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

Dal Science Spotlight: Mindy McCarville

This week’s Dal Science Spotlight is Mindy McCarville, a University Teaching Fellow in the Department of Biology, who was nominated by an undergraduate student. “Mindy is truly an amazing professor and person,” the student says. “This past spring, I took her Cell Biology course. As a first-year student, I expected to feel uncomfortable in a second-year class, but Mindy made sure that her classes were a place where everyone could feel comfortable. Throughout the course she was always very approachable and would devote a lot of time to every student. Despite the course content being difficult, Mindy made every lecture as engaging as possible, which was appreciated since they started at 8:30 a.m. Her photos of her cats were often the highlight of my mornings. I am so grateful to have taken a class taught by Mindy, and she deserves all the recognition.”

Creating comfortable learning environments and making challenging content engaging are two signs of an outstanding course instructor - keep up the great work, Mindy!

The Dal Science Spotlight highlights the contributions of instructors and advisors in the Faculty of Science. Recognize an outstanding instructor or advisor by filling out our nomination form. A new submission will be featured weekly in the Dean’s Office Dispatch.

Listen to Dal alum Will Burt on Sciographies

The eighth and final episode of the fifth season of the Sciographies podcast features Will Burt (PhD'15), a chemical oceanographer and the Chief Ocean Scientist at Planetary Technologies, a carbon dioxide removal company based in Nova Scotia. Listen to the episode on SoundCloud or find it on most podcast apps.

Visit our website to learn more about Sciographies and listen to previous episodes.

Dal Science climbs in national, global rankings

Dalhousie ranked number one in Canada and rose to 20th worldwide for the subject of Oceanography in this year’s Global Rankings of Academic Subjects. Atmospheric Science at Dal remained tied for second in Canada. Read more in Dal News. 

The 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by Subject moved Dal into the top 175 globally for the subject of Psychology. Read more in Dal News.

Finally, Dal ranked among the top 200 universities globally for research related to climate change and conservation, according to Nature. The scientific journal's rankings placed Dal at 159, among five Canadian post-secondary institutions in the top 200. Read more in Dal News.

Next week: Dalhousie Science Society Research Mixer

Students interested in exploring undergraduate research opportunities are invited to attend the Dalhousie Science Society’s annual Research Mixer on Wednesday, Nov. 8. Department representatives will be in attendance to talk about research that is happening at Dal and how students can get involved. Details will also be provided on how to apply for Undergraduate Summer Research Awards.

Registration is required - please RSVP to attend. Light refreshments will be served. Please email DSS@dal.ca with any questions, or contact the Dalhousie Science Society on Instagram. 

Date: Wednesday, November 8
Time: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Check-in begins at 5:30 p.m.
Location: McInnes Room (2nd floor) Student Union Building

Ocean of Data Challenge

DeepSense,  ShiftKey Labs, and COVE are teaming up with the Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System (CIOOS), Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and Ocean Startup Project to host the 7^th Ocean of Data Challenge: Coast to Coast to Coast! Utilize your data skills and explore ocean data to answer the ultimate question: How can ocean data help us understand Canada’s ocean health, ocean economy, and ocean people? Students from post-secondary institutions across Canada are invited to use ocean data to examine how we can support a healthy and sustainable ocean through this Challenge. 

Participants can work solo or in teams of up to five to submit their final idea in a video presentation format by November 20, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. PT.  Judges will watch the videos and choose a winner by Monday, November 27. Judging will be based on the potential for sustainable impact, originality, and creativity. Learn more on the Ocean of Data Challenge website.

Launching General Safety

The Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Office is very excited to have released a new suite of information for the Dal community. The General Safety program features many pieces of information useful to the Dal community in a broad sense, whether you are just starting a new role, or have been at the university for years. Visit the EH&S myDal site (login required) to learn more.

Fall 2023 seminars: Department of Economics

The Department of Economics holds departmental seminars on Friday afternoons from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. in room 2198 of the Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building. Seminars are open to all interested students, faculty and staff. The next scheduled seminar takes place on Friday, Nov. 10 and features a presentation from Victor Aguiar (University of Western Ontario) titled "Dynamic and Stochastic Rational Behavior." Learn more and see the fall 2023 schedule on the Economics website.

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.