UVic Science

We look forward to hearing from Jon Willis, a speaker at TEDxVictoria 2026. A professor of astronomy at the University of Victoria, Jon is a cosmologist, astrobiologist, and author searching for life beyond Earth. He has piloted robot submersibles through alien ocean analogues and hunted for traces of ancient life on Mars. Get your tickets 👉 https://lnkd.in/gmpWx6KP Learn more about our speakers 👉 https://lnkd.in/gcKufNUd #TEDxVictoria #TEDxVictoria2026 #Uncharted Redbrick

Local high school student Jason Zhang has received a $100,000 Schulich Leadership Scholarship to attend UVic next fall. 🎊 Jason recently graduated from Mount Doug Secondary School, and is the first Schulich winner from the school. He is currently planning to study math and data science. https://ow.ly/qSoB50ZmARH

It's a huge honour to have our research on historical kelp losses featured in Ha-Shilth-Sa, Canada's oldest First Nations newspaper, alongside some of the awesome kelp stewardship projects that First Nations are leading on our coast. UVic Science Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre Hakai Institute The Kelp Rescue Initiative Trebek Initiative https://lnkd.in/gpc4Ryfb

UVic Science researchers have received a combined $8.76 million in research funding from the most recent round of NSERC funding, announced on July 7. 🎊 A few highlights: ➡️Thirty-three different researchers were successful in obtaining funding. ➡️Chemists Alexandre Brolo and Jeremy Wulff each received $500,000 in funding, the most of any UVic Science researcher. ➡️ Kim Venn (PHYS) received $450,000 to connect dwarf galaxies, dark matter and the origin of the elements. ➡️ Magdalena Bazalova-Carter (PHYS) received $355,000 to further her work developing radiotherapy equipment to advance medicine and reduce access disparities. ➡️ John Burke (MLSC) received $325,000 to investigate how lipid signalling complexes are assembled on membranes, work that has applications in infectious disease, aging and cancer. ➡️ Peter Constabel (BIOL) received $315,000 to conduct molecular and biochemical analyses of phenolic defense phytochemical and signals in Populus and other model plants, furthering our understanding of chemical defense in plants. ➡️ Laura Cowen (MATH) received $270,000 to develop methodologies for population dynamics impacting species at risk conservation and fisheries management. Other research projects will help advance our knowledge and understanding of climate, oceans, materials, health and more. 🔗 Explore the successful grants: https://ow.ly/YtRH50ZlQZ7

𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫! If you’re into marine life, public engagement, and hands-on learning, this role lets you inspire visitors, teach students, and support conservation every day. • Science + education background • Strong communication + engagement • Passion for the Salish Sea 👉 Apply before July 18 (see the link in the comments below) #Hiring #EducationJobs #MarineLife #SidneyBC #SalishSea #ConservationCareers

From UVic biology student to one of the world's top wildlife photographers. 📸 Paul Nicklen has spent decades photographing bears, penguins, wolves and whales, giving a voice and a face to the species most affected and at risk in our changing planet. His adventures are numerous and so are his famous photos: ➡️ The polar bear stumbling along Somerset Island, ragged and starving ➡️ The "Ice Waterfall," taken in Svlabard, Norway, just 800 k from the North Pole, on a 20˚C day ➡️ The graphic, bloody image of dolphins slaughtered in the Faroe Islands ➡️ The spirit bear, a rare subspecies of the black bear, in the Great Bear Rainforest Getting the photo isn't always easy, and along the way, Nicklen has been charged by a grizzly, attacked by a leopard seal, steamrolled by a southern right whale, robbed by a tiger shark. He has also earned the Order of Canada, BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the World Press Photo for Photojournalism and has been inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame. 🔗 Read the story and view more photos: https://ow.ly/cQZr50ZjTz2

UVic researcher and associate professor David Leitch is inventing new chemistry to create drugs and medicines more efficiently and with less waste. Read the full story: https://ow.ly/2qVu50ZiOWe

We're often told how large a population of a species is...but how do we actually know? Statisticians have a variety of ways to estimate population size, and their always working to improve those methods. Recent PhD graduate Mehnaz Jahid is one of those statisticians. "I explored methods for estimating wildlife population size by integrating information from multiple sources. Because many wildlife species are difficult to observe, producing accurate estimates can be challenging. Combining different types of data helps improve the reliability and precision of wildlife population estimates. I hope the proposed model will provide more precise wildlife abundance estimates, allowing researchers to obtain reliable population assessments even when budget constraints limit the scope of full scale field surveys." - Mehnaz Jahid (she/her), PhD in statistics

Writing and defending a PhD dissertation is no joke, which makes winning an award for your thesis that much sweeter. Daniel Garduno Ruiz, a PhD graduate in Earth and Ocean Sciences, was recently recognized with the Canadian Meteorological and Oceangraphic Society's Tertia M.C. Hughes Graduate Student Prize in recognition of this thesis. Daniel's thesis explored how interactions between climate and atmospheric chemistry shaped the evolution of atmospheric oxygen throughout Earth’s history. He found that changes in climate played an important role in driving past rises and falls in atmospheric oxygen levels. These findings help improve our understanding of how life evolved on Earth and could also inform the search for life on other planets. "The atmosphere is a very thin layer relative to the size of Earth, yet it is essential for sustaining life. I hope my research will help advance our understanding of the co-evolution of Earth’s atmosphere and life throughout our planet’s history. My favorite part of conducting this research was learning how to do science—exploring ideas, testing hypotheses, investigating the mechanisms behind our results, creating meaningful visualizations, and communicating our findings in a clear and compelling way. One of the most memorable experiences during my PhD was learning about an algorithm for constructing chemical reaction pathways. Unfortunately, the original implementation was not open source. I took on the challenge of rebuilding the algorithm from scratch and developing an open-source version. It was a rewarding experience that strengthened my programming, problem-solving, and scientific research skills while making the tool more accessible to the broader research community." - Daniel Garduno Ruiz (he/him)

We sent an undergraduate student to the Statistical Society of Canada (SSC) Annual Meeting, and she came home with the 2026 Student Researcher Presentation Award for her oral presentation, beating out all the graduate students in attendance! Congratulations Muskaan Ali! "Attending the SSC conference was one of the most inspiring experiences of my degree. Seeing so many presentations on statistical ideas across such a wide range of topics reminded me how vast and exciting the field is. Receiving the oral presentation award was a genuine surprise and a real honour, especially since I was presenting alongside amazing graduate researchers. My advice to other students attending a conference would be to put yourself out there, talk to people, and don't be nervous about presenting your work because stepping outside your comfort zone can lead to amazing opportunities! I also want to thank Dr. Michelle Miranda for her mentorship and support throughout the project, and also thank Dr. Farouk Nathoo for all of his support!" - Muskaan Ali (she/her), recent graduate, BSc (Honours) in mathematics and statistics Muskaan will be heading to UBC in the fall to complete an MSc in statistics.