News & Events

News

Congratulations to Nathan Paisley!

Nathan Paisley, from the Hudson Group, has won the MSED Graduate Award in Polymer Chemistry from the Chemical Institute of Canada. This award recognizes Canada’s top Ph.D. student in polymer science.

This is also the second consecutive time a UBC Chemistry student has won this award - last year's winner was Ethan Sauvé.

Congratulations Nathan!

Congratulations to Anka Lekhi!

Anka Lekhi, Associate Professor of Teaching, is being honoured as one of 10 recipients for the 2021 Faculty of Science Excellence in Service Awards.

This award recognizes members in the Science community who have gone above and beyond their regular duties, have made significant contributions and demonstrated exceptional leadership in their departments. Their initiatives also provided substantial benefits to the Faculty of Science, as we navigate through the effects of the pandemic....

Congratulations Zac Hudson!

Associate Professor Zac Hudson has been awarded the 2022 Mark Young Scholar Award by the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry. This award annually recognizes a Young Scholar for distinguished contributions to polymer science.

Zac will receive his award at a half-day symposium organized in his honor at the Fall 2022 ACS meeting in Chicago. Congratulations Zac!

Chemistry Welcomes New Faculty Member Dr. Amani Hariri

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Amani Hariri as an Assistant Professor in the area of biological chemistry with a focus on biosensing. She will join the department January 1st , 2023.

Dr. Hariri completed her PhD in Chemistry at McGill University, where she focused on using single molecule fluorescence methodologies to optimize the assembly of artificial DNA nanostructures to enable their applications in drug delivery and medicine. In 2016,...

2021 Alumni Award Winners

At our November Alumni Reunion, we announced the winners to our two alumni awards. Congratulations to Prof. Chris Gill, who is awarded the Alumni Award of Distinction, and Dr. Shuai Sherry Zhao, who has been awarded the Young Alumnus Award!

  
Alumni Award of Distinction | Prof. Chris Gill

This award recognizes an alumnus whose accomplishments are of such excellence that they provide inspiration and leadership to students and other alumni. The...

November 2021 Chemistry Alumni Reunion

Our November 2021 Alumni Reunion was a great success! Thank you to all our attendees who joined us virtually and to Tao Huan and Emily Chung for their inspiring talks.

This years event also featured the announcement of our Graduate Student Awards and our Alumni Awards, along with a prize draw for those who attended!

 

We look forward to our next Alumni Reunion in the Spring, stay tuned for more details.

Congratulations 2021 Graduate Student Award Winners!

Last week at our November 2021 Alumni Reunion, we announced this years Graduate Student Award winners- Congratulations to you all! Our winners are as follows:

Ed Shuter Scholarship - Kasra Asnaashari

Edward Piers Memorial Award in Organic Chemistry – Alla Pryyma

Brian and Jane James Graduate Scholarship in Catalysis Research – Shaoxuan Ren

Sandra Morris and Richard Tillyer Scholarship in Chemistry – Shipei Xing and Andrew Kukor

Michael and Mary Gerry...

Congratulations to Dr. Jaclyn Stewart!

Dr. Jaclyn Stewart, Associate Professor of Teaching with UBC Chemistry, and current Deputy Academic Director at the CTLT and the current Director of ISoTL, will take on the role of incoming Associate Dean Academic, effective January 1, 2022. The Associate Dean Academic oversees the Faculty's curriculum process, administering programs such as Science One, First Year Focus, Integrated Science, Combined Major in Science, SCIE 113, Science 101, managing Skylight (the Science Centre for Learning...

Tao Huan Selected as a 2021 ASMS Emerging Investigator

Assistant Professor Tao Huan has been selected as one of 11 individuals for the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) 2021 Emerging Investigators.

“The goal of the Emerging Investigators is to showcase some of the exciting independent work that is being performed by early career researchers who have already demonstrated their potential to make important contributions to their respective areas of research and have the potential to become future leaders within the field.”

...

Curtis Berlinguette Elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

The fellowship of the RSC comprises over 2,000 Canadian scholars, artists, and scientists, peer-elected as the best in their field. These are distinguished faculty from all branches of learning who have made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life.

The 2021 Fellows will be welcomed into the RSC in November, at the RSC Celebration of Excellence and Engagement. Congratulations Curtis!

