Prescience Vol. 10 (2021) by Faculty of Science, Memorial University

[pre·science] noun having foresight or foreknowledge

PRESCIENCE

TEACHING AND LEARNING 4 RESEARCH 7 STUDENTS 16 CAMPUS & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 21 ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT 23 FACULTY AND STAFF 31

FACULTY OF SCIENCE NEWSLETTER VOL. 10

FROM THE DEAN

Welcome to the latest issue of Prescience magazine. The stories in this issue are highlights from 2020. This past year was unlike any other. We began the year with a snowstorm that closed St. John’s and surrounding area for over a week and then began a global pandemic. For many months faculty, staff, and students were confined to home and were unable to access labs and classrooms. Rising to these challenges, our faculty and staff found ways to adapt to this new remote teaching and learning environment, finding creative and innovative ways of engaging students online, offering laboratory exercises from a distance, and ensuring that our newest learners were prepared for their studies at Memorial. And our students also did their best in a less than ideal situation, studying from home and only being able to interact with their instructors online. Our researchers were also able to continue to engage in critical studies in safe and thoughtful ways, including creating an app to explain the math behind social distancing and its impact on flattening the COVID-19 curve. Staff also stepped up to meet the demands of this strange new time, as seen when the Department of Chemistry manufactured 20 litres of hand sanitizer for distribution to critical workers who remained on campus performing important university functions.

PRESCIENCE Prescience is a publication of Memorial University’s Faculty of Science. We welcome all comments, submissions, story ideas and letters. GRAPHIC DESIGN: Memorial University Marketing & Communications COVER PHOTO: Rich Blenkinsopp CONTRIBUTORS: Kelly Foss Moira Baird Jennifer Batten Kathryn Dalton Elizabeth Furey Jeff Green Jackey Locke Cathy Newhook Michelle Osmond Mandy Rowsell Susan White Heidi Wicks Sandy Woolfrey-Fahey Ashley Wright PHOTOGRAPHY: Rich Blenkinsopp John Harvey Chris Hammond

The Faculty of Science even moved public engagement online – from hosting a marine education program in the Department of Ocean Sciences to partnering with the Johnson GEO Centre to produce family-friendly ‘talk show’ segments featuring our faculty. Perhaps the most recognizable person in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador throughout 2020 was Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the province’s chief medical officer of health. This alumna of the Faculty of Science was awarded the Family Physician of the Year Award from the College of Family Physicians of Canada. For more than a year faculty, staff, and students in the Faculty of Science have all risen to this incredible challenge, and while the pandemic continues, we are optimistic that for fall of 2021 Memorial University will be able to return to primarily in-person activities. Thank you to everyone in our faculty for your perseverance, flexibility, and commitment. I am proud of all that we have all accomplished together, yet apart. Like you, I look forward to seeing everyone on campus this Fall and meeting two cohorts of students in person. Dr. Travis Fridgen Acting Dean of Science, Professor of Chemistry

FACULTY OF SCIENCE St. John’s, NL A1B 3X7 T 709 864 8153 F 709 864 3316 E science@mun.ca MUNScience @MUN_Science mun_science www.mun.ca/science

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Dr. Marco Merkli teaching in Cameroon.

Math professor finds Cameroonian students ‘spontaneous and interactive’ When Dr. Marco Merkli agreed to teach a three-week course at Cameroon’s African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), scheduled to start in late February 2020, the mathematics and statistics professor had no idea the planet would soon become embroiled in a global pandemic.

SCIENCE INSTRUCTORS ADAPT WELL TO REMOTE TEACHING AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT Justin Pittman is a lab instructor in the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography. He says much of what his department has created to aid with remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic will have value for years to come. Throughout the summer of 2020, he met virtually with physics lab instructors from other universities to talk about the topics they wanted to teach and problem-solve ways to do it. Those included regular Ask Me

AIMS is a pan-African network of centres of excellence, offering talented students from across the continent the opportunity to earn a master’s degree. The concentrated program can be completed in one year and consists of three phases – skills, review and research. During the first phase, students take compulsory courses taught in three-week modular blocks. In the second, students select additional courses specializing in pure and applied math and theory and applications, as well as interdisciplinary topics such as financial math and climate and disease modelling. During the final phase, students carry out individual research projects. The course instructors and project supervisors come from various universities across Africa, and around the world, ensuring a high academic standard and promoting global postgraduate and research connections. Dr. Merkli taught his open quantum systems course, which he says was a fascinating experience. What impressed him the most was his students. Despite not having quite the same level of preparation a typical graduate student in North America or Europe would have, Dr. Merkli says they were extremely eager to learn. He is now hoping to begin supervising individual student research projects and plans to go back again one day to teach.

The departments found undergraduate science labs could be taught online effectively, with some modifications.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Anything sessions with students, using Arduino – an easy-to-use, open-source electronics platform allowing students to build and use low-cost scientific instruments at home – and working on shared labs with teaching staff at Grenfell Campus, building a physics community of practice that hadn’t previously existed. Dr. Mark Berry, head of Biochemistry, says his department was already talking about redesigning their curriculum when the pandemic began. It forced them to evaluate and look at how individual courses and programs are structured, learning from an online Biochemistry course that has been taught to nurses for several years. Rather than decreasing the weight of exams and putting in extra assignments, which can leave students feeling overwhelmed, they switched to small, five- or 10-minute quizzes, or 20- to 30-minute quizzes, instead of large writing assignments.

Justin Pittman

Since nearly all of the department’s labs are dedicated courses, and not a combination of lectures and labs, they were also able to cancel labs for the year. That allowed the department to redeploy lab demonstrators and teaching assistants (TAs) to instructors teaching courses. It was up to the instructor how to use those extra TAs, but many ran weekly tutorial sessions, with 20 students per tutor.

Laboratory instructors get creative to teach remotely Instructors in the Faculty of Science spent the summer of 2020 coming up with ways to teach their laboratory courses online. Labs are an integral part of the science curriculum. They help students learn to work collaboratively and independently, use scientific reasoning and laboratory techniques to define and solve problems and draw and evaluate conclusions based on quantitative evidence. In the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, students followed a script, experimenting either virtually with online simulation or with basic materials and their smartphones. Chemistry labs consisted of exercises drawn from open-sourced simulations, videos depicting experimental techniques and simple at-home projects using common household materials. Biology lab instructors used online videos or recorded themselves doing experiments and demonstrating lab techniques. They also used pictures of specimens and equipment and provided data for students to analyze, interpret and write up in reports.

The Department of Ocean Sciences integrated live lectures, group discussions and demonstrations of oceanographic equipment with online guided exercises, quizzes and student project presentations. Earth Sciences created an image bank of mineral, rock and fossil samples and a series of videos demonstrating laboratory experiments and instruments. Computer Science students used Guacamole, a technological innovation created by the department’s staff that allowed instructors and students to access Memorial’s LabNet computers, and the software resources they contain, anywhere in the world. The Department of Psychology’s use of interactive 3D models allowed students to dissect and annotate the human brain in a way that would be cost prohibitive in a hands-on environment.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Cross-campus effort ensures high school students up to speed on math When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Newfoundland and Labrador schools in March 2020, some high school students were left wondering if they would be prepared for university studies in the fall.

One of chemistry student Emily Bautista’s submissions.

Professors engage students by incorporating art into science Professors in the Department of Chemistry have gotten creative in engaging first-year students during this year of remote learning. Dr. Chris Kozak says a session at the Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition inspired him to reach out to his colleagues about incorporating an element of ‘art’ into their courses. He believes including art in science, technology, engineering and mathematics can popularize these fields to the general public and show they can be truly beautiful. While his fellow instructors each incorporated the idea differently, Dr. Kozak made creative chemistry assignments worth 20 per cent of his students’ final grade. Students were required to choose four assignments from a selection of seven. Those included creating a piece of chemistry art in any medium, a TikTok video, an infographic or a song about chemistry, written submissions about songs that made the student think about chemistry, a public interest story about chemistry targeted to the general public, or a one-page biography of a non-Nobel prize winning chemist. With 100 students in his class, that equaled 400 works of chemistry art. Bonus marks were given if the work was posted to social media. Examples can be found under the hashtag #Chem1050Art.

