Science Matters Summer 2022
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While the pandemic is not yet over, the Faculty of Science is safely returning to pre-pandemic teaching, research, and outreach activity on campus in fall 2022. We took the lead to minimize the disruption to research early in the pandemic and were only limited by health and safety regulations in the number of lectures and laboratories we had on campus over the last year. It is exciting to see faculty, staff, and students back on campus and the return of campus life and community. It is starting to feel like a university again.
This spring we have been able to safely bring back our study abroad programs to Costa Rica and Iceland. A record number of science students are taking the opportunity to explore the rainforests of Costa Rica and the volcanos and glaciers of Iceland. Scholarships to participate on the trips came from a Global Skills Opportunity scholarship, the Government of Canada’s outbound mobility pilot program, and generous support from alumni and friends.
Your generous support of experiential learning including study abroad, undergraduate research, service learning and internships are the reason we remain the Destination Science program in Ontario. We can provide unique experiences for students that are not possible at other institutions. Thank you for your continued support of experiential learning and the success of the Faculty of Science over the last six years.
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UWindsor students enjoy a study-abroad field course in Costa Rica in May 2022, led by dean Houser. |
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UWindsor students on a study-abroad field course in Iceland in May 2022, led by School of Environment's Maria Cioppa and Ali Polat. |
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New Initiatives in Science |
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Program credits students for life experience |
The new Competency Based Learning Credits program can turn a future or former student’s life experience into course credits.
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Biology student Tammie Saur received course credit for her work experience as a veterinary technician. |
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A scholarship that covered the difference in tuition fees between international and domestic students helped attract doctoral candidate Fatemeh Motaghedi to the University of Windsor from Iran. |
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Science scholarships attracting international doctoral students |
A scholarship program launched in 2021 by the Faculty of Science has attracted 13 new international doctoral students, bringing global expertise to the University of Windsor.
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Videos highlight science student experience |
The Faculty of Science is collaborating with an alumnus director and producer to create eye-catching videos that highlight the exciting student experience and research taking place at the University of Windsor.
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Physics assistant professor Dan Xiao takes her turn in front of the camera for a series of videos promoting teaching and research in science. |
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Faculty attracting attention |
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Chemistry professor Tricia Carmichael is the new editor-in-chief of the journal Flexible and Printed Electronics. |
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Prof to head journal on flexible electronics |
Chemistry professor Tricia Carmichael has been named editor-in-chief of Flexible and Printed Electronics, a multidisciplinary journal devoted to publishing cutting-edge research on electronics that can be either flexible, plastic, stretchable, conformable, or printed.
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Retired geology prof honoured for work in Poland |
Professor emeritus Frank Simpson of the School of the Environment has been awarded the Decoration of Honour for Merit to Polish Geology by that country’s Minister of Climate and the Environment.
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Professor emeritus Frank Simpson has been awarded the Decoration of Honour for Merit to Polish Geology. |
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Catherine Febria, Candy Donaldson, and Bkejwanong Eco-Keepers youth at the University of Windsor’s Freshwater Restoration Ecology Centre. Photo credit: C. Febria, Healthy Headwaters Lab. |
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Lab wins recognition for local environmental work |
UWindsor’s Healthy Headwater Lab has won the 2021 ERCA Conservation Award for Environmental Education for work in restoring freshwater ecosystems to full health and vitality for the benefit of future generations.
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UWindsor student honoured with national fellowship |
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Computer science student Laila Albalkhi is the first UWindsor student to win a 3M National Student Fellowship. |
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Chemistry student Brady Austen received a national award for his undergraduate research. |
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Chemistry student earns national award for research |
The Canadian Society for Chemistry Inorganic Division has named UWindsor student, Brady Austen, as the winner of its Award for Undergraduate Research in Inorganic Chemistry (AURIC).
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Research experience leads physics grad to pursue PhD |
Undergraduate research opportunities in the Faculty of Science paid off for recent graduate Renée Goodman (BSc 2021), who is heading to Oxford University in the fall to pursue doctoral studies in condensed matter physics.
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Research opportunities in her undergrad career have propelled Renée Goodman to Oxford University for doctoral studies in condensed matter physics. |
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Student researchers win national funding to create human tissue models
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Omotayo Gbadamosi is working to develop a miniature human brain tissue model to advance diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. |
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Jessica Szawara is researching new ways to assess the effects on human health of inhaled chemicals. |
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Omotayo Gbadamosi (BSc 2021) and Jessica Szawara (BSc 2021) each received a Canadian Institute of Health Research Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master’s Program for their health research proposals. They are using a 3D bioprinter to create miniature versions of human organs to emulate human disease in a Petri dish.