Read more...

Dr. Momose’s HAICU Project Receives $3.3 Million from BCKDF

Dr. Takamasa Momose’s project, HAICU: Hydrogen Antihydrogen Infrastructure at Canadian Universities for Quantum Innovations in Antimatter Science, has received a $3.3Million contribution from the BC Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF).

 

State-of-the-art infrastructure will be built because of this funding, which will use new quantum techniques to study the properties of antimatter and address questions about the Universe.

 

Dr. Momose’s research works to advance...

Dr. Jason Hein is Awarded a NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement

Dr. Jason Hein has been awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Accelerator Supplement for Integrating automated experimentation with process analytical technology. Read more here>

Image of Prof. Zac Hudson holding sustainable coffee pods

Prof. Zac Hudson helps develop sustainable coffee pods

Dr. Zac Hudson, an assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Chemistry has been working with NEXE Innovations to develop sustainable coffee pods. These coffee pods are made up of two materials: an outer fibre jacket and a bioplastic inner capsule. The outer fibre jacket is made from bamboo and the bioplastic inner capsule is derived from wood and plants. Together, this coffee pod completely breaks down in as little as 35 days in industrial compost. To read the full...

Chemistry Welcomes New Faculty Member Dr. Ilsa Cooke

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Ilsa Cooke as an Assistant Professor in the area of experimental physical chemistry with a focus on astrochemistry. She will join the department January 1st , 2022.

Dr. Cooke completed her PhD in Physical Chemistry at the University of Virginia, where she used laboratory experiments to constrain thermal and photon-induced processes in interstellar ices. During this time, she worked as a visiting researcher at...

8 Chemistry Professors Receive a Total of $1.985 Million in NSERC Funding

Congratulations to the 8 Chemistry Professors that received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants to support long-term research goals! The 8 Chemistry Professors are: Jason Hein, Eva Nichols, Jolene Reid, Katherine Ryan, Laurel Schafer, Mark Thachuk, Michael Wolf, and Nadine Borduas-Dedekind.

They received a collective funding amount at $1,985,000. More information can be found...

Congratulations to Lily Southcott!

Lily Southcott, PhD candidate in Chemistry and member of the TRIUMF NSERC CREATE IsoSiM has won the 2021 Carl H. Westcott Fellowship, which is awarded each year to a graduate student whose research work is being carried out at TRIUMF or on TRIUMF-related projects. Congratulations Lily!

For more information: https://www.ualberta.ca/physics/research/centre-for-particle-physics/...

Congratulations to Curtis Berlinguette!

Curtis Berlinguette has been named a Distinguished University Scholar by the university. The Distinguished University Scholar awards recognize exceptional members of faculty who have distinguished themselves as scholars in research and/or teaching and learning.  Congratulations Curtis!

A photo of Miguel A. Romero in front of a waterfall.

Impact of Giving: Miguel A. Romero

UBC students in the Department of Chemistry have access to different scholarships and awards thanks to some of our incredibly generous alumni. One of those alumni is Dr. Miguel A. Romero. 

Dr. Miguel A. Romero completed his PhD in Chemistry at UBC in 1990. In 2019 and 2020, he established two award in honor of his parent: Dr. Margarita B. Martinez del Sobral Chemistry Research Endowment & Dr. Miguel A. Romero Sanchez Memorial Graduate Fellowship for UBC Chemistry students.  

...

BMO Capital Markets Innovators' Challenge

Solutions to health care’s greatest challenges won’t come from one idea or person. They’ll come from a community of innovators and investors, using their time, talents and financial support to create change system-wide.

On May 6, the BMO Capital Markets Innovators’ Challenge will showcase the latest medical innovations that will transform health care.

This free virtual event features Vancouver’s all-star physicians and scientists —including UBC Chemistry's Dr. Dan Bizzotto and...

Particles showing 3 liquid phases. Credit: Yuanzhou Huang

Scientists discover three liquid phases in aerosol particles

Findings could help explain how air pollutants interact with the atmosphere

Researchers at the University of British Columbia, University of California Irvine, and McGill University have discovered three liquid phases in aerosol particles, changing our understanding of air pollutants in the Earth’s atmosphere.

While aerosol particles were known to contain up to two liquid phases, the discovery of an additional liquid phase may be important to providing more...