The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is the United Nations’ annual day for recognizing the roles that women play in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The day is a global reminder that all women and girls should feel empowered and represented in these fields, and that there is still work to be done to ensure gender equality.
“Every day our faculty work to pave the way for women and girls in science,” says Dr. Annette Trimbee, president and vice-chancellor. “They build meaningful opportunities for the next generation of STEM leaders, contribute to their field in real ways and challenge our students to think of what comes next. This collaborative engagement is a prime example of the teaching excellence which MacEwan is known for.”
In recognition of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we're sharing stories about the faculty researchers, students and recent graduates who have not only been inspired by science but continue to inspire our university community.
Dr. Mary Asirifi, Faculty of Nursing
Dr. Mary Asirifi's research area of interest focuses on innovation and change in nursing education, including exploration of knowledge translation in nursing education across differing sociocultural contexts, comparative educational research and the potential for reciprocity in knowledge exchange for moving nursing education forward.
Desiree Cardinal, BSc (Computer Science) '21
Alum Desiree Cardinal explored a number of different subjects before discovering a passion for computer science. "I really enjoyed using programming to solve challenging and complex problems and transforming data to tell a visual story," recalls Cardinal, who graduated in 2021.
In one project, she looked at the impacts of climate change on the frequency and severity of natural disasters. "I used various data sets over a time series and transformed them into an interactive dashboard to show the relationship of natural disaster severity with increasing global temperatures," she explains. "I think the potential to discover new insights by transforming complex data is a really exciting concept."
Dr. Dana Cobzas, Faculty of Arts and Science
Through her research, Dr. Dana Cobzas explores the spaces in which computer science and medical science intersect, focusing on the mathematics of imaging with particular applications to medical image analysis.
Her two main projects involve 1) diffusion images of the hippocampus and 2) quantitative images of deep gray matter structures.
Dr. Dianna Dempsey, School of Business
Using social cognitive and decision-making theories, Dr. Dianna Dempsey studies career paths, decisions, transitions and barriers in adult populations (with a specific focus on emerging adults and women) in order to normalize new and evolving approaches to careers. She is particularly interested in career choice and retention issues for underrepresented populations in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and entrepreneurship career paths. She is increasingly focused on the culture of the professions themselves as well as organizational culture as driving forces behind career choice and retention in these contexts.
Dr. Miranda Giacomin, Faculty of Arts and Science
Broadly, Dr. Miranda Giacomin's research explores personality and social perception. She examines how people form first impressions and whether these impressions are accurate. Her recent work has investigated how people’s gender and social stereotypes influence how people conceive of male and female leaders.
Read about Dr. Giacomin's research
Paige Goshko, BSc (Biological Sciences)
Paige Goshko spent a good chunk of her summer cozied up to a microscope analyzing plant macrofossils – preserved leaves, needles, cones and stem debris used to identify plants that have grown in the Canadian Rockies during the last 12,000 years.
Goshko was invited to build on a work-integrated learning project that she completed in the Winter 2021 term in Dr. Robin Woywitka’s EASC 324: Quaternary Environments course with Diana Tirlea, assistant curator of Quaternary Environments at the Royal Alberta Museum. She applied for an Undergraduate Student Research Initiative (USRI) project grant and did a LevelUp work-integrated learning program supervised by Dr. Woywitka and Tirlea.
It was the perfect transition, says Goshko. “I had been contemplating trying some research or internships while doing my undergrad, but it seemed daunting.” Having some experience in the classroom before starting her LevelUp work and USRI research made things easier.
Jolie Hamel, BSc, (Biological Sciences Honours) '21
Getting into the Biological Sciences Honours program was a big moment for alum Jolie Hamel. Years before, she dreamed of getting into aerospace engineering because of her love for planes and how they worked.
"Then I hit Grade 10 science, and learned that I was terrible at physics," she admits. "But later that year, I was introduced to the basics of genetics and to bacteria, and I was hooked."
Now she's pursuing a master's degree in biochemistry at the University of Toronto. "I hope to build a career in research, focusing on studying the CRISPR-Cas system in bacteria in particular," says Hamel, who first learned about CRISPR (which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) in her second year at MacEwan. "I'm mostly interested in understanding the basic science of how CRISPR-Cas works, which has applications in gene editing to treat genetic disorders."
Dr. Kimberley Harcombe, Faculty of Arts and Science
Dr. Kimberley Harcombe studies how the antibiotics that we have always used to treat bacterial infections don’t work very well anymore. The bacteria have evolved resistance to them, leaving some patients with no treatment options for serious infections. Finding new antibacterial drugs is an important part of the strategy to address this crisis.
