The following holiday greeting was shared with the Carleton Science community via e-mail on Dec. 22, 2023.
Reflecting on 2023: A Year of Achievements and Community Strength
As the holiday break approaches, I’m thrilled to take a moment to reflect on the incredible accomplishments and shared triumphs within Carleton University’s Faculty of Science throughout 2023. Join me in celebrating a year marked by community strength and collective achievements!
Highlights of 2023 include:
- Milestone Celebrations: We commemorated Science’s 60th birthday with an inspiring homecoming event, featuring a talk from Alum Sean MacKinnon of Loop Energy. Our Department of Earth Sciences also marked its 70th anniversary with a highly successful Geoheritage Day.
- Engaging Outreach: Our annual events, including the Biology Butterfly Show, Neuroscience’s Brain & Mental Health Art Show, and the Chemistry Magic Show, continued to captivate and engage our community.
- Distinguished Honours: Members of our community received notable recognition, including Steven Cooke as a Highly Cited Researcher and recipient of a University Research Achievement Award. Edana Cassol was acknowledged with the Faculty Graduate Mentoring Award, and outstanding science students were awarded Governor General’s Medals during Convocation.
- Impactful Partnerships: Collaborations like the AI-based tools designed by the Bennett Lab in partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada have contributed significantly to biodiversity conservation. In Computer Science, Majid Komeili and Olga Baysal partnered with the City of Ottawa on Explainable AI for Predicting Chronic Homelessness.
- Student Advancements: Our commitment to student development was evident with the inauguration of a new learning laboratory in Computer Science, designed for collaborative work and interaction. The School of Mathematics and Statistics set up for-credit opportunities with Statistics Canada, providing students with valuable real-world experiences.
- Strategic Growth: The Faculty of Science is forging ahead with our Strategic Integrated Plan, propelling us into the future with new undergraduate and graduate programs, such as a BSc in Nursing, Bachelor of Data Science, Masters in Biotechnology, and Masters in Clinical Trials and Regulations.
This holiday season, let’s not only celebrate the festive spirit but also the collective accomplishments and resilience of our Carleton Science community. Wishing you and your loved ones a joyous and restful holiday season, and a happy new year. Here’s to our continued success in 2024!
Warm regards,
Maria DeRosa
Dean of Science, Carleton University
