The Dean's Office Dispatch is the Faculty of Science's weekly e-newsletter for students, faculty and staff. 

Faculty holds inaugural Black and African Nova Scotian Engagement Event

Last month, the Faculty of Science organized a daylong engagement event that brought over 50 prospective Black and African Nova Scotian students from five local high schools to the Dal campus. Participants chatted with representatives from Faculty of Science programs and societies, heard from an alumni career panel, took part in a round of science trivia, and toured the Aquatron, SURGE, and chemistry and biology labs.

Thanks to the faculty, staff, students, and alumni who took the time to help support this event! Read our recap of a successful inaugural event in Dal News.

Meet Dal's new scientific glassblower

Did you know the Department of Chemistry has a scientific glassblower on staff? Ihor Krasilia joined Dal last fall, ending a long search to fill the highly specialized position. Krasilia trained as a scientific glassblower in his home country of Ukraine and worked for the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute before moving to the Netherlands and then Canada following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Read this Dal News profile of Krasilia to learn more about the role of a scientific glassblower, life in Canada, and the one-of-a-kind gift he created for CBC metereologist and Dal alum Tina Simpkin, who was a guest speaker at two Faculty of Science events in March.

Chemistry PhD grad earns Doctoral Thesis Award

Dr. Joseph Bedard of the Department of Chemistry has been named one of two winners of the 2024 Doctoral Thesis Award presented annually by the Faculty of Graduate Studies to recognize the year's most outstanding PhD theses. Supervised by Dr. Saurabh Chitnis, Dr. Bedard focused his thesis on using nitrogen and phosphorous as alternative sources of plastic production rather than petrochemicals. Last fall, Dr. Bedard presented his research at the finals of the Falling Walls Lab pitch competition in Berlin, Germany, where he was crowned the winner in a global field of competitors.

Read more on this year's Doctoral Thesis Award recipients, including Dr. Tari Ajadi of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in Dal News. 

Biology Teaching Support Award winners

Congratulations to Alexa Petrie and Nicole Harrington, this year’s winners of the Biology Teaching Support Award for their work in one of the department’s core second year classes, Evolution! Alexa is being recognized for their outstanding student support and creative student engagement in the course material. Nicole is recognized for their expert ability to engage students and use of technology to support the course instructor. Thank you for your exceptional work!

The Biology Department would also like to recognize the tireless work of all our teaching support staff - without their support, many of the activities and initiatives we have in our courses would not be possible. Faculty and students are lucky to have your support. Thank you!

Science co-op information session and application deadline

The deadline for science co-op applications is Tuesday, April 30. Learn more about eligibility requirements, application instructions, and a list of available programs on the Work-Integrated Learning & Co-operative Education website. 

On Friday, April 26, the Work-Integrated Learning & Co-operative Education office is holding a virtual information session where you can learn about how co-operative education can add value to your academic journey. The session will be held on Microsoft Teams from 12 to 12:30 p.m. Registration is not required - join the meeting at this link.

Would you like to make a submission to the Dean's Office Dispatch? Email communications.science@dal.ca with a brief summary of your notice, a supporting link or email address, and a photo/image if you have one.