

Rashna Batiwalla          (2015) Macro-invertebrate densities of the Bowron River

Summer students:

Claire Shrimpton                (2014) Taxonomy of mayflies from the Crooked River (co-supervised with Dezene Huber)

Frank Freire Dos Santos   (2014) Taxonomy of caddisflies from the Crooked River (co-supervised with Dezene Huber)

Nathan Shaw                      (2008) Rainbow trout from the Blackwater and Crooked rivers (co-supervised with Mark Shrimpton)

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Huber, D.P., Shrimpton, C.M. and Erasmus, D.J., 2019. Eight new provincial species records of mayflies (Ephemeroptera) from one Arctic watershed river in British Columbia. Western North American Naturalist, 79(1), pp.1-11.

Burian, S.K., Erasmus, D.J., Shrimpton, C.M., Currie, D.C., Giberson, D.J. and Huber, D.P., 2018. First records of Baetis vernus Curtis (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) in North America, with morphological notes. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia, 115, pp.3-24.

Erasmus, D.J., Yurkowski, E.A. and Huber, D.P., 2018. DNA barcode-based survey of Trichoptera in the Crooked River reveals three new species records for British Columbia. PeerJ, 6, p.e4221.

Daniel J. Erasmus, Sharon Brewer and Bruno Cinel. 2015. Integrating bio-inorganic and analytical chemistry into an undergraduate biochemistry laboratory. BAMBED, 43:2 121-125

Daniel J. Erasmus, Sharon Brewer and Bruno Cinel. 2015. Assessing the Engagement, Learning, and Overall Experience of Students Operating an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer with Remote Access Technology. BAMBED 43:1 6-12

Daniel J. Erasmus and Hennie J. J. van Vuuren. 2009.  Genetic Basis for Osmosensitivity and Genetic Instability of the Wine Yeast S. cerevisiae VIN7. Am J Enol Vitic. 60:2 145-154.

Marks, Virginia D.; Ho Sui, Shannan J.; Erasmus, Daniel; van der Merwe, George K.; Brumm, Jochen; Wasserman, Wyeth W.; Bryan, Jennifer; van Vuuren, Hennie J. J. 2008. Dynamics of the yeast transcriptome during wine fermentation reveals a novel fermentation stress response. FEMS Yeast Research, 8: 35-52

Joana Coulon, John I. Husnik, Debra L. Inglis, George K. van der Merwe, Aline Lonvaud, Daniel J. Erasmus and Hennie J. J. van Vuuren. 2006. Metabolic Engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Minimize the Production of Ethyl Carbamate in Wine.  Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 57:2 113-124

Erasmus, D. J., Cliff, M. A., and van Vuuren, H. J. J. 2004. Impact of Yeast Strain on the Production of Acetic Acid, Glycerol, and the Sensory Attributes of Icewine.  Am. J. Enol. Vitic. (55) 371-378

Erasmus, D. J., van der Merwe, G. K., and van Vuuren, H. J. J. 2003. Genome-wide expression analyses: Metabolic adaptation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to high sugar stress. FEMS Yeast Research (3) 375-399