Official Profile

Central Memorial, is a senior high school located in Southwest Calgary, Alberta, Canada with a vast array of personality in it’s 1,120 students. Known for the Performing and Visual Arts (PVA) program, it is a central hub where students come from all quadrants of the city to share their talents, and work to pursue their passions. PVA, an auditioned program, has four disciplines. PVA Music is the largest disciple, and encompasses a large symphonic band, an award winning chamber choir, and a stunning strings ensemble, a program unique to Central. PVA Theatre Arts provides a professional experience to students interested in theatrical performance, working frequently with professionals in the field who share knowledge in genres such as improvisation, film acting, and everything in between. PVA Theatre Arts also has a phenomenal technical theatre program, for students wishing to specialize in the behind the scenes aspects of theatre. PVA Dance provides instruction in a wide array of dance styles, ranging from classical ballet to contemporary hip­hop. Lastly, PVA Art teaches young artists to work with a variety of mediums, providing a robust artistic education in both ceramic and visual art. Although generally well known for the arts, Central Memorial is also one of the three homes to the National Sports Academy (NSA), with specification in Baseball, FlexSports (individual sports), Golf, Hockey, Lacrosse, and Soccer. To match their highly academic students, Central has a strong core academic program, offering advanced placement in many of the courses offered, as well as a wide array of extracurricular clubs. This is the second year that Central Memorial has an iGEM team. We are out to prove that artists can make great scientists too.

Meet The Team

	Vladimir has been living in Calgary since day one. Growing up, he has experienced and explored everything from the bike paths in Fish Creek to the top of the Bow. At the age of eight, Vladimir developed a passion of photography and film­making, and carries it with him to this day. If he is not capturing photos, or studying, you can most likely find him zipping around from city to city on his bike. His passion for iGEM developed within the first weeks of grade ten, and carries into many aspects of his life. From lab work to media, Vladimir does it all.
	Natalie is a grade twelve student in Central's Performing and Visual Arts program in the dramatic arts discipline. She has always had a passion for the arts, having done private voice lessons from ages 8-16 as well as being involved in several choirs including Central Memorial's concert choir. Natalie, although always very academic, became extremely fascinated with human biology throughout high school. She worked as a research assistant in the lab of Dr. Marie Fraser at the University of Calgary during summer of 2015, work in on a biomedical research project with future application in dislipodemia and cancer treatment. Her future aspirations are to study Life Sciences or Health Sciences and one day become a perfusionist.
	Kevin Klemmer is the supervisor of the Central iGEM Team. He has taught at Central Memorial Highschool for 15 years.
	Jared was once a no life, that is, until he joined IGEM -- of which then, he became a no life that does science. If he isn't in the lab, then in all likelihood, he would be attempting to learn idioms, reading papers, doing math, memorizing the quadratic formula, and devouring ice cream.
	Francis Routledge is a grade twelve student who is a hard­working academic student that is passionate about the sciences. She was initially interested in iGEM because of the amounts of opportunity that iGEM presented. Francis is actively involved in her school community and is a leader in many clubs and activities within her school. Outside and inside school, she plays badminton and is on her schools’ cross country, track, badminton, field hockey, and basketball teams. Francis is passionate about athletics, academics, and music. In the future, she would like to pursue a career in medicine.
	Alexia Gendron is a simple 12th grader who spends her spare time perfecting recipes and playing piano. She enjoys reading, volunteering, good soup, Italian, and having insightful conversations. Although born in Calgary, Alberta, she was brought up in French, and attended a francophone school until her 10th grade. This has given her exposure to French-Canadian culture and taught her where to find it even if she finds herself a few provinces away from its origin. For five years she took karate and developed quite a fondness for martial arts. Despite having had to stop karate this year, she plans on starting to practice judo as soon as possible. After discovering Ronda Rousey, she found the very first person ever to move her so strongly, and she considers Rousey to be an inspiration. Right now, Alexia is focusing on the present, and is trying to enjoy her final year of high school before she graduates. Although she plans on attending university next year, she has yet to figure out exactly what she wants to study. She has always loved to learn all there is to learn and do all there is to do; she hopes to travel the world someday, meet fantastical people, and have a great collection of jaw-dropping stories to tell.
	Jessica Skall is a grade 12 student at Central Memorial Highschool. She recently moved to Calgary from Toronto, and she felt that iGem would be a good place to make friends with common interests in science. Long team plans of hers include becoming an international ESL teacher. That is all
	My name is Danielle and I am currently a grade 12 student at Central Memorial High School. At central, I am a part of the Performing Visual Arts program for dance. I do many genres of dance such as jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, hip hop, and more. It takes up most of my free time. I am also a co-captain of the cheerleading team, and a member of the iGem team. Being a part of iGem is a great experience! In the future, I aspire to be a doctor, and this is why I am a member of the iGem team. IGem has broadened my knowledge and will potentially help me in fulfilling my career goals.
	Zenab Bhamgerwala is a grade 12 student at Central Memorial High School. She joined the iGEM team because of the vast amount of opportunities it offered. Through central iGEM, Zenab was able to perform various procedures in the lab and gain a great amount of experience in the world of synthetic biology. Outside of school she enjoys being the programming lead of her Robotics team, sketching, reading, and running long distance. In the future, Zenab hopes to pursue her passion of biomedical studies in post secondary. Joining this team has helped develop essential life skills and reaffirm her career decisions.