Science Matters Summer 2022

Dean's Message

Welcome to the Fall 2022 issue of the Science Matters newsletter. As the new Acting Dean of Science, and alumna of the Faculty of Science, I am excited to lead and build upon our great successes.

We are thrilled to kick off the academic year with a bustling campus as we return to in-person classes and campus activities. We are also coming back strong in Science with the recognition and celebration of our dedicated faculty, staff and students in the areas of teaching, research and service. Our expertise also continues to grow in the Faculty of Science with seven new faculty members joining us across five different departments. And we look forward to sharing more exciting stories in the future.

We hope you will enjoy reading about all our latest accomplishments and that you will continue to join us at the leading edge of science.

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Faculty attracting attention

Physics professor Steven Rehse will receive the Alumni Award for Distinguished Contributions to University Teaching during Spring 2022 Convocation ceremonies.

Alumni honour physics prof for dedication to teaching

The University of Windsor Alumni Association bestowed its Alumni Award for Distinguished Contributions to University Teaching on physics professor Steven Rehse during Spring 2022 Convocation ceremonies.

Daily News: alumni honour physics prof for dedication to teaching

Prof recognized as champion of world's lakes

A University of Windsor professor’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion has made her one of the inaugural recipients of the Large Lake Champion Award from the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR).

Daily News: Prof recognized as champion of world's lakes

The International Association for Great Lakes Research named UWindsor assistant professor Catherine Febria one of the inaugural recipients of its Large Lake Champion Award. Photo by Shayenna Nolan.

Chris Houser began an appointment Sept. 1 as interim vice-president, research and innovation.

Dean of Science to step in as interim VP Research & Innovation

Chris Houser, dean of science, has accepted an appointment as interim vice-president, research and innovation, effective Sept. 1.

Daily News: Dean of Science to step in as interim VP Research & Innovation

Big move

Downtown home provides computer science program with room to grow

The School of Computer Science is celebrating the new downtown home for its Master of Applied Computing (MAC) program, with 300 Ouellette Ave. hosting nearly 700 full-time students pursuing education in software development and advanced computing.

Daily News : Downtown home provides computer science program with room to grow

Celebrating Science

Hugh MacIsaac of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and acting director of the School of the Environment, has been awarded $275,000 over five years under the Natural Sciences and Environmental Research Council of Canada’s Discovery grant program to assess interacting stressors in lakes.

Professors receive more than $4.1 million for scientific and engineering research

Twenty-five UWindsor professors in the faculties of science, engineering, and human kinetics have been awarded a total of more than $4.1 million in federal grants to fund their research for the next five years or outfit their labs with new equipment.

D a i l y New s : Professors receive more than $4.1 million for scientific and engineering research

Research study wins support from the Breast Cancer Society of Canada

A study into chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer aims to assess patient response at the molecular level while informing best practices for consent in clinical trials.

Daily News: Research study wins support from the Breast Cancer Society of Canada

UWindsor professor Lisa Porter heads up a research team exploring chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer.

Lisa Porter, executive director of the WE-SPARK Health Institute, is excited that it has awarded more than $1 million in research grants.

Health institute surpasses $1 million in research grants

Its latest tranche of research grants brings the total disbursed by WE-SPARK Health Institute and its funding partners to a total of $1,086,725 since the launch of the program in April 2020.

Daily News: Health institute surpasses $1 million in research grants

Successful Students

Doctoral student Eric Ste-Marie discussed his research on the Greenland shark on the CBC series “Coastlines.”

CBC turns camera on student's shark science

From Canada’s southern coast along the Great Lakes, a UWindsor graduate student represents the country’s northern shore in a new series from the CBC Creator Network.

Daily News: CBC turns camera on student’s shark science

Students shine at physics conference

Emma Blanchette earned a second-place finish in her category for a presentation on using spectroscopy to detect pathogens in water.

Fourth-year undergraduate Griffin Howson beat out many graduate students to place third in the Division of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics oral presentation category.

UWindsor physics students successfully competed against their counterparts at the 2022 Canadian Association of Physicists annual congress, held at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, from June 6 to 10.

Daily News: Students shine at physics conference

Maryam Shafiei Alavijeh, professor Roman Maev, and Vlad Tusinean celebrate success at the conference of the Canadian Institute for Non-Destructive Evaluation, last week at Caesars Windsor.

Research in non-destructive testing earns plaudits for students

Automakers could improve the quality of their welds by applying artificial intelligence to ultrasound analysis, according to a paper produced by a team from the Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research.

Daily News: Research in non-destructive testing earns plaudits for students

Study of imperilled fish earns notice for biology student

Sumeet Sekhon beat out the provincial competition at the Ontario Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution Colloquium to win Best Presentation in Ecology.

Daily News: Study of imperilled fish earns notice for biology student

Research

Dr. Jeffrey Dason wants to help treat chronic pain in humans by studying the fruit fly.

Fruit fly study targets treatment of chronic pain

Biomedical sciences professor Dr. Jeffrey Dason received a $516,376 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant for his five-year project, “The role of Neuronal Calcium Sensor-1/Frequenin2 in nociception.”

