Hudson M. Wentzell

Hudson M. Wentzell

Undergraduate Student
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Toronto
25 Harbord St., Toronto, ON M5S 3G5

Email: hudson.wentzell@mail.utoronto.ca

Current Research

Inferring patterns of natural selection and investigating molecular evolutionary changes in vertebrate visual proteins using computational methods of comparative sequence analysis

Education

  • PhD, University of Toronto (starting Sep. 2025)
    • Direct-entry PhD in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • HBSc, University of Toronto (Sep. 2021–Jun. 2025)
    • Genome Biology major, Fundamental Genetics and its Applications major
    • Graduating with high distinction, 4.00/4.00 cGPA

Awards

  • Corey A. Goldman Prize for Best Research Poster in EEB (Apr. 2025)
  • NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s (Apr. 2025)
  • University of Toronto FAST Doctoral Award (Feb. 2025)
  • Trinity College 6T5 Scholarship (Jan. 2025)
  • Human Biology Excellence Award (Dec. 2024)
  • B. Arthur Bensley Scholarship in Life Sciences (Nov. 2024)
  • RISE Germany Research Internship (May 2024)
  • Human Biology Excellence Award (Feb. 2024)
  • Trinity College 6T5 Scholarship (Nov. 2023)
  • F. M. Hill Scholarship in Biology (Oct. 2023)
  • Trinity College 6T3 Scholarship (Nov. 2022)
  • NL Centenary of Responsible Government Scholarship (Dec. 2021)
  • University of Toronto Scholars Award (Oct. 2021)
  • NL Education Foundation Scholarship (Sep. 2021)

Experience

  • EEB498Y1 (Sep. 2024–Apr. 2025) – Advanced research project on the molecular evolution of cetacean phototransduction and visual cycle genes, supervised by Dr. Belinda Chang
  • RISE Germany (May–Aug. 2024) – Research internship in the genome biology of rye (Secale cereale) at the Julius-Kühn-Institut (Groß Lüsewitz, MV, Germany), funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

Presentations

  • Wentzell H.M., Xie T., Chang B.S.W. 2025. Molecular evolution of cetacean phototransduction and visual cycle genes. University of Toronto Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Undergraduate Research Fair, Toronto, ON, Canada (poster).
  • Wentzell H.M., Xie T., Chang B.S.W. 2025. Molecular evolution of cetacean visual genes. Trinity College Undergraduate Research Conference, Toronto, ON, Canada (oral presentation).
  • Wentzell H.M., Hackauf B. 2024. The private genome of rye. RISE Germany Conference, Heidelberg, BW, Germany (oral presentation).