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Education and Academia, Science and Research Stuart McNish Education and Academia, Science and Research Stuart McNish

From geology to public affairs: Shifting a career

Every day is different for Allison Macfarlane – and she would have it no other way. Despite her position as a director of a public policy affairs faculty, her journey didn’t start there – in fact, her education moved her to places like the Himalayas, Ecuador, Greece, and more. Her decision to change fields from science led to a chance meeting, which fuelled a shift towards public policy; she hasn’t looked back since.

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Education and Academia Stuart McNish Education and Academia Stuart McNish

Juggling the many demands of a university science department

If you ask Angela Brooks-Wilson whether she is an administrator or scientist, she will say, “Both.” As the dean of a science department of Simon Fraser University, it is always a challenge to keep up with what is going on at the time and what the goals of the faculty are. She doesn’t do it alone, thanks to a solid team that handles staff, students, and infrastructure to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

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Education and Academia, Science and Research Stuart McNish Education and Academia, Science and Research Stuart McNish

Becoming a plastics expert thanks to great teachers

When a large company needs a revolutionary new plastic and can’t figure out what to do, they come to Chris DeArmitt. He got into it when a fellow scientist told him that the demand for plastic knowledge is more than the supply of plastic itself, inspiring him to start his journey. And being taught to “use your own brain” growing up and surrounded by great teachers, this career’s pathway seemed to be tailor-made for him.

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Agriculture Stuart McNish Agriculture Stuart McNish

Goodbye big city, hello small-town bee farm

Amanda and Jeff Lee were a Vancouver BC power couple, both key members of the Vancouver Sun and Postmedia newspaper group. Then one day, Amanda took a “Science of Fear” challenge put on by one of her clients. That challenge was to experience what is known as a “bee beard” – that’s where the queen bee was placed on a string around her neck and thousands of worker bees were released to climb up her throat and onto her face.

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Education and Academia Stuart McNish Education and Academia Stuart McNish

Capturing an international audience with solar polarity

Dr Zharkova’s work in examining the sun as it moves into a solar minimum in the late stages of solar cycle 24 and into solar cycle 25 has captured the interest of an international audience. Her work suggests the long range forecast for the sun in the next two or possible three solar cycles will lead to a dramatic decrease in the volume and intensity of solar radiation in our solar system.

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