Graduate excellence celebrated in the Faculty of Science

Thursday, June 13, 2024
Winners of the W.B. Pearson Medal and Dean's Award.
A man speaking to a woman with other people in the background.
A man smiling with students seated at a table behind him.
Two students talking at table with other people in the background.
The Dean of Science standing at a podium.
The Chair of Biology presenting an award to a male student.
Three men standing against a black background printed with the University of Waterloo logo. One man is holding a medal.
Two men and a woman standing against a black background printed with the University of Waterloo logo. The woman is holding a medal.
Three man and a woman standing against a black background printed with the University of Waterloo logo.
Students and faculty seated at a long dining table.
Winners of the W.B. Pearson Medal and Dean's Award.
1 / 10
A man speaking to a woman with other people in the background.
2 / 10
A man smiling with students seated at a table behind him.
3 / 10
Two students talking at table with other people in the background.
4 / 10
The Dean of Science standing at a podium.
5 / 10
The Chair of Biology presenting an award to a male student.
6 / 10
Three men standing against a black background printed with the University of Waterloo logo. One man is holding a medal.
7 / 10
Two men and a woman standing against a black background printed with the University of Waterloo logo. The woman is holding a medal.
8 / 10
Three man and a woman standing against a black background printed with the University of Waterloo logo.
9 / 10
Students and faculty seated at a long dining table.
10 / 10

Congratulations to this year’s Pearson Medal and Dean’s Award winners

Each year, the Faculty of Science recognizes outstanding graduate research with two awards, the W.B. Pearson Medal and the Dean’s Award. 

Pearson Medal

The W.B. Pearson Medal was created to honour Professor William B. Pearson for his contribution to the University of Waterloo and to Canada as a research scientist and teacher. One medal is awarded annually to a doctoral student from each department in the Faculty of Science in recognition of creative research as presented in the student’s thesis. 

This year’s Pearson Medal winners are:

  • Nikhil Anil George, “A metagenomic examination of prokaryotic virus diversity, host interactions, and genetic potential across multiple waste sites” (Biology)
  • Christian Ieritano, “Towards Understanding Differential Ion Mobility and its Applications in Analytical and Medicinal Chemistry” (Chemistry)
  • Jovana Radosavljevic, “Land use changes and salinization: Impacts on lake phosphorus cycling and water quality” (Earth and Environmental Science)
  • Xiaoxin Chen, “Investigating the enhancement of visual complex plasticity through non-invasive brain stimulation” (Optometry)
  • Wajd Alkabbani, “The associations between insulin, hypoglycemia, and dementia: Combating threats to internal validity in a series of population-based cohort studies” (Pharmacy)
  • Kensuke Gallock-Yoshimura, “Correlation harvesting in the presence of Unruh and Hawking effects” (Physics and Astronomy)

Dean’s Award

The Dean of Science Award recognizes outstanding performance in the Master of Science program. There is one recipient in each department in the Faculty of Science.

The recipients of this year’s Dean’s Award are:

  • Drew Thompson, “Transcriptional regulation of North American wood frog (Rana sylvatica) dorsal skin during development and in response to chronic exposure to a microplastics mixture” (Biology)
  • Nicki Shaw, “Improving Biospecimen Imaging in Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy” (Chemistry)
  • Natasha Celine Bell, “Comparing thallium isotopes to paleosalinity and Mo-U isotope paleoredox proxies: A case study of the Upper Devonian Kettle Point Formation, Ontario” (Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  • Adrianna Marie Warren, “Optometry Outreach in Indigenous Communities in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba” (Optometry)
  • Shirley Wang, “Piperine Derivatives as Modulators of Amyloid-Beta Aggregation” (Pharmacy)
  • Albie Chan, “Exotic Circuits for Enhanced Quantum Algorithms and Computation” (Physics and Astronomy)

The Faculty of Science is also celebrating the outstanding achievements of undergraduate students Justen Wilmot and Olla Mohamad Ahmed Obied, this year’s Faculty of Science valedictorians, Alexander Stavropoulos, this year’s recipient of the Governor General’s Silver Medal, and Anthony Dang, the winner of the Alumni Gold Medal.

Congratulations to all award recipients!