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Science Academic Counselling Office


Dean's Statement on Anti-Racism

Racism has no place in the University or London community. Everyone in Western Science is appalled by news of violence directed against Black and Indigenous people, particularly in Canada. This intensifies our resolve to remove obstacles and systemic barriers to creating a community in our Faculty of Science in which we can all study Science in an atmosphere of mutual respect. As a Faculty of Science and as members of the London community, we condemn all racist acts, whether intended or arising from ignorance, and the power imbalances they reflect and perpetuate. Power imbalances and racial biases also exist in our own Faculty community.

Our resolve to improve must be matched with thoughtful action. I affirm Western Science's active role and support in Western's response to the Anti-Racism Working Group Report. Over the coming weeks, I commit to working within and outside our Faculty to identify issues from staff, faculty, and students. This process will be followed by planning and action within our Faculty of Science, informed and led by our community. We will, together, speak up and stand up for the changes needed.

Matt Davison, Faculty of Science Dean

News

  • Western News: Researchers one step closer to developing Canada’s next space telescope

    Researchers at Western University and Bishop’s University are the recipients of a $1.1 million contract from the Canadian Space Agency to develop what could become Canada’s next space telescope mission. The contract will support the development of a telescope prototype by Stanimir Metchev, Canada Research Chair in Extrasolar Planets at Western’s Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, and Jason Rowe, Canada Research Chair in Exoplanetary Astrophysics in Bishop’s department of physics and astronomy.

  • Western News: Western student estimates real-time mortality rates during pandemic using cremation records

    The number of deaths in Ontario rose significantly in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic – not really a surprise. But data show that the excess mortality was due not just to coronavirus but to other, non-COVID causes as well, and that was unexpected. And here’s what else is surprising: In Ontario, as in many other provinces and territories, reporting of mortality data is routinely delayed by several months due to verification requirements for official recordkeeping of vital statistics.

  • London Free Press: Western lab to look at ways Canadians can build financial resilience

    A new lab at Western University will focus on reducing the stress Canadians have about money and increasing their financial resiliency so they’re prepared for a hefty car repair or global pandemic. “There is a huge swath of Canadians who are stressed out and nervous right now,” said Chuck Grace, an Ivey Business School instructor. “There’s never been a better time for Canadians to pause and reflect about their financial circumstances — how they are making, spending and saving money — and what they can do to better position themselves if something like this comes along again in five or 10 years.”

  • Astronomy Magazine: Our galaxy’s marvelous rogues and misfits

    Astronomers have been on a rule-breaking, paradigm-shifting, label-blurring whirlwind of research in recent years, focusing on a most unlikely collection of objects: the cosmic homeless. It began in 1996, when the Hubble Space Telescope detected stars where they shouldn’t be, roving free of the gravitational confines of galaxies. Two years later, astronomers spotted the first suspected rogue planet — a world drifting through space without a star to orbit.