Meet the 2022 Speakers

​Talk Title: Mathematics: more than just numbers

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My name is Adèle and I am a research mathematician. I have explored various areas of mathematics over the years, from a MSc in applied mathematics studying population dynamics (2016), to a PhD in pure mathematics on the representation theory of p-adic groups (2020). Upon completing my PhD, I did research as a Fields Postdoctoral Fellow at Carleton University during the 2020-2021 school year. I am now an academic consultant, providing my expertise on research projects for the Government of Canada. When I am not doing math, you can find me outdoors with my family; skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer.

Talk Title: Behold Your Next Step: Reach for the Moon!

 

Amanda has experience in the marketing, project management, and business development fields complementing her scientific background. She has worked in the training, e-learning, digital innovation, communications and marketing, fields tailored to the life sciences sector. She is currently a senior digital project manager at liV Medical Education Agency, and also co-founder of the “Immigrant & International Women in Science” (IWS Network), former co-chair of its Communication & Marketing committee, and former IWS National and Montreal-node leader. She has been highlighted as part of “1 Million Women in Stem Campaign” (1MWIS) in 2020, on IWS’ highlight of the month, and is a speaker/presenter on numerous events on scientific career transitions. Amanda is a positivity advocate. She has always supported individuals in their career transitions and offered professional guidance. Her best efforts are put into guiding and empowering other people to reach their greatest potential and ultimate goals without barriers.

Talk Title: Lead kindly light- the hippocampus and its role in spatial memory.

I have been a life long researcher in one way or the other. My path has taken me through exploring neurogenesis to neurodegeneration. Along the way I worked on understanding what and how things can go wrong in the brain and the changes and issues arising from this. In this time I also learned how to convey my science to everyday people who do not have the opportunity to be in the lab and watching science happen like we do.

Talk Title: Let's talk about sex: why sex and gender matter in cardiovascular and exercise physiology research

 

Sol Vidal-Almela is a PhD candidate in the Exercise Physiology and Cardiovascular Health Lab at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI). Sol completed her undergrad in Sports Science at the University of Valencia, Spain, followed by an MSc in Clinical Exercise Physiology at Liverpool John Moores University. She has a strong interest in improving sex-specific research in the cardiac rehabilitation and exercise science fields. She is passionate about women’s heart health. Her PhD projects focus on sex differences in the acute and chronic responses to exercise training in patients with atrial fibrillation. Sol was awarded an International Peace Scholarship by the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO), and a UOHI Research Scholarship. She received a CIHR-IGH Best Poster Award at the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences Annual Meeting in recognition of the best integration of sex-based analysis in her research. Outside of school, she enjoys running, cycling and skating.

Talk Title: Aging gracefully, concrete infrastructure and a history of innovation

 

 

After completing a BASc in Chemical Engineering Leah stumbled into gradschool while looking for full time jobs on her university job board. This led to a MASc (technically) in mechanical engineering at Waterloo studying rebar corrosion and she is now working on a PhD in Civil engineering at UOttawa studying deteriorated concrete from a recently dissassembled bridge! It is wonderful having research that you can easily tell your grandma about and improved methods for diagnosing issues in the concrete of aged structures can leasd to longer service lives and decreased CO2 emissions from constucting unneccessary replacement structures.

Talk Title: Snow, rain or freezing rain?

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Julie Mireille Thériault is a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal and holds the Canada Research Chair in Winter Extreme Weather Events. After completing her B.Sc. in Physics at the Université de Moncton, she obtained her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from McGill University. Her research focuses on winter precipitation at temperatures near 0C. She studies winter storms in a novel way using an innovative approach that combines atmospheric modeling and field observations. Its achievements have led to a better understanding of the uncertainty associated with the measurement of snow on the ground, the mechanisms of sleet and ice formation and their evolution in the future.

Talk Title: Send me to space!

 

After completing a bachelor in Engineering Physics, Genevieve continued her studies in ultrafast optics for her Masters at University of Ottawa and PhD at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. She then joined ABB, where she is working on optical instrument for Earth observation from space, for applications such as greenhouse gases detection.

Talk Title: Let's talk magnetism!

 

Niki Mavragani, originated from Greece, is an international graduate student at the University of Ottawa. She performed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Patras in Greece where she obtained a MSc in Analytical Chemistry (2018). Since 2019 she is pursuing a PhD in Chemistry and specializes on the synthesis of single molecule magnets as a member of the Murugesu Group at the University of Ottawa.

Talk Title: On quantum computing and artificial intelligence and how they fit together

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Dr. Stefanie Czischek received her B.Sc. (2013) and M.Sc. (2016) degrees in Physics at Heidelberg University in Germany. She continued with a PhD at the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics at Heidelberg University in the group of Dr. Thomas Gasenzer and graduated in 2019. During her PhD, Dr. Czischek focused her research on the numerical representation of quantum many-body systems with artificial neural networks. She further studied possible improvements when supporting the numerical simulations with implementations on neuromorphic hardware. In 2020, Dr. Czischek became a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Waterloo in Canada, where she continued to work on the intersection of quantum systems and artificial neural networks in the group of Dr. Roger Melko. In July 2022, Dr. Czischek joined the University of Ottawa as an Assistant Professor, growing her research group on the intersection of quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, and neuromorphic computing.

Talk Title: Academia or government - two exciting options for women in STEMM

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Dr. Rachel Vallender has a PhD in behavioural and molecular ecology (biology) with a focus on migratory songbirds and worked in academia, including a 3 year post-doctoral research fellowship at Cornell University, for 10+ years. Between 2010 and 2020, she was a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service of ECCC, taking on various high profile conservation challenges (e.g. polar bear, boreal caribou, wood bison, barren-ground caribou) and advancing up to the Manager level. She worked as a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister of ECCC, advising on files related to nature, international engagement and strategic policy for two years before embarking on her latest adventure as the Director of External Engagement and Partnerships for the Convention on Biological Diversity 15th Conference of the Parties taking place in Montreal in December 2022. Rachel continues to be involved in research on birds through an Adjunct Professor appointment with the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Manitoba.