Science Matters Vol. 3
STUDENTS RECOGNIZE TEACHING EXCELLENCE
MSU AWARD WINNERS: Paul Berti, Aaron Childs and Megumi Harada (top row left to right), Krista Howarth, Dylan Kobsar and Joshua Nederveen (bottom row left to right)
Six faculty members were recognized for teaching excellence by the McMaster Students Union.
Established in 1978, the MSU Teaching Awards recognize and encourage excellence in teaching. Fifteen awards were presented to faculty and teaching assistants from across the University.
Student-nominated Excellence in Teaching Awards for Faculties and Departments recognize outstanding all- round performance, including communication skills, approachability, and the instructor's enthusiasm as recognized by students registered in their classes. Award recipients are determined by the number of nominations while considering class size and student comments and evaluations.
The Innovation, Lifetime Achievement and Merit Awards are application-based.
For more on the awards, visit the?Macademics webpage.?
Congratulate our 2023 MSU Teaching Excellence winners:
Paul at [email protected].
Aaron at [email protected]
Megumi at [email protected]
Krista at [email protected]
Dylan at [email protected]
Joshua at [email protected]?
GRADUATE?STUDENT WINS VIDEO COMPETITION
McMaster University?Professor?Karen Kidd?isn’t surprised?Emily Robson?won this year’s?GradFlix Challenge.
Emily, a graduate student in Biology and a member of Karen’s lab, won the competition with a?60-second video?explaining her research on the amount of microplastics found in freshwater mussels collected from Ontario’s Grand River.
The annual video competition is run by?McMaster Graduate Studies?and open to all graduate students from across the University.
“Emily’s incredibly passionate about freshwater mussels and it really shows in her video,” says Karen, the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair in Environment and Health. “Emily can talk for hours – and will readily admit this – about these fascinating animals and has many facts, stories, and insights to share about why they need our attention.
“Fitting all that enthusiasm into a one-minute video is an award-winning feat on its own,” says Karen.
Explaining her research in 60 seconds was a real challenge, admits Emily. “It was even harder figuring out how to communicate with an audience in an engaging way, especially without much time to give background information. I’m lucky that most people already know about microplastics. This let me spend more time introducing freshwater mussels and making them the ‘damsel in distress’ that I’m trying to help through my research.”
Why the interest in mussels? It started with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ species-at-risk team. Emily spent two summers monitoring mussel populations across southern Ontario. “Although mussels might not look like very sophisticated animals, they have a really complex and fascinating life history that we still don’t fully understand.”
And why should we care about the fate of freshwater mussels? “They’re important for maintaining a healthy watershed and ecosystem,” says Emily. Some species can filter up to 50 litres of water a day, which improves water quality for other animals. “We tend to find mussels only in areas of good water quality so changes to the mussel population can be an early warning sign for decreased water quality due to pollution. We’re still early in our research on how microplastics affect mussels. This research will definitely give us a lot more insights into what happens to the plastics in our water and where they end up.”
A fellow graduate student introduced Emily to the Gradflix competition last year. She watched the live showcase and was hooked. “I kept the competition in the back of my mind as a creative and new way to share my research.”
Emily estimates she spent 20 hours on the 60-second video. She started filming clips during her field season on the Grand River last August. She then met one-on-one with a communications coach and sat in on storytelling workshops and feedback sessions offered by the School of Graduate Studies at the start of 2023. With the competition deadline fast approaching, Emily spent the final weekends refilming clips and audio and putting together the final cut.
Competitions like GradFlix help graduate students hone their communication skills, something that Emily says is absolutely essential for all researchers.
Communication and community engagement is also a strategic priority for the Faculty of Science. Workshops, courses and special events help undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty gain the skills and confidence to take on leadership roles as science champions.
“Our research has the greatest impact when we communicate our science beyond academic journals and conferences and reach general audiences through public and social media. Effective and engaging communication is especially important in the field of microplastics because it’s a serious threat to freshwater mussels and other vulnerable aquatic species,” says Emily.
“Through communication, we also engage and inspire future generations and show how science and research benefits everyone in our day-to-day lives.”
Congratulate Emily at [email protected].
TWO MAJOR AWARDS FOR ONE REMARKABLE STUDENT
Mathematics student?Jessie Meanwell?arrived at McMaster University as a 2019?Shulich Leader?and graduates as a?2023 McCall MacBain Scholar.