Her current research focuses on testing chemical extracts of invasive weed species found around Edmonton to identify sources of possible new antibacterial activity. This work may be the first step in identifying chemicals that may one day become effective treatments for drug-resistant bacterial infections.
Dr. Rui Hu, Faculty of Arts and Science
Dr. Rui Hu's research is primarily based in robustness, experimental design and spatial statistics.
She received her PhD in mathematics from Memorial University in Newfoundland. After moving to Edmonton, she studied statistics under the supervision of Dr. Doug Wiens at the University of Alberta and graduated with a PhD in statistics in 2016.
Areal Huang, BSc (Biological Sciences Honours)
Back in June 2021, Areal Huang was challenging Edmontonians to take part in the YEG BiodiverCity Challenge.
The city-wide BioBlitz used the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute’s NatureLynx app to generate data that Huang was using for her honours thesis.
“Monitoring biodiversity is really challenging,” she says. “Scientists often struggle to keep track of a single species, so options like citizen science – inviting people to gather and submit data that scientists can use – is potentially a great tool.”
Dr. Janice Kenney, Faculty of Arts and Science
The goal of Dr. Janice Kenney's current research program is to develop a better understanding of the mobility of pharmaceuticals in the environment, including how they interact with environmental surfaces and colloids (i.e., soil minerals, organic matter, bacteria) and the pathways and nature of any breakdown products that may be released into the environment.
Dr. Kenney’s research is currently supported by a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant.
Brooklyn Miller, BSc, (Physical Sciences) '21
Bachelor of Science alum Brooklyn Miller was surprised when her poster presentation received recognition at the virtual 2021 Undergraduate Research in Science Conference of Alberta (URSCA) — because, aside from the impressive work done by her peers, she almost didn't make it this far.
At the beginning of her second year, Miller became seriously ill and ended up permanently losing function in part of her lungs. The recovery process forced her to take a break from her fast-paced work and school schedule.
"I realized it was better to be happy and healthy at the end of a six-year degree instead of working myself to death to stay full-time," she says.
While studying part-time during the next semester, she went on a school trip as part of an earth sciences course. The experience helped her realize the direction she wanted to go in with her studies. "It felt like I was surrounded by people who were interested in the same things I was, and that I could be really happy if I kept down this path. So I did!"
Photo credit: Elise Marie Images
Meaghan Neill, BSc (Computer Science)
At the end of her first-ever National Cyber League competition, Neill ranked as the top MacEwan participant and came in 143th place out of over 3,600 competitors.
"Cyber security is always changing," says Neill, a fourth-year computer science student in the Bachelor of Science. "There is always some new hack, exploit or vulnerability. The competition tests us on stuff that is both new and old, so it was a great experience, if a bit challenging."
Chella Robles, BSc (Psychology major)
Chella Robles is conducting an independent study with Dr. Christopher Striemer that focuses on the cerebellum, located at the back of the brain.
Her project will contribute to a larger body of research that aims to achieve a deeper understanding of the role of the cerebellum in movement and cognitive functions like attention, language and working memory.
“It’s a little bit overwhelming, but such a great opportunity to extend my knowledge and gain new skills,” says Robles, who plans to apply to the Psychology Honours program. “It’s so interesting to think about how this small part of our body can be responsible for so many things, and just how serious any kind of injury to the brain can be. Being a part of research like this is incredibly motivating.”
Maryam Saeed, BSc, (Mathematical Sciences) '21
Alum Maryam Saeed started as a business student but when she took her first statistics and mathematics course, she knew she wanted to play more with numbers.
With a business studies minor and mathematical science major, Saeed says her degree was filled with many courses that had numbers in them, be it mathematics, statistics, physics, accounting, finance, economics, computer science and philosophy.
"I never wanted to hold myself back — I wanted to explore as much as I could."
Radhika Saini, BSc, (Physical Sciences) '21
Radhika Saini initially had no idea what to specialize in as part of her undergraduate degree, but an interest in studying maps, satellite imagery and landforms during her first year led her to study earth science.
"In my second year, I discovered that I liked research. But it wasn’t until taking on an independent research project on carbonate sedimentology in my fourth year that I realized how much," says the Bachelor of Science alum, who had a lot to learn about mineralogy and sedimentology. "I had no idea how much time, effort and mental capacity it takes to conduct and convey research. That’s why I was so very lucky to have had an incredible supervisor and mentor in Dr. Hilary Corlett."
Completing that independent research project was a defining moment for Saini, who started a master’s in science program at the University of Alberta.
"I'm using the technical knowledge I gained in my research to study meteorite samples. I know it will be tough, but I am really looking forward to it."