Vera Velasco is the Senior Research Associate for Greenhouse Operations. She received her BSc in Plant Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of the Philippines where she characterized the genetic differences among several accessions of Canarium ovatum under the supervision of Dr. Merlyn Mendioro. She received her PhD in Plant Biology at McMaster University. During her doctoral studies with Dr. Elizabeth Weretilnyk, she investigated the molecular and functional responses of Arabidopsis and Eutrema to nutritional deficiencies . Vera was also postdoc in the Department of Biology at University of Toronto in Mississauga with Dr. Ingo Ensminger where she studied the physiology and transcriptome of Douglas-fir under extreme climatic conditions .
Vera grew up in a small town in the Philippines where a career in science is unheard of and scientists are regarded like unicorns and mermaids. She took biology as a pre-med in university but fell in love with plant sciences in her third year when she started to take courses in plant molecular biology and biochemistry. Vera’s undergraduate and graduate thesis advisors played a pivotal role in the development of her passion for plant sciences and as a plant physiologist. Vera was always fascinated by how plants live in many different environments. She is particularly interested in plant responses to abiotic stressors such as nutrient limitation and extreme drought and heat episodes. Vera is continuing in investigating plant acclimation to environment and hopes to contribute to the efforts to foster a healthy flora in an ever changing climate.