One of the major concerns was whether students would have enough math. To address concerns, Tom Nault, Memorial’s registrar, put together a committee, which included members of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, to determine how to handle assessment, admissions and bridging requirements. Together they created a no-cost, non-credit, four-week intensive program, as well as three 10-week, for-credit courses to bring students up to speed on algebra, trigonometry and calculus. The for-credit math courses, which were taken by approximately 230 students, ultimately became part of Memorial’s Kickstart Your Degree program, which offered new students an early opportunity to take first-year courses over the summer to gain experience in online or remote learning classes before starting post-secondary studies in the fall. Another 160 students enrolled in the non-credit course. Graduate students from the department became teaching assistants for the courses and received several days of professional development prior to the start. Faculty involved in the program also gained experience in using the university’s remote tools, which helped prepare them for the fall semester.

RESEARCH

SAFE, THOUGHTFUL AND ENGAGING RESEARCH CONTINUES ON CRITICAL STUDIES

Sydney Collins

If the pandemic has proven anything, it’s the creativity and resilience of our researchers. Over the past several months, members of our research community have re-envisioned, modified and found ways to safely continue their activities and studies, complying with public health and university guidelines. Caroline Gini is a PhD student in the Department of Earth Sciences. She completed safety training that allowed her to spend nearly three weeks on the Grand Banks aboard the Atlantic Kingfisher, an offshore supply ship chartered by Mount Pearl-based Kraken Robotics. There, she collected seabed images and tested new deep-sea mapping sensors and equipment. Several master of science students in the Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology

Program have also safely continued their research since March 2020. Sydney Collins spent time on Gull Island in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve studying the risks storm-petrels encounter in the breeding colony and while foraging at sea. She and her assistant were in the same bubble. They washed their hands often in the field and sanitized any materials brought with them. Kyle d’Entremont’s research took him to the Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve, where he worked mainly by himself. His work includes monitoring the reproductive success and foraging movements of parental Northern Gannets. Robert Blackmore is studying the influences of coloured light on the behaviour of Atlantic cod and how this

might enhance the efficacy of hand-line fishing. All field research was completed aboard open commercial fishing vessels. Kaitlyn Hawkins (B.Sc.’19) is lab manager with the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research. Near the start of the pandemic, she headed home to Summerford, N.L. with a plan she could conduct safely while under lockdown: a shoreline accumulation study of plastic pollution. Dr. Deepika Dave, a research scientist at the Marine Institute who is cross-appointed to the Department of Biochemistry, is turning processing discards into high-value compounds for the food, medical, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sectors. She followed public health and university guidelines to safely obtain samples from industry partners.

RESEARCH

Mapping the value of N.L.’s untapped sea urchin population Dr. Patrick Gagnon, an associate professor in the Department of Ocean Sciences, says there is great potential for the prickly green sea urchin to help boost the province’s economy.

Dr. Pat Gagnon

As part of the Harris Centre’s Thriving Regions Partnership Process, Dr. Gagnon and his research team spent 18 months studying sea urchins in the Baie Verte Peninsula region. Their project is the result of both the researcher’s extensive past work with urchins and an invitation from the region’s citizens to help them develop food security and advance their natural resource development. The goal is to help locals form businesses around sea urchin roe production. The team spent just under a week exploring the coasts of Baie Verte, La Scie, Fleur de Lys and Seal Cove. Using their vessel, dive gear and a customized camera system developed specifically for the project, they mapped the location and abundance of sea urchins and all other organisms they saw on the seabed over 12 kilometres of coastline. Dr. Gagnon says the research team found large populations of urchins in three of the four communities they visited. If the communities want to go commercial, they will need divers to collect the urchins, truckers to deliver them and people to take care of the urchins during the production process, so there is potential to create a number of different jobs.

The relative survival rate for cancer is better than ever before, meaning more people will be living as cancer survivors and managing the long-term side effects of the disease and its treatment. Approximately 75 per cent of cancer patients have difficulty remembering things, concentrating and paying attention after completing cancer treatments. Insomnia is also an extremely common side effect. A new study called Addressing Cancer Treatment-related Insomnia Online in Newfoundland and Labrador, or

RESEARCH

SLEEP STUDY TO HELP CANCER SURVIVORS Bob Wakeham, Dr. Sheila Garland, Kathryn Dalton and Sondria Brown.

ACTION, aims to increase access to a treatment to improve sleep and investigate whether it can also improve cognitive impairments in cancer survivors across the province. Dr. Sheila Garland, clinical psychologist, and assistant professor of psychology and oncology at Memorial University, along with her patient partner, Sondria Browne, collaborators at the Dr. H Bliss Murphy Cancer Centre and other notable researchers across Canada, are conducting the ACTION study. It’s hoping to

enrol 162 participants, making it the largest of its kind globally. Participants will receive cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Bob Wakeham completed the study in December 2019 and emphasizes the importance of addressing the emotional and psychological repercussions of cancer, such as insomnia. He wants other cancer survivors to know that participating in this study and CBT-I can make a huge difference in the quality of their lives.

RESEARCH

RESEARCH SHOWS BEOTHUK, MARITIME ARCHAIC PEOPLES HAVE MODERN RELATIVES Dr. Steve Carr, Department of Biology, has identified living persons with DNA sequences identical or nearly identical to Beothuk and Maritime Archaic sequences. That indicates those lineages are still in existence – meaning their descendants are in the general population. Two historical Beothuk are Demasduit and Nonosabasut, the uncle of Shanawdithit. One modern person is as closely related to Demasduit as are other ancient members of Demasduit’s genetic “family.” Another individual from the Great Lakes Ojibwe people is identical to

Nonosabasut. The couple’s only direct descendant was an infant son who was murdered shortly before his parents. These modern individuals are cousins of the Beothuk. In addition, another member of the Ojibwe people is identical to a Maritime Archaic individual, who preceded the Beothuk on the island by several thousand years. While the Beothuk are usually described as culturally extinct, the oral history of the Mi’kmaq, as related by Saqamaw (Chief) Misel Joe of the Miawpukek First Nation (MFN) and others, reports that there were friendly relations between the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk and other Indigenous Peoples.

If those relationships produced a daughter, and that daughter had a daughter, who had a daughter in an unbroken succession, then those mitochondrial DNA sequences would persist to the present time, says Dr. Carr. Dr. Carr conducted a meta-analysis using GenBank, an open database of all publicly available DNA sequences. He queried the database to search for the most similar modern sequences submitted by researchers with the ancient sequences. The project was initiated by the MFN in Conne River.

MUSIC AND SCIENCE CO-CREATE ROBOT PERCUSSIONIST A hand-sized robot sits on the head of a drum and taps along with a human player. It is mobile, moving around the drum, the sound of its motion contributing to the music. It can improvise, helping the musician explore new directions. It can also work in co-ordination with multiple robot drummers, each responsible for a certain instrument or part of a composition. It even has applications in music therapy. That’s the dream of two Memorial University researchers, Dr. Andrew

Staniland, a professor with the School of Music, and Dr. Andrew Vardy, a jointly appointed professor with the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. They’ve been working with Dr. Maxence Blond, their co-supervised postdoctoral fellow, to make that dream a reality. The researchers are exploring the idea of a robot on a surface having some kind of interaction with a human player. While other people have

developed robot musicians, none of them have been mobile. The prototype robot built by Dr. Blond has a microcontroller base on the bottom, a board that controls a smart servo motor and a stick it can tap on the drum’s surface. It is also linked to a Raspberry Pi computer that takes audio input, processes it and then sends a signal to the robot to respond. At the moment it can repeat a simple rhythm and has a few shortcomings the pair hope to address in their future work.

RESEARCH

Dr. Amy Hurford

Science research creates app to explain math behind social distancing

In spring 2020, when Newfoundland and Labrador’s first COVID-19 cases were on the rise, a Memorial expert in theoretical ecology, evolution and epidemiology created an app to communicate some of the basic concepts behind the impact social distancing has on flattening the curve. Using protective practices, such as deliberately increasing the physical space between people, is believed to help slow the rate of infection so hospital resources don’t get overwhelmed. But many were asking: Does it really work? Dr. Amy Hurford, an associate professor jointly appointed between the departments of Biology and Mathematics and Statistics says in some ways we’ll never know the effect social distancing has had, unless we were able to visit an alternative reality. But we can explore different scenarios using epidemic models. What she’s created is one of the simplest types to give you a general idea of what might happen. Her app uses mathematical equations used for decades to model diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella and demonstrates how the number of infected people changes over time if no changes were implemented and with social distancing. Alec Robitaille a graduate student in the Biology department’s Wildlife Ecology and Evolution Lab helped bring Dr. Hurford’s ideas to life.

