New Student Blog Post! Today's new blog post is by Tin, and they wrote about Huntington's Disease and the role that programmed cell death (apoptosis) has in disease onset and progression. It's an interesting story of a natural cell process that goes wrong later in life.
We have a new Cell Biology class blog post! Larissa K was watching The Handmaid's Tale when they mentioned the discovery of Archaea as playing a role in the human microbiome. Did they get the story right? Find out here! "Archaea and Their Relationship to the Human Body"
Mahima M. decided to write her first blog post all about one of the specific roles of proteins in cells: enzymes! If you've ever wanted to learn more about the role of enzymes in cells, look no further! "Enzymatic Proteins: Nature’s Catalysts of Life" by Mahima M. Give it a read below!
Webcam image of a rooftop with a rainbow
Rainbow from the Burke-Gaffney Observatory east-facing webcam over Halifax right now
Interested in graduate programs in Psychology?
Our virtual open house is for students & alumni considering graduate programs in I/O (MSc and PHD) & Forensic (MSc) Applied Psychology. Info session tomorrow via Zoom, details at smu.ca/psychology. See you there!
Wow! The Burke-Gaffney Observatory all-sky camera @smuhalifax.bsky.social captured the brief surge in aurora last night when the sky lit up RED by-eye. The camera is black & white, but we can see the band of aurora start in the north (bottom) and work its way southward, before the clouds took over 🤯
The contest is open to all Saint Mary's students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Science is everywhere! We're looking for images from labs & workplaces, nature, scientific visualization and storytelling.
Enter now! smu.ca/photocontest
Where will your research take you?
For Claire Singer, her PhD research on changes in plant communities in northern Canada led to travel around the region, a published book titled “Guide the the Berries of the Northwest Territories,” starting an ecological consulting firm — and a dog named Rufus.
We’re excited to announce that Dr. Laurie Rousseau-Nepton, University of Toronto, will present the 11th annual Dan MacLennan Memorial Lecture in Astronomy at Saint Mary's! Free tickets available now! www.eventbrite.ca/e/dan-maclen...
Dr. Maryanne Fisher, Professor of Psychology at Saint Mary’s, discusses the dangers of romance scams — and how to avoid them—with Bob Murphy on CBC’s Maritime Noon radio.
Click to listen: (Scroll to 15 minutes into the program):
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
Dr. Mitch Kerr, Department of Earth Science, speaks to a CBC reporter in a lab at Saint Mary's University. (screen capture)
Dr. Mitch Kerr, Department of Earth Science at Saint Mary’s, explains the potential for lithium mining in Nova Scotia. Watch now. youtu.be/lemZNhquh8Y?...
It was sooo inspiring to meet with many NS science teachers last month! We shared all of the (free!!) astronomy-focused,
hands-on lesson plans we've put together, which can all be found online now, too: observatory.smu.ca/starfinder
Monostable Tetrahedra - by Dr. Robert Dawson Wednesday Sept. 17, 11:30 a.m
Math Seminar: Dr. Dawson will discuss non-regular tetrahedra weighted so that they can only balance on one of their faces & other higher dimensional spaces.
Wednesday, Sept. 17 @ 11:30 a.m. in Atrium 214A
All are welcome!
Multiple pink and white flowers flowers emanating from a slender green stem.
Tobacco plant in bloom! (Nicotiana tabacum). This is a part of our Indigenous medicine plant project in our Environmental Science spaces at @smuscience.bsky.social.
We had a great time exploring astronomy eduction with these great teachers last month! @smustarfinder.bsky.social
Amazing work—research with real community impact at SMU Science!
Proud of my grad student Rachel Kendall for this #peatland #plant #traits paper! Contrasting responses to climate & geography among shrub, sedge & #moss species. A fun project that connected across provinces & labs @wetland-ghg.bsky.social @wetlandresilienceresearchgroup.com @smuscience.bsky.social
Two copepod zooplankters with long antennae, a tail, legs Most of the body is translucent white, with round pinkish lipid "drops" visible throughout their bodies.
A translucent white round Daphnia zooplankter, with filtering claws and tail just out of focus. Green algae can be seen dotted through the gut.
Mallory is studying plankton for her @smuscience.bsky.social honours thesis this summer. Here's a sneak peek at some of her samples!
(Hastily taken by hand through a microscope using a phone camera. We'll have better images coming soon!)
Dr. Christa Brosseau, Liah Christie and Dr. Tanner George in the lab
A cleaner future for mining: Two @smuhalifax.bsky.social professors are are developing sustainable methods to make metal extraction cleaner and more environmentally responsible. Read more:
news.smu.ca/news/2025/7/...
Hierarchical Transfer Multi-task Learning and Task Grouping for Scene Classification Monday, July 7 at 10 am Loyola 273
Computing Science Lecture: Open to all!
Hierarchical Transfer Multi-task Learning
and Task Grouping for Scene Classification
Presented by Dr. Reza Khoshkangini, Malmo Univ.
Two people wearing waders, long gloves standing in a wetland, inserting a tube containing hydrology equipment
Kaitlyn Kerr prepared this Facebook post on request for one of our Waverley community partners, Macdonald Sports Park, so I thought I'd also share this here too! It's about Kaity's @smuscience.bsky.social graduate research project.
www.facebook.com/mcdonaldspor...
Save the date! We’re bringing @researchedcanada.bsky.social to Halifax this fall . @smuhalifax.bsky.social @smuarts.bsky.social @smuscience.bsky.social @msvuhalifax.bsky.social
Bay View High School students visited a Chemistry lab @smuhalifax.bsky.social to make... worms!
(When sodium alginate is placed in a solution of calcium ions, long polysaccharide molecules clump together and form an even bigger polymer that is too big to stay in the solution which = “worms.”)
“Rainbow Residue” by Tanner George, PhD’25 Residual solid from a chemical reaction done in ethanol. Evaporation of the filtrate gave rise to these colorless crystals in the yellow oil. This photo was taken using a polarized microscope at a Saint Mary's University X-ray facility, giving rise to the intense colours.
Faculty of Science Photo Contest Winners: Month by month we'll display winners from our 2025 calendar.
The June image is “Rainbow Residue” by Tanner George, PhD’25 in Applied Science, Chemistry, and Alumni and Faculty
Pick up your copy of the calendar at the Science Advising Centre (Atrium 301).
Valedictorian Sheheryar Khan gives a speech at the Saint Mary's podium
“Leaving home doesn’t just change where you live, it changes who you are.” Excellent speech by valedictorian Sheheryar Khan, who earned a BSc with a Diploma in Engineering. Watch now: vimeo.com/1088079229#t...
Free event at Saint Mary's! Open to the public. June 3 @ 7 pm
Topic: Cosmic Fossils and the Origins of Planets, presented by Dr. JJ Kavelaars
New Class! Examine topics related to the exploitation of Earth for its mineral wealth, incl. Enviro impacts of mining, and sustainable practices in the industry.
Winter 2026 | Hyflex MW 4-5:15 p.m. | GEOL 1212
Dr. Jacob Hanley | geology@smu.ca
No prerequisites. No lab. 3 credit hours.
Portrait of Dr. Arla Day
Congratulations to Saint Mary's Psychology prof Dr. Arla Day, recognized as a Take the Lead Champion by @discoverhalifax.bsky.social! Thanks to her efforts, the Occupational Health Psychology Summer Institute will be held again this summer in Halifax.
Read more: taketheleadhalifax.ca/arla-day
