News

Sometimes Cupid’s arrow takes a few twists and turns before finding its mark in joining two people destined to be together. The path to finding true love can be short or long, and in some cases requires a journey across the world before two souls find one another. However, for two Waterloo Science alumni, their paths ran parallel for most of their lives before finally crossing one fateful day during Orientation Week at Waterloo.

Past and present members of the Faculty of Science community are saddened by the news that William David Taylor passed away on January 24, 2022. Bill had a long and distinguished career of service inside and outside the University of Waterloo. He will be remembered with great affection by the many professionals that he trained as students, and by the many colleagues who had the pleasure to work with him in research and administration.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Professor Mark Servos has been working tirelessly to contribute towards our understanding of COVID-19, leading wastewater testing efforts locally and across Canada. His research has recently been highlighted in the media as wastewater surveillance becomes a significant tool in our community’s efforts to track the spread of COVID-19, and his efforts are being recognized with a Minister of Colleges and Universities' Awards of Excellence.

Fish have a lot to stress about right now. This could mean serious problems for the future of aquaculture and the fish on your plate.

The new Waterloo Aquatic Threats in Environmental Research (WATER) facility at the University of Waterloo aims to simulate and research aquatic stressors and threats so that we are better prepared to prevent current and future problems.

Firas Kamal Mansour, 50, passed away on December 29, 2021. An exceptional teacher and colleague, Firas dedicated his professional life to physics education and to the well-being of his students. With a larger than life personality replete with wit and charm, Firas had a passion for physics and physics education.

Omicron is the latest COVID-19 variant of concern, and it is expected to change the course of the pandemic. But how are variants formed, and what’s the threat level for people who are fully vaccinated? Kelly Grindrod, a pharmacist and professor, and Trevor Charles, a professor in the University of Waterloo’s Department of Biology, provide answers to these questions.

That morning coffee might be even more helpful than you think.

In the first study of its kind to explore caffeine’s effects on dynamic visual skills, researchers concluded that caffeine increases alertness and detection accuracy for moving targets. Caffeine also improved participants’ reaction times.

For Michael Houston, PhD ’93, BSc ’87, the University of Waterloo is more than his alma mater. For a good chunk of his youth, the campus is where he called home.  

When it comes to hibernation, conserving resources is key for an animal’s survival. For bats of Western North America, water may be the key to assessing a bat species’ ability to thrive during hibernation.

New research that comes as part of a larger project to understand the potential impact of white-nose syndrome in the West found that bats are adept at finding similar hibernation conditions across their large geographic ranges, despite a variety of climates in these areas.

The University of Waterloo’s School of Optometry & Vision Science (UWOVS) is announcing that The Right Honourable David Johnston, the 28^th Governor General of Canada and former UWaterloo president, will serve as Honorary Chair for the School’s $35-million campaign.