Faculty of Science Homecoming X Science Literacy Week

• Activities
• Talks

Talk description:

In this presentation, Dave Herbert discusses energy and the climate problem and describes some of the current thinking about how we might find our way forward in a sustainable way.

Bio:

Originally from Southern Ontario, Dave received a BSc in 2004 from Dalhousie University/University of King’s College where he worked with Neil Burford on main-group coordination chemistry. He then conducted MSc (University of Toronto, 2006) and PhD (University of Bristol, 2009) research with Ian Manners on the structure and photochemistry of strained organometallic rings and polymers, followed by postdoctoral training at Texas A&M (with Oleg Ozerov) and the California Institute of Technology (with Theo Agapie) in ligand design. In 2013, he joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Manitoba, where he was recently promoted to full Professor (2023) and was the inaugural Faculty of Science Research Chair in Fundamental Science for the Physical Sciences. His group’s work designing molecules and materials for applications including in renewable energy and sustainable synthesis has been recognized by awards including the 2022 Strem Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry from the Canadian Society for Chemistry.

Talk description:

Humanity is facing one of the most exciting eras in Astrophysics where astronomers, physicists and other scientists and engineers are coming together to address some of the most fundamental questions about the Universe. 
Come and hear how high-energy light and gravitational waves are opening a whole new window into zooming in on the most extreme and most energetic phenomena in the Universe!

Bio:

Originally from Lebanon, Samar completed high school at Le Collège des Sœurs des Saints-Cœurs, her undergraduate degree (Physics, pre-med) at the American University of Beirut, and her Masters and Ph.D. (Physics) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). After completing a NASA fellowship at the Goddard Space Flight Centre, Lab for High-Energy Astrophysics, Samar moved to Winnipeg to jump-start an Astrophysics Program at the University of Manitoba. She held the NSERC UFA fellowship, then a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Supernova (Remnants) Astrophysics, and has most recently been awarded a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Extreme Astrophysics. Samar’s research team explores the physics of the extreme (extreme temperatures, gravity, and magnetism) unattainable on Earth, the origin of the heavy elements essential for life, and the sites for particle acceleration to ultra-high energies (cosmic PeVatrons). With the discovery of gravitational waves from colliding neutron stars, her research is recently expanding into the new and exciting field of ‘multi-messenger’ astrophysics.

Talk description

The development of sustainable non-petroleum-based sources of energy, especially for transportation,  is important in order to limit global warming, I will discuss strategies for the up-cycling of agricultural and household waste biomass into biofuels using a process called consolidated bioprocessing.

Bio

Richard began his studies in Microbiology at McGill University before moving to the University of Iowa where he obtained his PhD After completing his PhD, Richard accepted the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship at the University of Göttenburg in Göttenburg, Germany. Joining the University of Manitoba, Richard has continued his research in cellulose-degrading bacteria that are capable of direct fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol and other consolidated bioprocessing processes. In collaboration with engineering and biologists, his group is studying microbial communities involved in municipal waste management to enhance the bioremediation of contaminated municipal leachates and groundwaters.