Drs. Andrew Staniland and Andrew Vardy with their robot prototype.

However, when it comes to the question, “Is social distancing working?” Dr. Hurford says scientists have done their best to provide good recommendations on how to cope with this situation. However, since the science is ongoing, a long-term strategy has yet to emerge. More time is needed to develop better models, gather more data and learn more about the virus and its epidemiology.

RESEARCH

New study confirms Newfoundland as home to world’s oldest animal fossils An international research team, including geologists from Memorial, has concluded fossils from Newfoundland are the world’s oldest evidence of animal life. The study focuses on the southern shore of the Avalon and Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve. By identifying, cataloguing and sampling ancient volcanic ash horizons associated with the fossils, the group was able to reveal in greater detail than ever before exactly when these first animals appeared and their rate of evolution. The oldest fossils at Mistaken Point are at least 574 million years old according to Dr. Jack Matthews of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Memorial University, who led the study. He says this seals the province’s position as the go-to place worldwide to study the appearance

and rise of animals during the geological period known as the Ediacaran. The research team has managed to date six different horizons within the ecological reserve, showing that the organisms fossilized in the island’s coastline persisted for more than 10 million years. Analysis of the samples took place at the British Geological Survey, providing the highest precision ages yet for this region – with uncertainties of only 650 thousand years. Scientific understanding of what the Mistaken Point fossils were, and how they lived, has been developing quickly in recent years. Palaeontologists from all around the world increasingly agree that at least some of the Ediacaran fossils found at Mistaken Point, are animals. Dr. Duncan McIlroy, a co-author on the project and a professor with the

A sponge-like material made from waste mussel shells.

Department of Earth Sciences, says the study shows Newfoundland is home to the world’s oldest macroscopic fossils and for the first time allows us to investigate how quickly they evolved.

Mistaken Point’s Fractofusus Misrai

Memorial scientists studying other uses for mussel shell waste have created a new material with surprising properties. The increased production of shellfish worldwide to meet global needs for protein is leading to significant volumes of shells, which are rich in biorenewable calcium carbonate, being discarded. Dr. Jennifer Murphy (PhD’19) was originally transforming the shells with acetic acid (vinegar) to make calcium acetate. That was when she noticed something very peculiar. What should have been a colourless solution was a mess of white solid and leftover shells. She knew the water-soaked material had to be

calcium carbonate; however, she had no idea why it was forming with a spongelike texture. Dr. Murphy presented the new finding with preliminary characterization showing it was made of calcite to her doctoral supervisor, Dr. Fran Kerton in the Department of Chemistry. They both knew they had discovered a special material. When wet, it can be squeezed and water will run out of it, but when dry, it resembles cotton candy. The pair initially thought the calcium carbonate in the shell was dissolving and recrystallizing, but quickly learned that was not the case. A key discovery came when they took a closer look at the morphology of the material using

RESEARCH

Scientists create surprising new material from mussel shell waste scanning electron microscopy. They noticed the calcite in the sponge material had the same shape and size as calcite in blue mussel shells. Dr. Kerton has plans to continue investigating potential uses for the material. It can absorb crude oil and dyes out of water, which could allow treatment of polluted waters with a natural material sourced from the oceans. If it will absorb pharmaceutical residues in water, it could also be used during water treatment or as a calcium supplement or a diluting agent when administering drugs. Since calcium carbonate is used in Tums to treat antacid, it’s safe to ingest.

New approach needed to reverse unprecedented biodiversity loss A researcher from the Faculty of Science is among an international team of experts recommending how to save nature from extraordinary biodiversity loss. Dr. Paul Snelgrove, a University Research Professor with the departments of Ocean Sciences and Biology, is co-author of a new paper in the journal Science, which concludes policy-makers must identify multiple conservation targets if we are to curb nature’s decline. He is one of more than 60 biodiversity experts from 26 countries who evaluated a series of new goals for

nature being drafted by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The discussion revealed the problem of focusing conservation planning on single targets and objectives, because no one target solves all of the problems the planet’s inhabitants face with biodiversity loss. CBD, an international treaty signed by almost 200 countries, will set new conservation targets in the coming months. The review indicates a strong need to avoid single targets that might allow significant further deterioration of natural environments in the coming decades.

Dr. Snelgrove (B.Sc.(Hons.)’84) says while we have not done very well in achieving the targets CBD set for 2020, there have been some successes. This means there is value in setting targets and working to achieve them. Terrestrial experts typically dominate international conservation discussions, but they recognize the major role of the oceans in global processes. He was invited to contribute marine expertise and issues to the discussion, noting that some aspects of ocean systems fundamentally differ from those on land, despite many similar conservation challenges.

RESEARCH Members of the OCI chair team and company.

Cutting new trails in assessing Northwest Atlantic fish stocks Dr. Noel Cadigan and a team of Marine Institute (MI) researchers are trying to build better models to assess Grand Banks fish stocks. These new models will account for how fish productivity – such as reproduction, growth and mortality rates – varies over time and space in the mathematical and statistical calculations used to evaluate those

stocks. The ultimate goal is to improve stock assessments and contribute to more sustainable fisheries management plans for Northwest Atlantic species, such as American plaice; yellowtail flounder; redfish; and witch flounder (grey sole). The work began two years ago with the appointment of Dr. Cadigan

INVESTIGATOR RESEARCHING NOVEL NEUROPROTECTIVE AGENTS FOR PRETERM BABIES One of the most common pregnancy complications is giving birth too early. In Canada, eight per cent of babies are born prematurely and this province has one of the highest rates of pre-term birth in Canada. While survival rates have improved dramatically, the risk of severe disability from brain injury remains high.

as the Ocean Choice International (OCI) Industrial Research Chair in Fish Stock Assessment and Sustainable Harvest Advice for Northwest Atlantic Fisheries. As a quantitative fisheries scientist with MI’s Centre for Fisheries Ecosystem Research (CFER), Dr. Cadigan focuses on practical and theoretical marine population

Dr. Lindsay Cahill, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, says when a mother is at risk of a premature birth, she is often given a magnesium sulphate treatment to protect the baby’s brain. However, there is conflicting evidence about the efficacy of this treatment and how it works. She was granted an award from the Banting Research Foundation to investigate how magnesium sulphate works using experimental mice that mimic different causes of premature birth. She will study how chemicals in the brain change with treatment using

Dr. Lindsay Cahill

RESEARCH

and ecosystem dynamics, statistical and mathematical modelling and computational science. He is also a cross-appointed member of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. The research team is trying to understanding how different fish populations respond to their locations, changes in their ecosystems and to a changing climate. They’re also trying to understand how mobility factors into their computations. Through the Ocean Frontier Institute, Dr. Cadigan’s team is collaborating with other Memorial researchers, national and international experts, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and industry. The Ocean Frontier Institute is a partnership between Memorial, Dalhousie University and the University of Prince Edward Island.

Dr. Michael Katz and Devon McGrath

Program focusing on training PhDs, post-doctoral scholars to become corporate innovators Devon McGrath grew up in rural Nova Scotia with business in his blood.

magnetic resonance and look at whether the gender of the baby, or the cause of the early birth, should be considered when making decisions about treatment. The Banting Discovery Award is a one-year grant of up to $25,000 for innovative health and biomedical research projects by outstanding new investigators at universities and research institutes in Canada who are within the first three years of their first academic appointment. The intent is to provide seed funding so applicants are able to gather pilot data to enhance their competitiveness for other sources of funding. Out of the 62 applications received from across the country in 2020, only seven were successful.

Now the Chemistry PhD student is learning how to take his passion for entrepreneurship to the next level. Mr. McGrath was selected for Lab2Market, a team-based, experiential learning program focused on training PhDs and post-doctoral scholars to become future corporate innovators. Memorial is one of only three universities in Canada currently offering the program. Here, the focus is on ocean technologyrelated research. The program is being offered as part of the Ocean Startup Project. Each team consists of a graduate student or post-doctoral scholar (entrepreneurial lead), their supervisor (technical lead) and

a mentor (industry lead). Teams have access to $15,000 in funding to explore the commercial potential of their work. Mr. McGrath is completing his research under the co-supervision of Dr. Michael Katz, assistant professor, and Dr. Cora Young, adjunct professor, in the Department of Chemistry. His research focuses on the synthesis and application of a novel class of porous materials – metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) – for the removal and destruction of atmospheric pollutants. He’s exploring their uses in “cleaning up” both indoor and outdoor air. He wants to use MOFs to convert air pollutants into harmless products, making significant advances over existing technology.