Designed to encourage purposeful leadership, the McCall MacBain Scholarships enable 20 students from across Canada to pursue a fully funded master’s or professional degree at McGill University, while participating in mentorship, coaching and a leadership development program. Jessie plans to pursue a master’s degree in mathematics at McGill.
The scholarships were established in 2019 with a $200 million gift to McGill from McMaster graduate Marcy McCall MacBain BSc ’00 and her husband John McCall MacBain.
Schulich Leader Scholarships are Canada’s most coveted undergraduate STEM scholarships. One hundred scholarships are awarded to entrepreneurial-minded high school graduates enrolling in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math program at 20 partner universities across Canada.
Jessie makes free educational math videos, serves as vice-president, academic of the Mathematics and Statistics Student Society, led high school outreach workshops, volunteered as a homework helper at a community health centre, helped build an inclusive program for incoming first-year math students and worked as a camp counsellor.
Read the Daily News story?about McMaster’s 2023 McCall MacBain Scholarship recipients.
CO-OP STUDENT HONOURED?AS MCMASTER'S BEST
Ace your first co-op and go on to earn university and national honours.
That’s what third-year Biology and Pharmacology student?Emma Adamson-De Luca?accomplished when she was named McMaster’s Co-op Student of the Year and a Faculty of Science Co-op Student of the Year in recognition of her outstanding contributions during an eight-month co-op work term at?AIMA Laboratories.
In addition to the McMaster and Faculty of Science awards, Emma was one of six university and college co-op students from across the country to receive an honorary mention from?CEWIL/ECAIT Canada.
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“We’ve run out of adjectives to describe Emma and her impact on our company,” said AIMA co-founder Dr.?Jocelyn Wessels, Ph.D.?during the Science Career & Cooperative Education celebration at Alumni Memorial Hall. “Emma was AIMA’s first hire – employee #1 – and she’s set an incredibly high bar not just for our next co-op students but for all our future employees.”
Every day at AIMA Laboratories was an incredible learning opportunity, says Emma, who’s the first Faculty of Science student to receive McMaster Co-op Student of the Year honours. “This unique experience introduced me to the FemTech industry and commercialization process and cemented my interest in pursuing a career in women’s health. I was fortunate to spend my time working closely with the co-founders who have such a passionate drive to revolutionize the standard of care for endometriosis, which in turn energized me to perform to the best of my abilities. I’m incredibly grateful for the unwavering support of my supervisor and the connections I made during this co-op term.”
Faculty of Science Dean?Maureen MacDonald?presented the McMaster Co-op Student of the Year Award to Emma during the March 21st celebration and thanked AIMA Laboratories for providing a game-changing co-op experience loaded with opportunities. “Amazing things happen when you bring together exceptional co-op students like Emma and great employers like AIMA Laboratories.”
Faculty of Science Co-op Student of the Year Awards were also presented to?Julia Azzi?for her co-op work term with the Institute for Biopolymers at Hof University of Applied Sciences in Germany and?Jaimini Patel?for her co-op work term with Health Canada. Twenty-four students from the Faculty of Science were nominated by their employers for co-op award consideraton.
Co-op students in the Faculty of Science completed a record 568 work terms in 2022 and earned more than $4 million. Science Career & Co-operative Education partnered with 180 employers, including 50 new employers last year.
Connect with?McMaster SCCE?to explore opportunities to hire a Faculty of Science co-op student for a paid work term.
RESEARCH CHAIR RECEIVES MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE
Congratulations to?Janok Bhattacharya?on receiving the 2023 Francis P. Pettijohn Medal for Excellence in Sedimentology and Stratigraphy from the?Society for Sedimentary Geology.
Janok is a Professor in the School of Earth, Environment & Society and the Susan Cunningham Research Chair in Geology in the School of Earth, Environment & Society. Janok's research program primarily focuses?on investigating the sequence stratigraphy and 3D facies architecture of shelf, shallow marine, paralic, and fluvial depositional systems.
The Society for Sedimentary Geology is a non-profit society that focuses specifically on enriching professionals and students within sedimentary geology.
Congratulate Janok at [email protected].
