Michelle Lynn D’Souza

Biodiversity Scientist | Digital Media Producer | Science Storyteller

Dr. Michelle D’Souza, PhD (she/her) is a molecular ecologist whose work focuses on biodiversity conservation, community engagement, and knowledge mobilization.

About her

Michelle is a passionate first-generation scientist whose research approach values accessibility, equity, community engagement, and creativity.

She has forged partnerships with several global networks, providing institutional support for projects in Costa Rica, Ghana, Honduras, South Africa, and the UK. She addresses all problems through a global lens.

Valuing science literacy and the power of storytelling has led her to create a digital body of work that increases the accessibility of scientific research including videos, websites, and an online science magazine.

Upholding Soil Biodiversity

Michelle is currently the liaison between the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and McCain Foods Ltd. as Project Manager on the ‘Farms of the Future’ initiative that aims to showcase how regenerative farming practices and the latest agricultural technology and innovations can be implemented at scale.

Her research strives to acquire comprehensive baseline data on soil biodiversity and identify the agricultural practices fostering biological communities that enhance soil productively using the latest next-generation sequencing technologies.

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Society better understands science when scientists tell compelling stories.

Community engagement in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, with the ARCBIO project.— Feb 2018
Interviewing Dr. Fred Aboagye-Antwi for the video production of Target Malaria’s collaborative research project. — Mar 2020
Interviewed by CBC’s The National—’We are at risk of erasing the books of life’: Biologists work to chronicle life on earth.— Jun 2019
Redesigned and presented the iBOL Consortium website to the iBOL Science Committee. — Oct 2018
Examining insects while establishing the Kruger Malaise Program in Kruger National Park, South Africa. — Apr 2019

Using DNA barcodes in the fight against Malaria

As research liaison between Target Malaria and the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, she led the production of collaborative research in Ghana.

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The Barcode Bulletin

As the scientific editor and creative designer, her vision has brought the quarterly DNA barcoding newsletter to a wider online audience. She designed the new website and played a key role in recruiting, editing, writing, and advertising its contents. She has also established it under the Open Journal Systems.

The Kruger Malaise Program

As program manager, her passion for research, dynamic communication, and meaningful local engagement led to the successful completion of a year-long, park ranger-run biodiversity sampling program in South Africa.

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