STUDENTS

Julie Reimer

Research shows how management tools can meet sustainability goals A paper by Julie Reimer, a geography PhD candidate, is giving some of the first guidance to decision-makers on how the United Nation’s sustainable development goal for the oceans might be achieved. It outlines how common management tools can help Canada succeed in meeting ocean sustainability targets and that some targets for critical ocean issues, like reducing ocean pollution, aren’t likely to be met using our preferred tools. Ms. Reimer began by looking at seven tools to better understand what role they actually play. She compared and contrasted the tools, making connections between them and the targets, which include such things as protecting the oceans, restored and healthy ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and reducing the impacts of ocean acidification and marine pollution. She looked for evidence of the social, economic and ecological outcomes of these tools in scientific literature and asked experts for their views. Then she used a confidence assessment method to determine whether a tool could deliver on a particular outcome. Ultimately, she determined tools that regulate or manage more than one human activity in the same space – such as a marine protected area, which brings together sectors such as conservation, fisheries, shipping and sometimes oil and gas – hold the most potential to get us to these goals. Ms. Reimer was also able to determine that some targets are not likely to be met using the current tools in the ocean management toolbox. The targets for ocean pollution and ocean acidification are bigger picture goals that need other pieces to come together. While the science shows the ecological impacts of various tools, she says there are also major gaps in understanding social and economic impacts.

One morning in December 2017 everything changed for Dalainey Drakes.

STUDENTS

Handling rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis one spoon at a time

Upon waking up, the 22-year-old found she couldn’t walk, or even stand, on her own without excruciating pain. It took months of self-advocating before getting a diagnosis of aggressive onset rheumatoid arthritis, or RA.

During that time, she noticed a lack of opportunities for young adults with RA to connect and share their experiences. Facebook support groups were mostly negative, with users venting about RA. Ms. Drakes says she found it challenging for her mental health to constantly focus on the negative aspects, so she founded her own Instagram page to bring a positive element to the community.

A chronic disease affecting the entire body, RA can cause pain, stiffness, swelling and decreased movement of the joints. For nearly a year, Ms. Drakes underwent many treatments with little success, until her doctors finally found a combination that helped.

One Spoon at a Time now has over 1,200 followers from around the world. The name comes from the spoon theory, a metaphor explaining the reduced amount of energy available to a person living with a chronic illness. Her posts cover her experiences and feelings about getting the diagnosis,

Dalainey Drakes

smiling through chronic pain, grieving and learning how to adapt to life with an autoimmune condition. In the fall of 2019, she began a master’s degree at Memorial University in experimental psychology (health and wellness stream) in pursuit of her clinical psychology aspirations. She is now developing a research project exploring the prevalence of anxiety and depression in those with RA across the lifespan and is cosupervised by Dr. Jonathan Fawcett in the Department of Psychology and Dr. Emily Fawcett with Memorial’s Student Wellness and Counselling Centre.

company incorporated in 2019 and is co-founded by Purvikalyan Pallegar, a PhD candidate in the Department of Biology, and Biochemistry alumna Nikitha Kendyala (PhD’19). Nikitha Kendyala and Purvikalyan Pallegar

Student-led health tech company wins seed funding at Mel Woodward Cup Nucliq Biologics Inc. captured the top prize at the 2020 Mel Woodward Cup (MWC), hosted by the Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship. The company took home $25,000 for its plan to develop a gut check analysis kit that provides detailed analysis of gut microbial diversity, particularly of use for people suffering from digestive disorders. The

Nucliq also earned in-kind prizes related to marketing, legal services, business development and taxation from Altitude Media, Perfect Day, Gardiner Centre, Genesis, KPMG, McInnes Cooper and the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology and Innovation. The fourth edition of the MWC saw five finalist teams compete virtually before a panel of judges from the business community and about 140 viewers. Twenty-six teams applied for the competition. Nucliq planned to leverage the prize money, in combination with funding from National Research Council Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program, to continue research and development for its product.

STUDENTS Jeremiah Vallotton

FELLOWSHIP OF $40,000 TO SUPPORT ROUND-THE-WORLD SOIL SAMPLING A Memorial student is one of two Canadian recipients of the Kimberley Foundation’s Hugh Morris Fellowship – valued at a maximum of $40,000. Jeremiah Vallotton is an environmental science PhD candidate in the Faculty of Science. The fellowship supports a graduate student at a Canadian university to “undertake a program of selfguided travel and experiential learning for studies related to earth, geology, environment, water, alternative energy, climate change, sustainability or the social impact, social sciences or design sciences concerned with earth, sustainability

or environmental issues.” The foundation gives special consideration to learning programs that seek to ultimately contribute to global sustainability or lead to significant social impact. Mr. Vallotton’s research area is in soil science and agriculture. His program at Memorial focuses on soil carbon and how it is managed by humans. His winning proposal will see him visit nine locations across the world, including the Agriculture and Food Development Authority in Ireland; the University of Leeds in England; the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Switzerland; the Natural Resources Institute Finland; the National

University of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar; Landcare Research (Manaaki Whenua) in New Zealand; the University of Alaska; the University of Saskatchewan; and McGill University in Quebec. The Kimberley Foundation will cover the entire cost, including travel, housing and food. Mr. Vallotton plans on conducting interviews with farmers and researchers in agricultural institutions, do soil sampling and arrange for people there to collect soil samples for him. They will send the samples back to Canada so Mr. Vallotton can run the same tests on them that he will run on Canadian soil.

Computer Science students take first place in Minecraft competition

STUDENTS

First-year science student receives $100,000 Loran Award

A team of Memorial students won first prize in an international artificial intelligence (AI) competition in procedural content generation.

Lydia Hardy says she was in disbelief when she learned she was named a 2020 Loran Scholar. Lydia Hardy Established in 1988, the Loran Scholars Foundation is a national charity that works in partnership with universities, donors and volunteers throughout Canada to find and nurture young people who demonstrate strength of character, commitment to service and leadership potential. When it comes to making a selection, applicants’ integrity, courage, grit and personal autonomy are of more importance than standard academic measures. The scholarship is the country’s largest and most comprehensive undergraduate merit-based award, valued at $100,000 over four years. Ms. Hardy, who hails from Rencontre East, N.L., is the fifth Loran Scholar to attend Memorial University. She says choosing Memorial University was an easy decision for several reasons and staying in Newfoundland and Labrador was one of them. Even though classes have been remote this fall, she still made the move from Recontre East to St. John’s in August. While at Memorial Ms. Hardy hopes to pursue behavioural neuroscience in the Department of Psychology. She wants to help people understand their mental illnesses and/or disabilities and know that it doesn’t define them. She credits medical professionals with having helped her understand her own illnesses in the past and wants to say “thank you” by giving back to others.

In winter 2020 Dr. David Churchill, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, taught a new course, Computer Science 4303 – Artificial Intelligence for Video Games. The course’s final project gave students the option of writing a computer program that used AI to generate villages in Minecraft – the bestselling video game of all time. Troy Pfinder, Trent Hancock and Donald Ryan aced the course project and, at the advice of Dr. Churchill, submitted their work to the 2020 Generative Design in Minecraft Competition. In September the students learned they had beat 10 other teams of AI researchers from around the world to win first place. The 3D Minecraft world is virtually infinite, with terrain divided into biomes ranging from jungles and forests to deserts and snow. Entrants to the competition must write AI algorithms which can create settlements that integrate seamlessly with whatever randomly generated environment that gets thrown at them. The students used the Python programming language to build their algorithm and benefited from the extra time the COVID-19 pandemic provided to develop it. At the last moment they added a few features, which they feel put them over the top.

A screen captured image from an AI-generated settlement created by Memorial students.

STUDENTS

A Memorial doctoral student has created an empirical 3D model to demonstrate how hydrothermal fluid circulates beneath the seafloor.

permanently demagnetizing it. These metals are carried along the current and then deposited in the area around the vent.

Chris Galley, who is under the supervision of Drs. Colin Farquharson and John Jamieson in the Department of Earth Sciences, achieved the first-time feat. He says many numerical models have been developed to predict the shape and behaviour of hydrothermal systems. However, this study is the first to resolve an entire 3D convective cell upflow zone.