FACULTY OF SCIENCE NEWSMAKERS
"Draining the swamp, wherever it might be, could be a catastrophic mistake for humankind as climate change throws punches that these ecosystems can handle much better than others," write Earth, Environment & Society Professor and Canada Research Chair in Ecohydrology?Mike Waddington?and Simon Fraser University Assistant Professor Sophie Wilkinson in?The Conversation Canada. "But as the changing climate exacerbates the extent of droughts and wildfires, especially in the vast peatlands of the north, these ecosystems are now fighting a losing battle."?Read Sophia and Mike's?Up in smoke: Human activities are fuelling wildfires that burn essential carbon-sequestering peatlands.
"Hearing my level of comfort with not being considered 'normal' visibly moved my son," wrote Mathematics & Statistics Professor and Canada Research Chair in Computational Statistics?Paul McNicholas?in the?Toronto Star.?"That reaction gave me the nudge I needed to finally write this. I have a communication disorder — I dislike the word disability. In short, every conversation I have, or have ever had, is a challenge. I struggle to find the intended meaning in people’s words, and I cannot read body language. In the seconds it takes me to parse the meaning of the first sentence, the speaker is typically several sentences along. I am very lucky that I managed to carve out a career as a professor, where extensive questioning of one’s interlocutor is expected and even encouraged."?Read Paul's Toronto Star op-ed here.
Music therapy reduces stress and anxiety and can be as effective as traditional talk therapy, a new study finds.?Rachael Finnerty, a PhD student in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, studied undergraduate students who received online group music therapy in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way of coping with their stress and anxiety. The study of 85 students measured stress levels using cortisol in participants’ hair samples. The group that did not receive therapy had significantly higher stress levels compared to the groups who received music or verbal therapy. Both therapies were equally effective in reducing anxiety levels after each session.
Go behind the scenes and into the minds of LIVELab researchers and scientists in episode two of?The Art of Science. The latest episode?explores how LIVELab scientists conduct a research study investigating motion and emotion and includes?songs performed by?Alex Whorms and her band during?her LIVELab concert?last September.
Restoring up to 39,000 square kilometres of land in Canada would help curb biodiversity loss and climate change, according to a new study involving Faculty of Science researchers and the World Wildlife Fund Canada. The study can serve as a guide to policymakers trying to help Canada meet its national and international goals around land protection and restoration, says?Alemu Gonsamo, an Assistant Professor with the School of Earth, Environment & Society?and Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing of Terrestrial Ecosystems. Read about the study in this?Daily News story.
INSPIRED BY NATURE:?LIVELab's?2023 Hybrid Concert Series concludes Sunday, April 30 at 2 pm with a performance by?Adi Braun?with Robert Horvath on piano?and Bill McBirnie on flute. Adi, who is currently recording her sixth album,?has a long list of cabaret, concert and theatre successes to her credit and?has performed in every major jazz and concert venue in Toronto and toured Canada, the United States, and Europe.
Psychology, Neuroscience & Psychology Assistant Professor?Jonathan Cannon?will deliver a Science Snapshot on the microstructure of swing.
The 2023 concert series was presented by incite Foundation for the Arts and in memory of Carl and Kate Turkstra.
SUPPORT THE RACE FOR PACE MAY 27
The annual Race for PACE is returning as an in-person fundraiser for the first time in four years.
All proceeds from the on-campus event on Saturday, May 27 support the Physical Activity Centre for Excellence's community exercise programs:
Race for PACE is open to all members of the McMaster?community, program participants, students, and family and friends of PACE.?Register here for the event or make a donation to help PACE meet their $30,000 goal.
Since re-opening PACE in February 2022, the centre's team of health care professionals and undergraduate students has enrolled more than 320 community members living with chronic disease and disability.?
The Department of Kinesiology, in collaboration with McMaster Performance, presents the 2023 McMaster Performance & Wellness Workshop June 10-11. The workshop is open to anyone?interested in sport, performance, fitness, physical therapy, or research. The on-campus event will feature hands-on sessions and networking opportunities with leading professionals in the field spanning professional teams, clinical experts, industry partners, and world-renowned researchers.?Register before the early bird deadline?on April 30th?and save 40 per cent.
Science Matters is published by The Office of the Dean in the Faculty of Science. Have a story idea? Email communications manager Jay Robb at [email protected].
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