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Chemistry professors Bulent Mutus, Marcus Drover, and Simon Rondeau-Gagné are collaborating on a research project to develop sensors making storage and distribution of hydrogen safer.
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Research Team to develop sensors to aid transition to green energy sources |
Three UWindsor researchers are joining forces to help Canada transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources. They are developing sensing equipment that will enhance how dihydrogen gas is stored and transported.
Chemistry professors Marcus Drover, Simon Rondeau-Gagné, and Bulent Mutus received a $366,400 NSERC Alliance Missions grant for their two-year proposal, “Strengthening Green Energy Sources in Canada: Optical Sensors for Safe Storage and Distribution of Hydrogen.”
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International research team probing for invisible atoms |
Researchers from the Department of Physics teamed up with a group of international researchers to determine the precise wavelength, or colour, at which atoms become invisible to laser light.
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Physics professor emeritus Gordon Drake and his PhD student Aaron Bondy are part of an international team exploring the precise wavelength at which atoms become invisible to laser light. |
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An innovative dynamic warning system will protect Great Lakes beachgoers from drowning. |
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Warning system to prevent beach drownings |
UWindsor researchers along with community partners in Bruce County are creating a real-time dynamic warning system to protect Great Lakes beach users from drowning. This system will be the first of its kind in North America.
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UWindsor researchers lead international team in new diagnostics for prostate cancer |
Because the first step in successful cancer treatment is diagnosis, UWindsor researchers John Trant and Lisa Porter are working with an international team to find improved methods of diagnosing aggressive drug-resistant forms of prostate cancer.
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Lisa Porter and John Trant, shown in this 2019 photo, are working with an international team to find improved methods of diagnosing prostate cancer. |
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The lab of chemistry assistant professor Marcus Drover will soon house a specialized workstation allowing researchers to design new molecules for clean energy projects.
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Infrastructure to facilitate clean energy projects |
Marcus Drover’s laboratory will soon house a specialized workstation allowing UWindsor researchers to design new molecules for clean energy projects.
Dr. Drover and his co-applicants, chemistry and biochemistry professors Stephen Loeb and Jeremy Rawson, received $150,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund and the Ontario Research Fund.
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Researcher seeking safe storage sites for nuclear waste |
Ihsan Al-Aasm wants to protect the health of Canadians and their environment for generations to come. The UWindsor geologist is using his expertise in geochemistry and petrology of sedimentary rocks to help find a safe site for long-term radioactive waste storage.
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UWindsor geologist Ihsan Al-Aasm is helping find a safe underground site for long-term storage of radioactive waste. |
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A trio of UWindsor scientists will join ice fishers on Mitchell’s Bay in search of data to further understanding of Great Lakes ecosystems.
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Researchers taking to the ice to uncover the mysteries of the Great Lakes in the winter |
Mike McKay, executive director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, GLIER and School of the Environment professor Ken Drouillard, and GLIER field technician Aaron Newhook will be hitting the ice on Lake St. Clair to collect water samples, measure light penetration through the ice, and drop nets to collect plankton. |
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Scientists to monitor health of Earth Day trees |
Some trees planted in Amherstburg for Earth Day will be getting special attention from UWindsor researchers.
Scientists partnered with Thrive Amherstburg and the town of Amherstburg for this year’s tree planting on April 23, called Essex Power’s Map and Grow Program. Participating residents got a free sapling if they agreed to let researchers plot where the trees are planted and monitor their continued health to ensure they prosper.
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Professors Lisa Porter and Cameron Proctor handed out saplings to Amherstburg residents in exchange for the right to monitor how the trees fare after they are planted.
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Other impressive highlights across science |
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Join us at the leading edge of Chemistry and Physics |
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Our YouTube channel brings to life the stories from #WindsorScience - from student student opportunities to innovative research.
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The Faculty of Science has helped students achieve their promise since the founding of the University in 1963. Our campaign will help us attract and empower the finest faculty, staff, and, students through new capital projects, multidisciplinary research and the student experience.
Investments in our strategic funding priorities will help us achieve our goals to advance the Faculty of Science to a new unprecedented level.
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Virtual engagement opportunities now available to have your say on strategic plan |
This spring, students, staff and faculty joined members of UWindsor’s Strategic Planning team at in-person consultation sessions on campus to have their say on the University’s next strategic plan. Participation in the Aspire: Together for Tomorrow consultation sessions provided the team with tens of thousands of data points for analysis that will help guide the University’s future.
As a next step in the planning process, the group has launched a virtual engagement platform for students, staff, faculty, and general community.
For more information and to engage, visit:
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Faculty of Science
University of Windsor
401 Sunset Ave.
Windsor, ON N9B 3P4
519-253-3000 Extension: 3009
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