Kelsey N. Lucas, PhD (she/her)

Associate Professor

Biological Sciences, University of Calgary

kelsey.lucas [at] ucalgary.ca

I am fascinated by how the amazing behaviors marine and aquatic animals do arise from the inner workings of their bodies and the physical laws that govern them. My interests include aquatic ecology and biomechanics, environmental change, STEM education, museums, and science communication. These interests drive my professional endeavors and lead me to target a range of scientific and educational problems. Outside the lab, I enjoy running, baking, gaming, drawing, and photography; I drew or took all uncredited images across the website, except for personnel photos.
  Image credits: Left: A. Hajji; Right: D. Kennedy

Current lab members

Angelina Hajji, PhD student

angelina.hajji [at] ucalgary.ca

Angelina is currently interested in investigating human stressors on marine ecosystems and animals. Outside of academia, she is the founder of Keep The Earth Fresh (a nonprofit environmental organization) and is deeply committed to educating the public, building a community, and fostering conservation and sustainability efforts.
https://www.keeptheearthfresh.org/​

Haley Kennedy, MSc

haley.kennedy1 [at] ucalgary.ca

Haley’s interests are in animal physiology and how environmental stressors influence the health, behaviour, and physiological responses of aquatic animals. She is particularly interested in understanding how exposure to environmental contaminants can affect the stress response in fish. Her research uses zebrafish (Danio rerio) to investigate how exposure to naphthenic acids influences cortisol levels and behaviour, with the goal of better understanding the physiological consequences of environmental stress.

Clayton Gilson, Undergraduate

Arenea Huang, Undergraduate

Ella Taylor, Undergraduate

Lab alumni

Graduate students

Michael Chung, MSc (2025)

Mike's interests are in the functional morphology and biomechanics of fishes and how these incredibly diverse organisms interact with the physical world around us. He studied the relationship between body shape, temperature, and life stage on swimming performance in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).

Duncan Kennedy, MSc (2024)

Duncan studied the pectoral fins of chimaeras - an ancient group of cartilaginous fishes closely related to sharks, skates, and rays. He built a fin-flapping robot to mimic their unique locomotion and to uncover the relationship between pectoral fin morphology, movement, and force production from an ecological perspective. Before receiving a master's degree in biomechanics, Duncan received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Calgary.
Undergraduates
Anastassiya Moskalenko (2025-2026)
​Danielle Rajwani (2025-2026)
Charlotte Leung (2024-2026)
Gaurav Saini (2025)
Emma Aboud-McConnell (2024-2025)
Aidan Hamilton (2024-2025)
Mohib Sherbaz (2023-2025)
Emily Duan (2023-2024)
Julie Siemens (2023-2024)
Davis Dickson (2023-2024)
Shreya Pillai (2023)
Christinne Falguera (2022-2023)