Craig Shand, Co-owner and operator of Shand Farms Ltd. and an agronomist with Chinook Agronomists Inc., helped us tremendously at the beginning of our research period by giving us vital insights into how our project would affect the lives of Canadian farmers.

Randall Weselake, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta, used his years of experience in commercial oil processing to provide feedback on how our project could be scaled up to an industrial size.

Dr. Veronique Barthet, Research Scientists at the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), was an excellent resource on oilseed processing, having served as a research scientist at the CGC for the last 19 years.

Angela Brackenreed, agronomy specialist at the Alberta Canola Council, informed us on the current procedures that canola farmers use to mitigate the occurance of green seed in their crops.

Kyle Makila, Darren Walkey, Peter Waldner, senior staff at Pleasant Valley Oil Mills, gave us a look into how oil processing companies function.

Dallas Gade, Manager of Engineering at Richardson Oilseed, was kind enough to respond to our cold-calling attempts and arranged for us to meet with his team in person at Richardson’s processing plant in Lethbridge. Our meeting gave us a lot of insight into the economics of the canola industry and the subtle nuances of the oil purification process.

Ward Toma, General Manager of Alberta Canola Producers Commission

David Bailey, CEO of Genome Alberta ...

Anita Ludwar, Business Developments Operations at Genome Alberta, ...

Patrick Wu, Life Science and Synthetic Biology Marketing Consultant, was kind enough to watch our presentation and offer constructive criticism as to how to sell our narrative.Dr. Gijs van Rooijen, Chief Scientific Officer at Genome Alberta, having over 20 patents to his name, helped us understand the process of commercializing an agricultural biotechnology.

Dr. Mary Reid, Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Calgary, aided us in our ideation process.

Dr. Raymond Turner, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Calgary, provided feedback on our proposed emulsion system and supported us in the design of our genetic circuit, particularly in the design of the inducible promotor.

Dr. Marie Elizabeth Fraser, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Calgary, helped us that our idea of using a biofilm matrix with chlorophyll binding proteins was not feasible to for chlorophyll extraction. Through our meeting with her, we were able to pivot to an emulsion system instead.

Dr. Marcus Samuel, Associate Professor and Director of the Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary, was a crucial factor in our choice to pursue the green seed problem. His work in developing transgenic canola plants to be resistant to green seed is what initially sparked our curiosity in the subject.

Dr. Ian Lewis, Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary, helped us understand the difficulties of working with recombitant proteins and design factors we would have to consider when designing our chlorophyll binding protein.

Dr. Gordon Chua, Associate Professor and is the Associate Head of Operations in the Department of Biological Sciences, met with us a few times in the early ideation stages of our project to help us determine how synthetic biology can tackle the green seed problem.

Dr. Joe Harrison, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, helped us realize that biofilms would not be the best approach to take, and we subsequently changed the direction of our project to utilize emulsions instead.

Dr. Ronald Moore, Professor of Surgery and Oncology at the University of Alberta, provided us with a wealth of knowledge when we spoke with him about the use of pheophorbide in experimental photodynamic therapies.

Dr. Heather Addy, Mycologist and Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary, was invaluable in our exploration of pheophorbide's potential application as an anti-fungal agent.

Fran Cusack, Biological Science Technician at the University of Calgary, was gracious enough to supply us with fungal samples, Pestalotiopsis microspora and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, media plates for culturing those species, as well as, the knowledge needed to culture fungi. Without Fran's help, we would not have been able to study pheophorbide's potential application as an anti-fungal agent.

Dr. Kartikeya Murari, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary, was approached for help with Cameras for Mean Green Machine. He helped explain project requirements both for standardizing conditions and considerations for working with low-level camera firmware.

Dr. David Anderson, Instructor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Calgary, advised us on how to model the molecules involved in our project using cutting edge supercomputational platforms and molecular simulation systems.

Elisa Park, Manager of Health Innovation at the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking, provided us with entrepreneurial resources to aid in the business aspects of our project.

Noren Howg, Legal Associate at Bennett Jones, helped us strategize how we could keep the patentable aspects of our project confidential leading up to our first public disclosure at the iGEM Jamboree in Boston, MA.

Erin Kulhawy, Innovation Manager in Life Sciences at the Life Sciences Innovation Hub (LSIH), acted a liason between the team and LSIH, providing feedback on our project design and its commercial feasability.

Alyssa Lam, Community Engagement Specialist at the Life Science Innovation Hub (LSIH), opened a line of communication with Innovate Calgary and the LSIH, allowing us to get an insider's view as to how the LSIH supports local biotech startups. Alyssa was also kind enough to let us spread our love for science at their "Bacteria Night" event.

John Pye, Public Programmer at Telus SPARK, let us share our passion for science at Telus SPARK's Adult Night in August.