Dr Tempest took her undergraduate work at Brunel University (London), earning her BSc in Applied Biology. During this time she established the research laboratory of Professor Darren Griffin. Her PhD thesis in that laboratory was "The association between sperm aneuploidy and male infertility: screening, aetiology and possible routes to alternative therapy". Dr Tempest's expertise focuses on the chromosomal aspects of infertility and toxicant in humans utilizing new cytogenetic and molecular technologies. Remaining at Brunel University after her PhD, she first developed an infertility screening kit for rapid identification of porcine chromosomal rearrangements. Following this, she moved to the University of Kent (Canterbury) to develop avian chromosome paints and conduct comparative mapping projects. There she became interested in combining nano-technology with conventional cytogenetics, using quantum dots as fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) probes. In 2006, she joined the laboratory of Professor Renée Martin, at the University of Calgary. At Calgary, Dr. Tempest investigated the effect of chemotherapy on sperm aneuploidy, intra- and inter-individual variations in sperm aneuploidy and chromosome pairing and recombination during meiosis. During 2008-2009 she devoted efforts to preimplantation genetic diagnosis on single cells (blastomeres), working at the London Bridge Centre for Infertility, Genetics and Gynaecology (London, UK) with Dr. Alan Handyside, a pioneer who achieved the world's first human PGD diagnosis. Dr Tempest's research has resulted in publications in the top reproduction and cytogenetic journals, including Nature for her contribution to the chicken genome project at the University of Kent. She was recipient of 2006 and 2007 Petro Canada Young Innovators Awards and the 2006 Champion Technologies Award, and has successfully obtained research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr Tempest has been involved in the organization of international conferences.

Applied Biology,Molecular Genetics