Active vents resemble chimneys and are known as “black smokers.” They are also unique habitats that are home to organisms that don’t depend on sunlight for sustenance. Researchers have been trying to understand the vents as a system – how the rock, biology and fluids interact with each other – which is an important component of determining the potential environmental impacts of mining them.

Hydrothermal vents form on the seafloor when cold, dense seawater sinks into the seafloor and is drawn into the crust, where it is heated by magma. As the hot water rises back up through the crust, it strips metals from the earth,

Mr. Galley’s modelling technique gives researchers the ability to evaluate the connectivity between adjacent hydrothermal vents. This provides a

Chris Galley

method to assess the potential effects of mining activities on neighbouring deposits, which is essential information for effective environmental management for mining operations.

Researchers find climate shapes initial steps of soil formation in boreal forests Researchers from Memorial University, the University of Helsinki and other colleagues have found that climate warming is changing the way one key soil formation process is carried out in boreal forests. Dr. Lukas Kohl, a recent PhD graduate from Memorial and principal author of a paper recently published in the journal Global Change Biology, says plant litter Lukas Kohl decomposition is one of the most important processes in the natural carbon cycle.

Foliage produced by plants contains more than twice the carbon as all human carbon dioxide emissions in a given year. While most of this carbon is released back into the atmosphere during litter decomposition, some of it is incorporated into soil organic matter, thus removing it from the atmosphere for centuries and longer. Historically, researchers have assumed that chemical differences in plant litter, for example, between leaves from different species, are lost during decomposition and lead to a similar organic matter composition regardless of the initial input. In contrast, recent work has shown these chemical differences are not only

preserved during decomposition, but new ones that microorganisms produce are added depending on the decomposition conditions. The conditions controlling these microbial inputs include nitrogen availability that appears to increase with climate warming. The chemical changes caused by these indirect effects of climate provide a plausible mechanism for maintenance of soil carbon stocks despite enhanced turnover of soil carbon with the climate warming in these forests. In this study the researchers demonstrate that such differences occur due to natural variations in climate similar to the climate change that will affect boreal forests over the upcoming decades.

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Ocean Sciences hosts online marine education program Vitamin SEA is an online marine education learning series created by the Department of Ocean Sciences. The program streamed live in summer 2020 as part of the department’s public education program and was hosted by Rachel Brown, the online marine education program facilitator. The aim of the series was to develop a connection between local scientists and the public to generate interest in marine conservation, learning and protection. Topics covered included oil spills with Dr. Uta Passow, marine habitat mapping with Dr. Pat Gagnon, ocean biogeochemistry with Dr. Rachel Sipler, marine mammals and ocean noise with Memorial alumna Ashley Noseworthy of Edgewise Environmental and a live touch tank with Dylan Mahon, a marine interpreter at the Ocean Science Centre. The videos can be viewed online at www.mun.ca/osc/oscedu/vitamin_sea.php.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT GOES ONLINE After the university shifted to remote operations in March 2020, the Faculty of Science partnered with the Johnson Geo Centre to produce a series of short, talk show-like segments for Facebook.

Physical Oceanography; Dr. Kris Poduska, Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography; Dr. Terrence Tricco, Department of Computer Science; Dr. Scott Harding, Department of Biochemistry; and Dr. Chris Kozak, Department of Chemistry.

The goal of The Signal Hill Science Show was to engage children and their families in science, bringing the academy and community together in a fun and meaningful way.

Episodes can be watched online at www. geocentre.ca/signal-hill-science-show.

Supported by Conference and Event Services at Memorial’s Emera Innovation Exchange at Signal Hill Campus, the episodes covered a wide range of topics from kitchen physics to zombie biochemistry. The videos featured Silvana Rodrigues Pereira, Department of Chemistry; Dr. Mark Berry, Department of Biochemistry; Dr. Mike Morrow, Department of Physics and

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Chemistry’s Nathalie Vanasse produces hand sanitizer for on-campus critical employees.

CHEMISTRY LABORATORY STEPS UP TO FILL HAND SANITIZER GAP Like some local breweries and distilleries who used their equipment to help meet the demand for hand sanitizer, Memorial found an on-campus solution for the university’s needs. The Department of Chemistry manufactured 20 litres of hand sanitizer and were ready to produce additional batches if required. The hand sanitizer was bottled and distributed in the early days of the pandemic to critical workers who

remained on campus performing important functions for the university. Environmental Health and Safety with the Office of the Chief Risk Officer provided oversight of the production process along with Nick Ryan, chemistry laboratory instructor, and Nathalie Vanasse, chemistry supervisory science technician. The manufactured hand sanitizer followed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recipe and

guidance of both Health Canada and WHO, ensuring that all regulatory requirements and recommendations were met. The final product contained isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, glycerol and water. It was 75 per cent v/v alcohol, thus effective against COVID-19. More than 150 individual, refillable bottles were mixed, labeled and filled and another 10 larger bottles were ready to meet ongoing need for hand sanitizer.

Harris Centre connects with local experts on N.L. economy post COVID-19 Trying to predict the economic future of Newfoundland and Labrador has never been an easy task. And given the current global situation, assessing what the future might hold has become even more difficult – but essential. To explore and elaborate on this important topic, Memorial’s Harris Centre launched a special series of public forums in partnership with Conference and Event Services at Signal

Hill Campus. The bi-weekly webinars explored the challenges and opportunities facing Newfoundland and Labrador businesses, workers and sectors since COVID-19 changed the way we work and live. Guest speakers included faculty and leaders from Memorial, including Dr. Derek Wilton, Department of Earth Sciences. The sessions can be viewed online at www.mun.ca/ harriscentre/media.

Chris Hearn

ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT

She is responsible for facilitating and supporting the university’s strategic and long-term approach to advancing innovation and entrepreneurship activities across its campuses, while interacting with regional and national partners. As director, Dr. Mendonça will identify new partnership opportunities, as well as establish and maintain effective relationships with industry, government and other key external stakeholders.

Dr. Paula Mendonça

Director of innovation and entrepreneurship appointed Dr. Paula Mendonça (PhD’10) has been appointed Memorial’s first director of innovation and entrepreneurship.

In her role, she will also lead the operations of Memorial’s Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office. The office supports industrial liaison, technology transfer and commercialization activities at Memorial. Its staff works with the university community to identify resources and facilitate connections with partners from within the university as well as industry. Originally from Lisbon, Portugal, Dr. Mendonça completed her undergraduate degree with honours in marine biology and fisheries from the University of Algarve. She has lived in Newfoundland and Labrador since 2002 and obtained a PhD in biology from Memorial. Dr. Mendonça has been working in intellectual property and technology transfer for more than 10 years, first with Genesis and then with Memorial upon the integration of Genesis research into the Office of the Vice-President (Research).

SPRING BIOLOGY GRADUATE ACHIEVES ACADEMIC GOAL – EIGHT YEARS LATER Chris Hearn (B.Sc.’20) doesn’t give up. It’s a trait that has served the spring Biology (ecology and conservation) graduate well over the eight – yes, eight – years it took him to complete his B.Sc. Mr. Hearn knew his love of the outdoors would one day lead him to a career that allowed him to work outside. After high school, he

enrolled in a fish and wildlife technician program but decided it wasn’t for him. His real desire was a university degree, but he worried he would not be able to get through it, especially since he failed Grade 10 math and struggled through high school. After failing Math 1090 at Memorial, Mr. Hearn had to take a three-course foundational math program before redoing the course and, subsequently, the Math 1000 course his program required. During that time, he also failed Chemistry 1011 – twice. But he kept at it.

During his time at Memorial, he took part in an Operation Wallacea biodiversity and conservation management research expedition to Peru and spent two days steaming up the Amazon River in a boat. In 2016 he took a semester off to backpack through parts of Europe. He also spent six summers as a park ranger in La Manche Provincial Park. Mr. Hearn now hopes to find a career in conservation. He loves working in the field and wants a job that will allow him to make a difference.

ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT

MD-PHD GRADUATE INTEGRATING GENETICS AND FAMILY MEDICINE Dr. Daniel Evans (B.Sc.(Hons.)’12, MD-PhD’20) is one of only three people to complete the MD-PhD program in the Faculty of Medicine. For the spring 2020 graduate, this means he can be a physician and a scientist. Dr. Evans completed his honours degree in biology (cell and molecular) at Memorial in 2012 before starting a graduate program in human genetics at the Faculty of Medicine.

