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

Victoria Day holiday & weekend power shutdown

Dalhousie University will be closed on Monday, May 19 for Victoria Day. Over the long weekend, Facilities Management will be conducting a planned power shutdown on both the Studley and Carleton campuses from Saturday, May 17 at 6:00 a.m. until Tuesday, May 20. For more information and a complete list of affected buildings, please see this Facilities Management notice (Dal login required).

Community Day (May 30): Faculty participants wanted

The Faculty of Science has received a request to participate in the third annual Community Day event on Friday, May 30 from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. This event is hosted in collaboration with Aramark and St. Joseph’s-Alexander MacKay elementary (SJAM) and will be the last full school year that SJAM students will be in their temporary location on Walnut Street. Approximately 450 students from grades primary through 6 will be in attendance, broken into groups of “bigs” and “littles.”

Last year, Joshua Bates and Ryan Snitynsky from the Department of Chemistry hosted a table filled with fun activities for the students (learn more in this Community Day Dal News Story). If you or your department would be interested in participating this year, please contact ScienceOutreach@dal.ca.

Promotional materials wanted for Canada-Wide Science Fair Booth Expo

The Faculty of Science will be hosting a booth at the Canada-Wide Science Fair Booth Expo from June 5-6 at the University of New Brunswick. Over 5,000 elementary and secondary school students are expected to attend, as well as fair participants and the general public.

If your department has any interactive games, quizzes, activities, swag, or promotional materials that would be helpful for the booth, please drop them off to LSC room 827 by Tuesday, June 3. They will be returned by June 10 if necessary. If you have any questions or need more information, please contact ScienceOutreach@dal.ca

BioRender use survey

Dalhousie University is assessing the interest amongst its researchers to negotiate a reduced rate for university-wide licensing of the BioRender scientific image and illustration software. A Dal-wide license would significantly reduce the cost per researcher to access the software.

If you use BioRender, please complete this short survey if you haven't already by Tuesday, May 20. Have a question? Please contact Dr. James Brenan, the Faculty of Science’s Associate Dean Research (Acting).

Friday, May 23: The New Space Age with Dr. Kathryn Sullivan (PhD'78)

Renowned NASA astronaut, oceanographer, and Dal alum Dr. Kathryn Sullivan (PhD’78, Earth Sciences) returns to share her remarkable journey on Earth and in space as part of Alumni Days 2025. 

Join Dr. Sullivan and guests for a live panel discussion moderated by Dr. David Barclay on the New Space Age and how privately funded space exploration will impact scientific discovery. A reception with light refreshments will follow the lecture. Attendance is free - RSVP via Eventbrite.

Event details:

Date: Friday, May 23
Time: 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Location: Irving Oil Auditorium, Richard Murray Design Building, 5257 Morris Street, Halifax

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.