Science Matters Summer 2021
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While it has been a difficult and disconnected year, the strength and resiliency of our faculty, staff and students means that we are emerging from the pandemic even stronger.
Undergraduate and graduate enrolment continues to grow, faculty and students received provincial and national awards and recognition, and support for research is reaching a new record for the Faculty of Science. To sustain and further this growth we are embarking on a strategic planning exercise, investing in new Research Chairs, reducing international PhD tuition, and expanding scholarships for students.
I wish everyone a good summer and I look forward to the return of campus life and community this Fall.
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Participants in the COVID Surveillance Platform study volunteer to have their saliva tested weekly, and get results via a cellphone app called MyCap
With this testing, researchers hope to catch potentially contagious COVID-positive people who do not know they are sick because they are asymptomatic.
Phase two of the three-phase campus COVID screening program started in May, 2021 with 400 volunteer participants. The plan is to start phase three in September 2021 for everyone who has returned to work or study on the UWindsor campus.
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Jackie Fong leads staff member Elizabeth Fidalgo Da Silva through the MyCap app as part of a pilot project to screen campus volunteers for COVID-19.
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Chemistry professor Kenneth Ng will study the proteins that manage how coronaviruses replicate and infect, to prepare to battle emerging variants.
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A new health research grant will allow a UWindsor professor to closely study the proteins that manage how coronaviruses replicate and infect, to help prepare for the development of new vaccines and drugs to battle emerging COVID variants. |
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Faculty attracting attention |
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Computer Scientist leads global automotive security academic network |
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Ikjot Saini spent 2020 collecting accolades for her work as an expert in automobile cybersecurity.
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UWindsor professor Iain Samson will receive the 2021 Duncan Derry Medal for significant contributions to the science of economic geology in Canada.
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Iain Samson honoured by recognition of peers |
Dr. Samson, a researcher in the School of the Environment, will receive the 2021 Duncan Derry Medal, awarded annually to the outstanding economic geologist who has made significant contributions to the science of economic geology in Canada.
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Research into stabilizing polymers earns praise for chemistry prof |
Stephen Loeb won the Best Paper of the Year Award from the Canadian Journal of Chemistry for his research investigating how to create protective molecular suits, or jackets, for vulnerable molecules.
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An article by chemistry professor Stephen Loeb was named Best Paper of the Year by the Canadian Journal of Chemistry.
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Professor emeritus Peter Sale has written a book to introduce readers to the complexity, wonder, and vital planetary roles of coral reefs. |
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Ecologist aims to inspire action to save coral reefs |
Distinguished university professor emeritus of biology, Dr. Sale wrote Coral Reefs: Majestic Realms Under the Sea to introduce readers to the complexity, wonder, and vital planetary roles of these ecosystems.
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Microbes may hold the key to degrading toxic algal blooms |
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Chelsea Salter is studying how bacteria in Point Pelee sand can break down toxins before they contaminate the residents’ drinking water. |
Master’s student Chelsea Salter of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER)
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The award recognizes and promotes scientific research papers, written by graduates students, that have led to important advances in the understanding of freshwater harmful algal blooms.
Salter is investigating why and how bacteria are able to naturally break down toxins in the sandy trenches of Pelee Island’s shore before those toxins can contaminate the residents’ drinking water.
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Fourth-year biology student Madhu Yadiki is this year's recipient of the the LEAD Alumni Spirit Award, sponsored by the University of Windsor Alumni Association, recognizing their dedication to the LEAD program and fellow volunteers at the University.
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Her work with student volunteers for orientation programming has won Madhu Yadiki the LEAD Alumni Spirit Award.
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Integrative biology student Cassandra Simone won first-place honours for her presentation in the Ecology and Environment category at Ontario Biology Day. |
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Two science undergraduates, Kim Nguyen and Cassandra Simon, won first-place presentation awards at Ontario Biology Day 2021, an annual conference which allows biology students from across the province to showcase their research, engage with others, and get inspired by current research.
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Computer science major Lama Khalil will be virtually heading to Montreal this summer as the first UWindsor student to take part in the all-female AI4Good Lab, which offers lectures, workshops, and mentorship opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI).
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Lama Khalil is the first UWindsor student to take part in the national training program, AI4Good Lab. |
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Biology student Kim Nguyen |
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Her experiences at the University of Windsor have led biology student Kim Nguyen to new heights — including a climb to Machu Picchu.
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Jill Crossman is co-ordinating a multidisciplinary team developing new tools to test, analyze, and track microplastics pollution. |
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Research project working to tackle microplastics pollution at source |
Jill Crossman, an assistant professor in the School of the Environment, is co-ordinating a million-dollar multidisciplinary, multi-institutional project to develop new tools to test, analyze, and track Ontario’s microplastics pollution.
