Science Alumni Corner

Greetings from the Dean

Welcome to Alumni Corner! You’ve reached a space designed especially for Faculty of Science alumni like you.

Science alumni share their experiences with students at special career day

Science alumni are returning to McGill to share their experiences, insights and career advice with students. Hearing from alumni who have successfully “made their way” can be a huge help to science students preparing for today’s challenging work environment.

Alumnus and Nobel Prize winner honoured at reception

Dr. John O’Keefe, McGill alumnus and Nobel Laureate, recently delivered a special ‪Hebb Lecture‬‬ and attended a lunch reception in his honour.

The tragedy of war commemorated in stained glass

One hundred years ago, a McGill professor and physician wrote the poem that helped define World War One. The poem was In Flanders Fields, and its author, Dr. John McCrae, taught at McGill, and practiced at the Montreal General Hospital and Royal Victoria Hospital.

Interview: Dr. Donald Taylor

Donald M. Taylor is Professor of Psychology with the Faculty of Science. His research interests include laboratory and field research in the area of intergroup relations.

Did you know…?

Here are a few trivia questions to test your wits. The answers can be found in this newsletter. Take a moment to respond, and then check the answers page to see how you did.

1) Stem cell therapy – a form of treatment made possible by the 1953 discovery of stem cells by McGill researchers – was recently used to treat what hockey legend?
2) What is the name of the famous World War One poem written by Dr. John McCrae, physician, poet and McGill professor?
3) The world’s first commercial rooftop greenhouse is located in what Canadian city?
4) In what decade of the 20th Century was “Green Chemistry” born?

Try this at home: Make your own “bubbling cauldron”

For young (and young-at-heart) scientists, here is a simple science experiment developed by McGill science students as part of the WOW Lab project.

Then and now – the Otto Maass Chemistry Building

Students and visitors to McGill’s downtown campus in the early 1960s will remember a massive building site at the corner of Sherbrooke and University Avenue – the new Otto Maass Chemisty Building was under construction.

Studying the chemistry of life

Biochemistry isn’t “just” about chemistry – it is about the fundamentals of life itself. “People in our department are working to understand how chemical reactions somehow combine so that life happens and is sustained,” says Professor Albert Berghuis, Chair of McGill’s Department of Biochemistry. “Then, we push the inquiry a bit further. We know that, if everything goes well, life is wonderful — but what if things don’t go so well? What happens on a chemical level during disease? And, to take the inquiry one step further, how can we fix that?”

“Look beyond the lab,” alumnus urges science students

“After I graduated, I was doing lab work,” recalls McGill alumnus Sharon King. “It was okay but it wasn’t really what I’d dreamed of doing. Then one day, a friend saw a notice about a job working with kids and science. I decided to apply.” The company was Mad Science, the interview went well — and 19 years later King is the company’s Director of Research and Development.

Beyond BUGS—life after a biochemistry degree, Part I

At a recent event sponsored by McGill’s Biochemistry Undergraduate Society (BUGS), McGill biochemistry graduates shared their post-graduation experiences with an audience of undergraduates. The presentations engendered a unique feeling of community, because despite the very different paths taken by the speakers, they all had started in the same way: with a BSc in Biochemistry from McGill.

Green chemistry promises better, safer, more affordable products

Better living through (green) chemistry! It’s a slogan whose time may have come. Although chemistry has provided countless benefits over the years, its public image has suffered in recent decades because of perceived links to environmental problems. Now, with the advent of green chemistry, the tide is turning.

Studying the chemistry of life

Biochemistry isn’t “just” about chemistry – it is about the fundamentals of life itself. “People in our department are working to understand how chemical reactions somehow combine so that life happens and is sustained,” says Professor Albert Berghuis, Chair of McGill’s Department of Biochemistry. “Then, we push the inquiry a bit further. We know that, if everything goes well, life is wonderful — but what if things don’t go so well? What happens on a chemical level during disease? And, to take the inquiry one step further, how can we fix that?”

Lasting tributes to two sisters

Memorial gifts to McGill are a special and lasting way to commemorate loved ones and celebrate their connections to the University. In the case of the Hendler family, two awards have been created at McGill to honor the memory of alumna Celia Hendler, BA’80 and her sister Sue.

Tools to investigate the tiny – nanoscience comes of age

Every science needs the right tools to move it forward. For astronomy, the crucial tool was the telescope, for biology, the microscope. Now, nanoscience — the science of the very, very small – is coming of age, thanks in part to tools developed at the McGill Nanotools Microfabrication Lab (MNM).