On Friday, a fresh round of cleaning took place in the South Block of the Stewart Biology Building. New air samples were taken over the weekend and sent to a lab for analysis, and as was the case for previous tests, we are happy to share that these results are in full compliance with Quebec regulatory standards.
Dr. Douglas Grant Stairs, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics at McGill University, passed away on February 19, 2023. He was 89 years old.
Following yesterday’s reopening of the Stewart Biology Building’s North Block, we had hoped to complete cleaning and testing in the South Block today, and reopen it this evening once it was confirmed that the test results met Quebec government safety standards.
Unfortunately, the cleaning in the South Block is not yet complete. This in turn has delayed the air testing in the South Block. The result is that we will not receive air test results until the evening of Monday, February 27.
Two-stage exams are a form of assessment that bring student collaborative learning into the testing process. While a typical two-stage exam gathers students to re-do the exam as a group after completing it individually, this project investigates the use of “group first” two-stage exams. In this format, piloted in Organic Chemistry I midterm exams, students complete the group component before the individual component, and each part has related, but discrete questions.
After extensive cleaning and air-testing, we are glad to announce that the North Block of the Stewart Biology Building is safe for use, and is open effective immediately.
Antoine Labelle has been named the recipient of the 2022 William Moser Memorial Prize, an award given to McGill students who achieve outstanding results in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.
Last Thursday, we noted that some areas of the Stewart Biology Building would be re-cleaned, and that a fresh round of air tests would determine whether the building could re-open sometime this week. The re-cleaning was completed over the weekend, and new air samples will soon be taken from the North and South Blocks for testing.
Since our previous update, extensive testing has taken place in the North Block of the building, and the affected areas have undergone comprehensive cleaning under asbestos safety protocols. Results so far are encouraging. Wipe tests have helped to guide and target our air-testing and cleaning efforts, and following our cleaning operation, all air tests have indicated that this area is now safe for use.
In our fast-paced world, where information is propagated at high speeds from one end of the globe to the other, it is undeniable that rapid communication has rendered information highly diffusible. A problem arises, however, when false or inaccurate information regarding scientific theories and research spreads. For this reason, it is essential to find new and innovative ways to effectively transmit information that is comprehensible to the general public.
We are writing to provide users of the Stewart Biology Building with an update as to timelines for a safe re-opening. While damage occurred in both the North and South blocks, the North will be able to open sooner than the South.
Forty-five undergraduate students at McGill participated in new Climate Crisis and Climate Actions course
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down almost everything. For Diane Dechief, PhD, and Marcy Slapcoff of the Office of Science Education (OSE), the two leads of the new Faculty of Science course FSCI198: Climate Crisis and Climate Actions, there was a positive aspect to the delays.
Professor Eve Lee of the McGill Department of Physics and the Trottier Space Institute has been awarded the 2022 Vainu Bappu Gold Medal by the Astronomical Society of India. This medal is awarded once every two years to honour exceptional contributions to Astronomy & Astrophysics by young scientists anywhere in the world.
As mentioned in the message sent to the Stewart Biology listservs and posted on the web this morning, tests revealed the presence of asbestos in some building materials damaged by flooding. To be cautious, testing has been extended to other areas of the building not covered in the initial round of tests.
Despite Canada being an important energy producer, not all Canadians can access or afford adequate levels of energy services at home to meet their needs, maintain healthy indoor temperatures, and live a decent life—a situation known as energy poverty. Depending on the measure, 6–19% of Canadian households face energy poverty. Health risks associated with energy poverty are documented in countries with milder climates.