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Freshwater mussels
They go by names like Lilliput, Rainbow, Pigtoe, and Snuffbox, and despite being perpetually mistaken for rocks, they’re of vital importance to Ontario’s rivers and streams.
These species of freshwater mussels are among 14 at risk in Ontario. Federal laws protect at-risk mussel populations by requiring that they be moved upstream before construction begins on new infrastructure projects like bridges and roads that disturb their habitats. Armed with a new $270,000 grant, UWindsor researcher Catherine Febria is studying whether mussel populations ever rebound after such translocations.
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Catherine Febria and her Healthy Headwaters Lab are studying how well at-risk freshwater mussel populations rebound after they’ve been displaced by construction projects.
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UWindsor researcher Charu Chandrasekera has received a grant from the British Columbia Foundation for Non-Animal Research to kickstart a project that aims to produce a 3D-printed model of human lung tissue. |
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Research project focused on creating a lung in a dish |
UWindsor researcher Charu Chandrasekera has received a $20,000 grant for her animal-free, respiratory-disease research platform she has dubbed “lung-in-a-dish.”
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Fruit Flies could hold key to unlocking cancer mystery |
UWindsor biologist Andrew Swan is using fruit flies to study a protein that holds cell division in check. The protein, called tuberin, is the product of a tumour suppressor gene in our DNA. It’s been established that tuberin is related to cell growth, but Dr. Swan says its role in mitosis, or cell division, requires further study.
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Biology assistant professor Andrew Swan has been awarded a $30,000 grant to study a protein associated with cell growth in hopes of identifying treatment for cancer.
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Lisa Porter and John Trant, shown in this 2019 photo, have received another $250,000 in research funding from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
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Cancer research gets a $250,000 boost |
Molecular biologist Lisa Porter and chemist John Trant have received $250,000 from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research to support their project for another year. They received $250,000 from the institute last year and $100,000 in 2019 for a total of $600,000 to date.
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Other impressive highlights across science |
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The 2021 Science Award winners
Faculty and staff award recipients:
- Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Award – Dima Alhadidi, School of Computer Science
- Outreach and Engagement Award – Marcus Drover, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Ikjot Saini, School of Computer Science
- Research Impact Award – Christina Semeniuk, Department of Integrative Biology
- Service Excellence Award – Sharon Rasul, Faculty of Science
- Student Engagement Award – Tanya Noel, Department of Integrative Biology, and Lisa Porter, Department of Biomedical Sciences
- Student Mentoring Award – Dora Cavallo-Medved, Department of Biomedical Sciences, and Dan Xiao, Department of Physics
- Friend of Science Award – Tina Suntres, Office of Research and Innovation Services (outstanding service in support of research in the Faculty of Science)
- Roger Thibert Teaching Excellence Award – Oliver Love, Department of Integrative Biology
Student Awards Recipients:
- Ambassador Award – (Graduate) Mehedi Hassan Asif, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, (Undergraduate) – Madhumitha Yadiki, Department of Integrative Biology
- Graduate Assistant Excellence Award – Ahmed Shafeek Abouhassan, School of Computer Science, and Patricia Okpara, Department of Integrative Biology
- Going Above and Beyond in Research Award (Undergraduate) – Mikayla Bornais, Concurrent General Science, and Siddhartha Sood, Department of Integrative Biology
- Going Above and Beyond in Research (Masters) – Tristhal Parasram, Department of Physics
- Going Above and Beyond in Research (Doctoral) – Michael Nguyen, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Going Above and Beyond in Research (Post-Doctoral) – Christine Madliger, Department of Integrative Biology
- Teaching Assistant Excellence Award (Undergraduate) – Jake Frank, Department of Integrative Biology
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Alumni honours professors as excellent educators |
Dora Cavallo-Medved is one of the 2021 recipients of the Alumni Award for Distinguished Contributions to University Teaching.
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New Initiatives in Science |
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Biology grad Roberto Sosa-López, who attended the University of Windsor as an international student, is now a research fellow at Mexico’s CIIDIR Unidad Oaxaca (Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Regional Development at Oaxaca University). |
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Faculty of Science offers scholarship for international PhD students |
The Faculty of Science will offer select international PhD candidates a big break starting this fall by reducing their tuition to domestic fee levels.
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The Faculty of Science Research Chairs |
The Faculty of Science Research Chairs program for Fall 2021 is designed to increase research funding and capacity in the faculty by growing existing research programs.
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What will you put on your resume? |
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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. The Place of Promise 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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Faculty of Science
University of Windsor
401 Sunset Ave.
Windsor, ON N9B 3P4
519-253-3000 Extension: 3009
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