Dr. Réal Roy
Areas of research focus
- Ecology of bacteria and archaea
- Bacteria in forest soil and aquatic sediment
- Bacteria in the nitrogen and methane cycle
- Molecular DNA analysis of microbial communities
- Microorganisms, vaccination, and human culture
Bacteria are the most ancient form of life on Earth. They are also the ancestors of mitochondria and chloroplasts, which are key organelles in plants, fungi and animal cells. They also play a key role in biological communities as the main catalysts in the cycling of organic matter in forest soil, freshwater and marine sediments. Furthermore, some bacteria are important in the production of food while others may cause foodborne diseases and epidemics in human communities.
My research interests are on the various factors that control the activity and diversity of microbial communities in soil or sediments, not only in natural ecosystems but also in anthropic systems. A combination of methods ranging from classical microbiology and analytical chemistry to molecular genetics are used to study bacteria in their natural habitat.
- BIOL 362 Techniques in Molecular Biology
- BIOL 359 Food, Diseases, and People
- BIOL 438 Nutrient Cycling and Prokaryotes
- BIOL 459 Human Microbial Diseases
- BIOL 538 Nutrient Cycling and Prokaryotes
Bramadat, P., M. Guay, J. Bettinger, R. Roy (Eds). 2017. Public Health in the Age of Anxiety: Religious and Cultural Roots of Vaccine Hesitancy in Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 398 p.
Roy, R. 2017. Learning from smallpox inoculation refusal: early scientific debates and the evolution of vaccine refusal. In P. Bramdat, M. Guay, J.A. Bettinger, and R. Roy (Eds.) Public Heath in the Age of Anxiety: Religious and Cultural Roots of Vaccine Hesitancy in Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 2017, 111-128.
Roy, R. 2017. Vivre en français en Colombie-Britannique : quelle place pour les Anglophones. Gratien Allaire, Peter Dorrington et Mathieu Wade (dir.), Résilience, résistance, inclusion et alliances: Penser la francophonie canadienne différemment, Presses de l'Université Laval, Québec, 2017, 151-165.
Boczulak, S., B.J. Hawkins, D. Maynard, R. Roy. 2015. Long- and short-term temperature differences affect organic and inorganic nitrogen availability in forest soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Sciences 95: 77-86.
Boczulak, S., B.J. Hawkins, R. Roy. 2014. The effect of temperature on N form uptake by seedling roots of three contrasting conifers. Tree Physiology 34: 513-523.
Dubé, E., C. Laberge, M. Guay, P. Bramadat, R. Roy, J. Bettinger. 2013. Vaccine hesitancy: an overview. Human Vaccine & Immunotherapeutics. 9: 1763-1773.
Pratt, C., A.S. Walcroft, K.R. Tate, D.J. Ross, R. Roy, M.H. Reid, P.W. Veiga. 2012. Biofiltration of methane emissions from a dairy farm effluent pond. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 152: 33-39.
Pratt, C., A. Walcroft, K. Tate, M.H. Hills, R. Roy. 2012. In vitro methane removal by volcanic pumice soil columns over one year. Journal of Environmental Quality 41:1-8.
Stein, L. Y., R. Roy, P. F. Dunfield. 2012. Aerobic methanotrophy and nitrification: Processes and connections. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons: Chicester.