The same year he wrote his PhD comprehensive exam, Dr. Evans was accepted into the doctor of medicine (MD) program and, later, the joint MD-PhD program. He completed both simultaneously, winning awards in both and publishing significant research while still in medical school.

Dr. Daniel Evans

When he started his graduate work, geneticists were just gaining access to a new technology called next-generation DNA sequencing. Dr. Evans’ PhD research focused on working with families from Newfoundland and Labrador who have rare disorders with mutations that could not be discovered with conventional DNA sequencing, but could by using the new method of whole exome sequencing. His research led to the successful discovery of two new mutations, one in a disease called retinitis pigmentosa and the other in Weill-Marchesani syndrome. He also worked with Dr. Michael Woods on the genetics of hereditary colorectal cancer in the province. Dr. Evans defended his PhD thesis during his clinical rotation in internal medicine in the spring and passed with distinction. He started as a family medicine resident in Victoria, B.C., in July 2020. He wants to use his research experience to help bring new discoveries into medical practice.

MENTORSHIP IN THE DIGITAL AGE Alumni Engagement and Student Life have partnered with Ten Thousand Coffees, a digital mentorship tool that links mentors with students and early career professionals, thanks in part to the generosity of RBC Future Launch, a program to help young Canadians prepare for the workforce. Duos with shared backgrounds, degrees and skill sets are automatically matched each month and connected on the phone, in Google Hangouts or any preferred conferencing tool. Yaksh Haranwala is majoring in computer science, with a minor in mathematics. Following the advice of his brother, who suggested he connect with alumni throughout his university career, Mr. Haranwala’s search led him to Ten Thousand Coffees. Seeking a mentor with experience in computer science and technology who could guide him

throughout projects and help him strengthen his CV, he connected with software developer Randal Greene (B. Comm.(Hons.)’91, M.Sc.’10). Mr. Greene has been developing software applications ranging from management information for healthcare, tourism and telecommunications, to real-time situation awareness for marine navigation and surveillance for 25 years. He now concentrates on geographic information systems (GIS) for systematic conservation planning, natural resource management and related applications through his consultancy Feaver’s Lane. He believes there is always value in expanding networks, which is what prompted him to explore the Ten Thousand Coffees program. Mr. Haranwala says he is grateful for his connection to Mr. Greene and says his mentorship is “priceless.” Both say they will remain in contact.

ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT

Sebastian Reyna Martinez

New graduate from Mexico City will dedicate his career to the planet Sebastian Reyna Martinez wants to make the world a better place.

Yaksh Haranwala

Now that he has officially received his parchment for a bachelor of science degree as part of Memorial’s fall Class of 2020, he is setting his sights on doing just that. Looking around he could see there was no guarantee someone else would fix global warming and climate change. Not wanting to be selfish, and caring for the future of the planet, he decided the best option was to study science himself and dedicate his life to helping the planet in whatever way possible. Originally from Mexico City, Mr. Reyna Martinez enrolled at Memorial’s Grenfell Campus as an English as a second language student for one semester before starting an engineering program on the St. John’s campus. He later transferred to the Faculty of Science where he majored in physics. He was excited and nervous to arrive at Memorial, not knowing anyone. But since that time, he’s made many good friends. He also benefitted from using Memorial’s counselling programs, took up meditation and worked hard to face his own insecurities and bad habits to become a better version of himself. Mr. Reyna Martinez is currently considering applying for a master’s degree in energy systems engineering and hopes to one day work in the field of green technology.

ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT

Alumna, N.L.’s chief physician named top family physician Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have heard from Dr. Janice Fitzgerald almost every day since March 2020, when she became the face, and voice, of the province’s COVID-19 updates.

Central Health. Family reasons took Dr. Fitzgerald to the St. John’s area in late 2000, where she practiced family medicine. After completing her master of public health degree, she worked as clinical chief of long-term care with Eastern Health.

Now, Dr. Fitzgerald (B.Sc.’90, MD’94, MPH’16) has been recognized nationally with a Family Physician of the Year Award from the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

In 2017 she took on the role of working in public health policy development at the provincial Department of Health and Community Services. She took over as the province’s chief medical officer of health on an interim basis in August 2019 and accepted the job permanently a year later.

Growing up in Trinity, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador’s chief medical officer of health always wanted to study medicine. Initially, she wanted to pursue community medicine and enjoyed the prospect of getting to know her patients. However, working in family medicine allowed her to see her patients more regularly and she liked being able to know and care for a family as a whole. After completing her medical residency in Halifax, Dr. Fitzgerald moved back to Newfoundland and worked as a family physician in Springdale from 1996-98. She then moved to Grand Falls-Windsor to work in emergency medicine with

Gerissa Fowler (B.Sc.’16, M.Sc.’20) has been named Memorial’s 2020 Rothermere Fellowship recipient, one of the university’s most prestigious and lucrative scholarships. Dr. Janice Fitzgerald

Originally from Happy ValleyGoose Bay and an alumna of the Department of Biology, Ms. Fowler has also completed a master’s degree in genetics with the Faculty of Medicine.

Science alumnus receives two prestigious awards Dr. Travis Pickett

Dr. Travis Pickett (B.Sc.’16, MD’20) is the recipient of the prestigious Memorial University Chancellor’s Undergraduate Award and the Fry Family Foundation Undergrad Leadership Award.

ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT

Memorial graduate receives ‘life-changing’ Rothermere Fellowship

Gerissa Fowler

The rock-climbing enthusiast began a D.Phil. in medical sciences at the University of Oxford in fall 2020. She said it felt like she had won the lottery when she was told she would be receiving the Rothermere Fellowship, and again when she received an email from Oxford offering her a place in their program. Established by Memorial University’s first chancellor, Lord Rothermere, the generous trust will cover the full cost of Ms. Fowler’s studies in the United

Kingdom, including airfare and a yearly stipend. The award is currently valued at about £18,400 per year, plus tuition fees, and is given to an exceptional scholar who has completed a first degree at Memorial. A lifelong interest in genetics drew her to Memorial and an undergraduate honours thesis in wildlife genetics under the supervision of Dr. Dawn Marshall. There she investigated the relationship between genetics and disease susceptibility in Newfoundland and Labrador wildlife populations.

He was recognized with the prestigious awards for his outstanding leadership contribution during his studies at Memorial. Dr. Pickett is one of the founding members of PolyUnity, which creates and distributes 3D-printed medical simulations. The company got its start in the Faculty of Medicine as MUNMED 3D and was one of the winners of the 2019 Mel Woodword Cup. Most recently, PolyUnity helped to alleviate the personal protective equipment shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by making its own after signing on as an innovation partner with Eastern Health

For her master’s, Ms. Fowler studied gene mutations that cause stroke phenotypes in humans with Dr. Curtis French, examining how those mutations affect blood vessel development in zebrafish to get a better understanding of how it happens in humans, what the process looks like and how to prevent it. For her D.Phil. she will study nucleic acid sensing – how a body detects a virus is present and what proteins and procedures the virus uses to combat the host’s immune system.

through its Living Labs program. In 2018 Dr. Pickett was also awarded the Jim Glionna Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award. Originally from Corner Brook, N.L., Dr. Pickett grew up with a passion for science and music. He completed his honours in biochemistry at Memorial before being accepted to the doctor of medicine program. While in medical school, he was the founder and curator of the Faculty of Medicine’s inaugural live art gallery, showcasing nearly 50 works of art from medical students, graduate students, faculty and staff.

ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT

Jan Mertlik

More to success than money, says new graduate and student entrepreneur Jan Mertlik (B.Sc.’20) says Memorial has provided him with a “bulletproof portfolio.” The Computer Science graduate’s love for entrepreneurship began in 2014 when he took part in the university’s Startup Weekend event. Over 54 hours, students pitched ideas for new companies, formed teams around those ideas and developed a presentation or prototype by Sunday evening. Mr. Mertlik went on to complete the Co-operative Internship in Computer Science, including a work term at the Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship (MCE), which offers students foundational training, encouragement, guidance, access to funding and business connections. As part of the program, he started his first company delivering food orders for local restaurants that don’t offer delivery service. The business became popular very quickly and ultimately delivered more than 2,000 meals in 11 months before shutting down. In 2017 he started a new business – Get Coding. The idea was to teach people the coding skills needed in the province’s technology sector. However, after training one group of students, Mr. Mertlik ran out of money and shelved the idea, choosing to work for another struggling startup before being approached by a friend for help with his business.

