SFU Science recognizes 2024 Outreach Awards Recipients

Isabelle Côté, Professor, Biological Sciences

Côté has had an extraordinary year of public engagement and science outreach. She rowed 5000 km across the Atlantic with a team of marine biologists to raise awareness for marine conservation. This journey received national and international media coverage and raised $300,000 for marine conservation charities, one third of which will be used to support scholarships for students from under-represented groups at Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. This effort is one in a long line of outreach contributions. Côté has keenly pursued science communication and public outreach activities through media interviews, social media, podcasts and field blogs.

Julian Guttman, Professor, Biological Sciences

Guttman has developed two outreach programs for middle-grade students: "Hands on Science: Cell Biology" and "Hands on Science: Microbiology," and delivered them to hundreds of grade 6 and 7 students throughout Metro Vancouver. These programs help students explore scientific concepts and techniques through hands-on activities such as extracting DNA from strawberries, viewing microbes in microscopes and comparing bacterial growth on “clean” and “unclean” surfaces. His nomination was supported by hand-written letters by school students who have enjoyed his hands-on science lessons.

Cassandra Chowdhury, Administration & Communication Assistant, Science Dean’s Office

Chowdhury is involved in a wide variety of science outreach activities both at SFU and in the community. She volunteers as the Outreach Program Coordinator for Centre for Forensic Research, and is the main organizer of the Outreach symposium, creating engaging interactive displays about forensic science. For the past several years she has also volunteered annually as team leader or educator at the Girls in STEAM event at Science world, the Vancouver Police Museum Family Day event and the Britannia Community Centre’s Celebration of Science. At the Faculty of Science she is actively involved in SFU Science Rendezvous, Spooktacular and regularly assists with many events such as Starry Nights, Café Scientifique, Science in Action, the Telescope Program, Welcome Day. 

Heshmat Sanam (Sam) Meradj, PhD student, Biological Sciences

Over the past two years, Sam has designed and conducted numerous science workshops tailored for Grade 5-12 students, covering a wide range of topics such as gel electrophoresis, diversity of life, and cell division. In May 2024 Sam was a co-facilitator for the Science Outreach program, specifically targeting K-4 students in the Friends of Simon Program. Sam also invests time in empowering young women in STEM through the virtual molecular biology and research workshops she runs for all-girls high school students in Iran.

Fiona Brinkman, Professor, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

Brinkman has been active in an impressive range of public engagement with significant impact on public policy for many years. She helped to create the Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network to track SARS-COV2 origin, spread and evolution and became a national authority on COVID-19 variant tracking, writing public twice-weekly “Current Situation” summaries used by both public health authorities and media. This work has recently expanded to reporting on influenza pandemic potential. She continues to provide infectious disease policy advice monthly to federal and provincial governments, and is sought after by large media outlets including The Globe & Mail, CBC’s The National, CBC Radio and GlobalTV to translate technical infectious disease research results and surveillance data into plain language for public consumption and policy development. Fiona is also working with Indigenous community members in BC, the Yukon and Manitoba to monitor microbes in water supplies.