Mark Saldanha is a 4th year Neuroscience student at Dalhousie University. Mark was born in Mumbai, India, but has lived in Halifax since he was five. Mark aims to soon move onto completing both his MBA and his MD here at Dalhousie. He loves going on adventures, spending time with friends, playing the guitar, and playing all sports (except for the ones he is no good at).
A year ago Mark started a non-profit organization called Greater Love. The organization aims to empower youth to serve marginalized populations in our communities. The organization has grown from 10 people to close to 100 volunteers, with locations throughout the nation including Halifax, Toronto, Kingston, as well as Ottawa. The group ventures out into the streets of Halifax to spend time with the impoverished where they have built strong friendships with those who are suffering on the streets. The organization is also currently a society on Dalhousie's campus, and is always looking for more volunteers. Mark is passionate for helping those who are suffering, and giving youth the tools they need to change the world around them.
Mark also conducts research under Dr William Baldridge, the Head of Medical Neuroscience at Dalhousie's School of Medicine. He has worked towards identifying melanopsin-immunoreactive neurons in zebrafish retinas. He has also worked on identifying displaced amacrine cells in the zebrafish retina, which are reactive to both GABA as well as ACh neurotransmitters.
Mark is extremely excited to journey with the students in this year's FIGS class as we learn more about the ocean.