Science alumnus headed to Oxford as N.L.’s 2021 Rhodes Scholar Jevon Marsh (B.Sc.(Hons.)’18) is Newfoundland and Labrador’s newest Rhodes Scholar. Considered to be one of the most prestigious international scholarship programs, the postgraduate award allows students to study at the University of Oxford and covers all tuition and fees, plus provides an annual stipend. Hailing from Bonavista, Mr. Marsh graduated from Memorial University with a joint honors degree in biochemistry and chemistry. During his time at Memorial, he became heavily involved in research and was an invited scholar in Germany and France. He was an executive member in various organizations and student societies and organized conferences and fundraising events. He also taught English to incoming refugees in St. John’s at the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council. After graduation, Mr. Marsh completed a master’s in synthetic chemistry and supramolecular chemistry at Queen’s University. He continued international research, travelling to Switzerland to work on characterizing a three-dimensional architecture in cancer cells. He was vice-president of the Queen’s Graduate Chemistry Society and co-president and director of finance for the Queen’s Graduate Management Consulting Association. He is also a member of the board of a German academic exchange service alumni association (DAAD) in Canada.

He went on to build websites for and do consulting with other businesses, but couldn’t stop thinking about Get Coding. So, he partnered with Science alumnus Sahand Seifi, from another local entrepreneurial success story, HeyOrca, to restart Get Coding. They began running programs again in late 2019. Mr. Mertlik told his story at the MCE’s third annual Fail Tale Cup and won. The cup is awarded to a student entrepreneur who has failed at a business or business idea, learned from that failure and started something new.

Jevon Marsh

The Rhodes Scholarship came at a time when Mr. Marsh was at a crossroads and deciding if he would continue with academia or pursue something else. While details are still being finalized, Mr. Marsh intends to begin his D.Phil. studies at Oxford in the fall of 2021.

ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT

Dr. Laurie Thompson & Dr. Liqin Chen

CHEMISTRY ALUMNUS GIVES BACK TO THE UNIVERSITY THAT MADE HIM A SUCCESS Dr. Liqin (Larry) Chen (PhD’93) didn’t have much when he arrived in Canada from China in 1990 to begin a PhD at Memorial University. He spent the entire day walking around Pearson Airport with his suitcase because he couldn’t afford a hotel room while waiting for a flight to St. John’s. Thirty years later, he’s the head of TLC Pharmaceutical Standards, a multimilliondollar international pharmaceutical company. He says he owes much of his success to his time at Memorial. In recognition of the value of that education, Dr. Chen is donating $100,000 annually for 10 years, for a total of $1 million, to the Department of Chemistry to fund the Chen Graduate Scholarships in the Department of Chemistry. These include the Dr. Liqin Chen Graduate Entrance Awards, which provides $3,000 to eligible master’s and PhD students; the Dr. Liqin Chen Graduate Excellence Awards, which provides $5,000 to doctoral students; and the Dr. Liqin Chen Thesis Writing Scholarships for doctoral students

who are actively preparing their thesis, but no longer receiving support from the School of Graduate Studies. Dr. Chen received his PhD in chemistry from Memorial in 1993, under the supervision of Dr. Laurence (Laurie) Thompson. For the next 13 years, he held senior research positions at Xerox Research Centre of Canada and PDI Research Laboratories. In 2006 he returned to academia as a professor of chemistry at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Nanjing Tech University in China. In 2007 Dr. Chen took a leap of faith and mortgaged his home to establish TLC Pharmaceutical Standards in Aurora, Ont. The company currently has approximately 250 employees and sells its product to 75 countries around the world. For information about establishing scholarships, bursaries and awards at the Faculty of Science, please contact the faculty development officer at (709) 864 2696.

ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT

Former head of European Research Council reflects on time at Memorial Dr. Donald Dingwell (B.Sc.(Hons.)’80) says there isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t think about Newfoundland and Labrador, its story and its place in the world.

Dr. Donald Dingwell

Currently a full professor and chair of mineralogy and petrology, and director of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Munich, Dr. Dingwell grew up in Corner Brook and graduated from Memorial University majoring in Earth sciences (geology/geophysics). A member of the initial cohort at the West Coast College in Corner Brook, he gives special thanks to his professors there from physics, chemistry, mathematics and geology, but especially Gary Pedersen and Bill Iams (PhD’77). For the fourth semester of his program, Dr. Dingwell moved to St. John’s. He soon found himself ‘adopted’ by Dr. Hugh Miller (B.Sc.(Hons.)’68, M.Sc.’70) and ‘fell under the spell’ of the world class members of the Department of Earth Sciences, including Dr. Dave Strong (B. Sc.’65, Hon. D.Sc.’91), who mentored his B.Sc. thesis, along with Dr. Miller. He went on to complete a PhD in geology in 1984 from the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Chris Scarfe.

Previously, Dr. Dingwell served as secretary general of the European Research Council and in 2020 he became an officer of the Order of Canada.

Medical students receive help from national association Dr. Dave Lundrigan (B.Sc.’05, MD’17) is a busy guy. Like most of us, Dr. Lundrigan has a mortgage and bills to pay. But, while he and his wife waited for baby No. 3 to arrive, the fourth-year psychiatry resident was working 50-60 hours a week. He was still finishing his education, doing regular call shifts and moonlighting to make extra money. But for Dr. Lundrigan, whose children are nine and two, finances were still a challenge. That’s why he’s grateful to the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Foundation for a recent bursary. The Faculty of Medicine received $250,000 from the foundation, a gift that has helped more than 90 medical learners so far with bursaries ranging from $200 to $1,000. The CMA Foundation COVID-19 Support for Medical Learners Bursary came at a time when many medical learners were struggling with job losses, reduced work hours, unexpected travel and family responsibilities. Having started medical school at 29, after several attempts, the resident of Burin, N.L. gives a lot of credit to his parents for their support. And Dr. Lundrigan plans on paying it forward. He has a passion for helping people in need – people who might otherwise feel hopeless.

President Vianne Timmons approved the appointment of Dr. Ken Fowler as director of the Student Wellness and Counselling Centre (SWCC) effective Aug. 1, 2020 until July 31, 2023. Dr. Fowler is a professor and, at the time, was head of the Department of Psychology. Prior to becoming an academic staff member at Memorial in 2001, Dr. Fowler held positions in the Newfoundland and Labrador public sector, focusing on provincial health analysis, planning and consulting.

will foster a supportive and collaborative culture to Dr. Ken Fowler continue to deliver on the unit’s mandate to positively impact the health and well-being of Memorial’s student population, working in collaboration with the university community.

In the director role, Dr. Fowler will be a champion for the SWCC’s team development and professional growth and

Dr. Fowler holds a master’s in applied social psychology and a PhD in community health and psychology from Memorial.

Dr. Mark Abrahams appointed provost and VPA pro tempore The Board of Regents approved the appointment of Dr. Mark Abrahams as provost and vicepresident (academic) pro tempore effective May 1, 2020. Previously the dean of the Faculty of Science, Dr. Abrahams will serve in the role for one year or until the search for a new provost and vice-president (academic) is completed, whichever is sooner. Dr. Abrahams is a professor in the Departments of Biology and Ocean Sciences and has been the dean of the Faculty of Science since 2008. He served as Memorial University’s

FACULTY AND STAFF

DR. KEN FOWLER TO LEAD STUDENT WELLNESS AND COUNSELLING CENTRE

Dr. Mark Abrahams

vice-president (research) pro tempore and associate vice-president (research) pro tempore between January 2017 and September 2018. He holds a B.Sc.(Hons.) in zoology from the University of Western Ontario, an M.Sc. in biology from Queen’s University and a PhD in biology from Simon Fraser University. Dr. Abrahams’ research focuses on non-lethal predator-prey interactions in aquatic ecosystems. Recent research has investigated how these dynamics are mediated by changes in the physical environment, and the role that sea cage aquaculture has on marine ecosystems.

Dr. Abrahams is a member of the executive committee of the Ocean Frontier Institute, co-chair of the Campus Master Plan Committee and a member of the Strategic Enrolment Management Working group as well as several committees related to the Core Science Facility project. Since 2015 Dr. Abrahams has been a member of the Let’s Talk Science Advisory Panel, and he continues to supervise graduate students in the field of behavioural ecology. Prior to joining Memorial University in 2008, he spent 18 years as a faculty member at the University of Manitoba.

