CONGRATULATIONS

This image, taken by graduate students Eleni Fegaras and Chun Chih Chen (supervisor Arthur Forer, Biology), was selected in a contest to appear in the RayBiotech calendar for 2018. It is a picture of Mesostoma ehrenbergii, a species of aquatic flatworm.

OTHER NEWS

The Allan I. Carswell Astronomical Observatory Calendars are available for $10 each. Please contact pdelaney@yorku.ca or observe@yorku.ca to get your copy, or drop by Petrie 329 (Paul), Petrie 128 (Janaki) or Lumbers 355 (Monique).

Sampa Bhadra (Physics & Astronomy) has been invited to be a member of the International Advisory committee for LISHEP 2018 (XIV International School on High Energy Physics to be held at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (Brazil) in September 2018.

A study published by Jianhong Wu (Mathematics & Statistics), titled “Analyzing the Potential Risk of Climate Change on Lyme Disease in Eastern Ontario, Canada Using Time Series Remotely Sensed Temperature Data and Tick Population Modelling,” has been recommended in F1000Prime as being of special significance in its field.

Amro Zayed (Biology) presented “Breaking Bee” at the Toronto Public Library. He discussed his latest research on the impact of insecticides on bee health.

YFile profiled the sixth annual “BeeCon” hosted by bee researchers in the Faculties of Science and Environmental Studies.

Volume 3 of The Correspondence of John Tyndall – a project coordinated by James Elwick (Science & Technology Studies) – has just appeared with the University of Pittsburgh Press. This volume, covering 1850-1852, shows how Tyndall, a recent recipient of a physics PhD, struggled on the academic job market despite glowing letters from referees such as Edmond Becquerel, Robert Bunsen, James Joule and William Thomson.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

• Downscaling RCP8.5 daily temperatures and precipitation in Ontario using localized ensemble optimal interpolation (EnOI) and bias correction – Climate Dynamics
  • In their study, Huaiping Zhu (Mathematics & Statistics) and his team propose a novel method for daily temperature and precipitation downscaling. Their method projects significant warming for 2050s and 2080s relative to 1990s in Ontario; significant increases in cooling degree days and hot days over southern Ontario and significant decreases in heating degree days and cold days in northern Ontario; and an increase in the annual total precipitation and heavy precipitation events in Ontario. These results are consistent with conclusions in many other studies in the literature.

MEDIA

Dawn Bazely (Biology) commented about white-tailed deer and their impact on plant species in an article in The Globe and Mail.

Research by graduate student Amanda Lizner (Biology) and Jianhong Wu (Mathematics & Statistics) was featured in a multi-media story in The Star about how climate change has shifted species ranges.

Paul Delaney (Physics & Astronomy) spoke to CTV News about the Supermoon, Geminid meteor shower and Kepler 90i; the Ottawa Citizen about the Sun position and Winter Solstice; the National Post about listening to radio signals from the interstellar asteroid Ohmuamua; Fairchild TV about LIGO observations; and several radio programs, including AM640, AM 900 CHML and 610CKTB, about UDF and ESO galaxy observations, a NASA directive to return humans to the Moon and beyond, and light pollution.

Undergraduate student Alessia Sacco spoke to OMNI Television for a feature in Italian discussing the future of robots our society.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Jan 17: Honours & Awards Ceremony, featuring BBC journalist Matt McGrath as keynote speaker. 7-9 pm, followed by a reception, Lassonde Lecture Hall A.