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.

When Programmed Cell Death Goes Wrong in Huntington’s Disease

This student-written blog post by Tin K. is about a neurodegenerative disease called Huntington’s Disease, and the relationship the disease…

medium.com

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"

Archaea and Their Relationship to the Human Body

Today’s blog post is written by Larissa K, and came from a very popular TV show. Did the producers and writers get it right? Let’s find…

medium.com

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!

Enzymatic Proteins: Nature’s Catalysts of Life

This blog post is authored by Mahima M. and is all about how proteins can act as enzymes, a critical function of protein in cells. Take it…

medium.com

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.

Student researcher digs into berry research in northern Canada | SMU News and Events

Curiosity about bears’ food sources led to years of research and collaboration with many people across the Northwest Territories in northern Canada Claire Singer had been working at the Northwest Ter...

news.smu.ca

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...

Dan MacLennan Memorial Lecture in Astronomy

Solving the Universe: Past, Present and Future

eventbrite.ca

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 at Saint Mary’s, explains the potential for lithium mining in Nova Scotia. Watch now. youtu.be/lemZNhquh8Y?...

Congratulations Katie Pegg on yet another big win!!

Katie Pegg picks up her 1st Para athletics world medal, setting personal best in shot put | CBC Sports

Katie Pegg of Markham, Ont., delivered a personal best performance in women's shot put Thursday for her first medal at her second Para athletics world championships.

cbc.ca

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

Faculty of Science at Saint Mary's University@smuscience.bsky.social · last yr.

We had a great time exploring astronomy eduction with these great teachers last month! @smustarfinder.bsky.social

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!

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

Star Finder program prepares NS teachers with astronomy lesson plans | SMU News and Events

An enthusiastic group of elementary and junior high educators attended the first Star Finder Teachers’ Workshop in August, and they are now ready to share an appreciation of astronomical understanding...

news.smu.ca

Amazing work—research with real community impact at SMU Science!

Dr. Ellie M. Goud@emgbotany.bsky.social · last yr.

The legacy of #acidrain still impacts lakes in SW #NovaScotia. Would liming #restoration help or hurt sensitive #Atlantic Coastal Plain lakeshore #flora? MSc Summer C is going to find out! We spent yesterday setting up transects for her field experiment in an acidified #lake @smuscience.bsky.social

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

Maria Strack@wetland-ghg.bsky.social · last yr.

Ever wondered how functional traits of common peatland plants vary among sites? We got you - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... This was a fun group project with @wetlandresilienceresearchgroup.com and many grad students and post-docs.

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!)

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/...

Computing Science Lecture: Open to all! Hierarchical Transfer Multi-task Learning and Task Grouping for Scene Classification Presented by Dr. Reza Khoshkangini, Malmo Univ.

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.”)

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).

“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

Free event at Saint Mary's brings 'out-of-this-world' excitement

Dr. JJ Kavelaars will give a free public talk on planetary origins at Saint Mary’s University on June 3.

halifax.citynews.ca

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.

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