FACULTY AND STAFF

Memorial researcher named science advisor to Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Dr. Paul Snelgrove

One of Memorial University’s leading ocean experts is using his knowledge to help strengthen science within the federal government. Dr. Paul Snelgrove is a University Research Professor with the departments of Ocean Sciences and Biology, the director of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe) and the associate scientific director of the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI). As the newly appointed departmental science advisor for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, he also reports to the department’s deputy minister. His new part-time position is for two years. During that time, Dr. Snelgrove will maintain his academic position at Memorial University, also in a part-time capacity. In 2016 the Government of Canada launched a review of federal support for fundamental science. Recommendations from the final report included the establishment of a chief science advisor and a national science advisory network to ensure government science is fully available to the public. This strategy ensures government scientists can speak freely about their work and government decisions fully consider scientific analyses. The national advisors also support the vital work of researchers by strengthening the linkages between science and policy decisions and improving collaboration across sectors and partners. Dr. Snelgrove joins an interdepartmental group of science advisors across federal government departments. These experts work closely with senior departmental officials and support the mandate of the chief science advisor, providing a neutral sounding board for decisionmakers and facilitating the incorporation of evidence in decision-making processes. Dr. Snelgrove holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Biology Department at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a master’s degree in oceanography from McGill University, and a B.Sc.(Hons.) in biology from Memorial University.

Dr. Travis Fridgen appointed acting dean of Science Dr. Travis Fridgen was appointed acting dean of the Faculty of Science effective May 1, 2020. Dr. Fridgen has been a faculty member at Memorial for 15 years and holds the role of associate dean (undergraduate and administration) in the Faculty of Science. He was previously the head of the Department of Chemistry. He is a physical chemist whose NSERCfunded research involves the investigation of the structure, energetics and reactions of biologically relevant ions in the gas-phase. He has received both the Faculty of Science Distinguished Teacher Award and the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. Dr. Fridgen has contributed to chemistry education across Canada as a co-author of a widely-used first-year post-secondary chemistry textbook. Before joining Memorial, he taught at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo. He holds a B.Sc. in chemistry from Trent University, and a B.Ed. and PhD from Queen’s University.

FACULTY AND STAFF

PRESIDENT’S AWARDS 2020 HONOUR OUTSTANDING RECIPIENTS

Dr. Kris Poduska

The 2020 President’s Awards were presented to individuals and groups who have made outstanding contributions to our students, university or communities. The tradition of the President’s Awards goes back more than 30 years. And while they are called the President’s Awards, they are a reflection of the high esteem in which the Memorial University community holds the recipients, as the recipients have been nominated for the honours by their peers, their students or their communities.

Dr. Christina Bottaro

This year’s recipients from the Faculty of Science include: The President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, recognizing teaching excellence in the university community, was awarded to Dr. Kris Poduska, professor and head, Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography. Dr. Christina Bottaro, Department of Chemistry, was awarded the President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Supervision. This award recognizes exemplary efforts to foster success in the research and scholarship of their graduate or postgraduate students and to advance their students’ success in their profession.

Dr. Shawn Leroux

The President’s Award for Outstanding Research was awarded to Dr. Shawn Leroux, associate professor, Department of Biology. This award recognizes young researchers who have made significant contributions to their scholarly disciplines. Dr. Stephen Piercey, professor, Department of Earth Sciences, was honoured with the title University Research Professor, a designation above the rank of professor that goes to faculty members who demonstrate a consistently high level of scholarship and whose research is of a truly international stature.

Dr. Steve Piercey

FACULTY AND STAFF

DEAN OF SCIENCE AWARDS ANNOUNCED While there was no Dean’s Awards Ceremony this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Faculty of Science honours the 2020 winners of the Dean’s Awards. Dr. Christina Thorpe, Department of Psychology, was the recipient of the Distinguished Teacher Award. She is a previous recipient of the Psychology department’s Rennie Gaulton Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, an award based on students’ written nominations and given only when there is a deserving recipient. A regular instructor of the department’s large introductory psychology course, Dr. Thorpe’s teaching often draws students to apply to major in psychology – more, in fact, than the department can accept. In her role as advisor and mentor to students she has helped hundreds navigate their way through the various majors and options offered by her department, guiding them to define their goals and objectives and helping them construct plans to achieve them. Dr. Fereidoon Shahidi, Department of Biochemistry, received the

Distinguished Scholar Medal. Routinely ranked in the top 10 most highly cited scientists worldwide in the field of food, nutrition and agricultural sciences, he has an h-index of 128. Since joining Memorial in 1987 he has secured over $11 million in research funding, authored over 600 peerreviewed articles and 78 books and holds 12 patents. Dr. Shahidi’s work has been recognized by many scientific organizations with lifetime achievement and scientific excellence awards and his service to the scientific community is unparalleled. At the graduate level he has supervised 33 PhD theses, 46 M.Sc. theses and more than 30 visiting scientists and postdoctoral fellows. Marie Codner, Department of Biochemistry, was honoured with the Distinguished Service Award. As a science lab supervisor, she is responsible for the efficient operation of Biochemistry’s undergraduate teaching labs. She brings an exceptionally high level of ability and knowledge to her work, and does so in a manner that is helpful and supportive to everyone. Known for being the glue that holds the

department together socially, Ms. Codner is also a strong community volunteer. She has been awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and brings this community-mindedness and volunteerism to the university as well, collecting money and other contributions for various groups and charities. Eman Elbakry was named Co-op Student of the Year for demonstrating exemplary work term performance and maintaining a strong academic average throughout her academic program. Her first two work terms were with Dr. Sheri Christian’s Lab in the Department of Biochemistry, where she displayed a careful and methodic approach and worked exceptionally hard at understanding the theory behind the techniques. Her final work term with eDNAtec presented her with lab and lab support/managerial tasks. Despite being interrupted by two emergencies – the January snowstorm and the COVID-19 pandemic – she remained very productive, managed her responsibilities with focus and exceeded her employer’s expectations.

Memorial University announces professores emeriti Four Faculty of Science professors have been accorded the designation professor emeritus/emerita, an honour reserved for highly distinguished faculty members. The new professores emeriti are Dr. Margaret E. Brosnan, Department of Biochemistry; Dr. Mary Courage, Department of Psychology; Dr. Peter

Pickup, Department of Chemistry and Dr. Wlodek Zuberek, Department of Computer Science.

a scholar, teacher or academic administrator or any combination of these.

A professor emeritus or emerita is a retired member of the faculty who has served at least 10 years as a regular full-time faculty member and held the rank of professor upon retirement. The prime criterion for nomination is a sustained and superlative record as

Typically, professores emeriti are presented at the university’s fall convocation ceremonies. However, as fall convocation 2020 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual event was held to honour those receiving this distinction.

Superstar seabird biologist recognized with national mentoring award

Dr. Bill Montevecchi

Dr. Bill Montevecchi, a research professor in the Department of Psychology, has received one of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists’ top honours. The Jamie Smith Memorial Mentoring Award in Ornithology recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the mentoring of new generations of ornithologists. With almost 400 publications, mentorship of 33 master of science and nine doctoral students, plus three post-doctoral fellows and 15 bachelor of science (honours) students, oversight of countless projects, including a longterm study at Funk Island and a laboratory that has been awarded more than $7 million in research funding, Dr. Montevecchi is considered a superstar in the field of marine ornithology. He is quick to return the praise, saying the award would not have been possible without the support he has received at Memorial and the many brilliant students who have matriculated through his faculty’s programs and his lab. He says his students have provided the rationale and more basically the justification for this award, and that without the opportunities and privileges provided by Memorial this award would not have been possible. Dr. Montevecchi’s laboratory environment provides the collegial incubation of questions and ideas, the hatching of insights and solutions and the fledging of competent problem-solving research scientists who focus on the behaviour and ecology of birds to understand the consequences of environmental change in order to generate and improve conservation initiatives.

Memorial researchers on World’s Top 2% Scientists List Researchers from Memorial University are on the World’s Top 2% Scientists list.

The list, which was published by Stanford University, includes 159,683 researchers that represent the top two per cent of the mostcited scientists in the world across various disciplines. It identifies 64 Memorial researchers from various faculties and schools, including 37 in the Faculty of Science. The list was created due to great interest in the databases of standardized citation metrics across all scientists and scientific disciplines. The analysis assesses scientists for long-career citation impact, as well as for 2019, and includes information on citations, h-index and co-authorship, among other criteria.