Daily News: Fruit fly study targets treatment of chronic pain

Team comparing algal blooms in Africa and North America

Harmful algal blooms are not unique to Lake Erie. The global issue took a team of UWindsor researchers to Kenya to study its algal blooms, in hopes of shedding light on the problem in southern Ontario.

Daily News : Team comparing algal blooms in Africa and North America

CTV Windsor: UWindsor researcher travels to Kenya to learn more about algal blooms

Doctoral student Emily Varga travelled to the east African country of Kenya to gain an understanding of its algal blooms.

Prof. Dennis Higgs holds a scallop drawn from the coastal waters of New Zealand.

Study to assess effects of marine reserves

UWindsor integrative biology professor Dennis Higgs, in collaboration with a marine scientist in New Zealand, has received a $150,000 grant from that country’s government to help assess the health and welfare over the next three years of the New Zealand snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), a fish found in surrounding seas.

Daily News: Study to assess effects of marine reserves

Anthropology professor to help train forensic scientists in Brazil

Canada is sending forensic anthropologist John Albanese to Brazil to help forensic scientists there identify the remains of people murdered during the country’s dictatorship.

Daily News: Anthropology professor to help train forensic scientists in Brazil

Forensic anthropologist John Albanese, a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, has received a federal grant to travel to Brazil in the fall to resume research and teaching at the Federal University of São Paulo.

Chemistry professor John Trant is one of the UWindsor science researchers who have won NSERC grants for new equipment.

Grants to fund science research equipment

The Faculty of Science will soon house more than half a million dollars’ worth of new research equipment thanks to the success of the 2022 Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Daily News : Grants to fund science research equipment

Chemistry research sparks international collaborations

Marcus Drover and Simon Rondeau-Gagné have each received an NSERC Alliance International Catalyst grant, carrying $25,000 in funding for one year to support Canadian researchers in initiating international research collaborations.

Daily News: Chemistry research sparks international collaborations

Marcus Drover is one of two UWindsor chemistry professors each receiving a $25,000 NSERC grant to initiate international research collaborations.

Chemistry professor Simon Rondeau-Gagné heads a research team exploring new approaches to prepare and synthesize organic semiconductors.

Project aims at design of soft electronics materials

Simon Rondeau-Gagné is using the fundamental building blocks of chemistry to design soft and flexible electronics that could be used for chemical sensing and medical treatment.

An associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Dr. Rondeau-Gagné received a five-year $310,000 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery grant for his project “Molecular Engineering of Semiconducting Polymers for Emerging Organic Electronics.”

Daily News: Project aims at design of soft electronics materials

Citizen Science

Beach safety research by UWindsor alumna Summer Locknick and Chris Houser, dean of science, is featured in a recent edition of The Atlantic magazine. Photo by Oliver Sjöström/pexels.com.

Beach research featured in The Atlantic

UWindsor rip current researchers Chris Houser and Summer Locknick know there’s a threat lurking off our coasts, and now thanks to an article in The Atlantic magazine, readers around the world know it, too.

Daily News: Beach research featured in The Atlantic

The Atlantic: Beach currents don't have to be this deadly

Faculty and staff changes

Professor Shari Forbes collects decomposition odour to identify the key compounds that cadaver dogs alert to.

UWindsor gains expertise in bats, brains, and body farms

The Faculty of Science continues to grow in research strength and reputation with the latest addition of superstar faculty members, says Chris Houser, dean of science, currently serving as interim vice president research and innovation.

Seven faculty members from various areas of expertise will join five departments.

Daily News: UWindsor gains expertise in bats, brains, and body farms

Tom Grondin took up the position of manager of actuarial science programs in the UWindsor math and stats department July 1.

Industry experience of new manager to benefit actuarial science programs

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics is extremely fortunate to have attracted alumnus Tom Grondin (BA 1992) to manage its actuarial science programs, says department head Rick Caron.

Daily News: Industry experience of new manager to benefit actuarial science programs

New Faculty

Adel Abusitta, School of Computer Science

Steven (Ruoyu) Chen, Economics

Kevin Granville, Mathematics & Statistics

Tom Grondin, Mathematics & Statistics

Shafaq Khan, School of Computer Science

Olena Syrotkina, School of Computer Science

Faculty Retirements

Myron Hlynka, Mathematics & Statistics

Steven Loeb, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Faculty Changes

Abdulkadir Hussein, Department Head, Mathematics & Statistics

Hugh MacIsaac, Acting Director, School of the Environment

New Staff

Megan Fulmer, Undergraduate Affairs Secretary/Coordinator

Kerri Rice, Secretary/Event Coordinator, Faculty of Science, Dean’s Office

Nia Khuong, Graduate Program Secretary, GLIER/School of the Environment/Physics

Lee-Ann Neufeld, Receptionist/Secretary, School of Computer Science

Anna Kozarova, Biotech Coordinator, Chemis

Staff Changes

Laura Laurie on leave from Undergraduate Affairs Secretary/Coordinator

Martha Hiuser on leave from Integrative Biology

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