This year, we talked with Riya Timpog, our wonderful co-op coordinator for Life Sciences programs at the Faculty of Science. Timpog comes from a background in the arts and psychology with expertise and experience in career development and community building. She is a proud Filipino Canadian who implements the concept of “bayanihan” into her work with the students.

Co-op Works! event, November 2024, from top left, Ivy Mannil (Computational Sciences Co-op Coordinator), followed by senior Co-op student presenters: Gulnaaz, Dadiso, Owen; bottom left to right: Riya Timpog, Louis, Miao Yi, Eldrec; virtual presenters Randi and Vincent.

“One thing that I also hold really dearly as a Filipino Canadian and that I try to incorporate in my position here in the Faculty of Science in an academic Canadian environment, are the values of hard work, resilience, positivity, and the concept of “bayanihan”, which is the spirit of community, belonging to a community, helping one another without expecting anything in return”, says Timpog.

Summer 2024 site visit at the St Boniface General Hospital with Witta (Genetics student, far left), Princess (Co-op alum and current employee, 2nd from right), and Dr. Wenjing He (Co-op supervisor, far right)

Timpog tells us that she sees her position in the Faculty of Science as an opportunity to represent her community in academia and the fields of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and show that Filipino Canadians belong in various capacities in science and make meaningful contributions in different ways.

Watch the full interview on the Faculty of Science’s YouTube channel to be inspired by Timpog and her work at the University of Manitoba.

To listen to the entire conversation, please follow the link to CBC Manitoba Radio Noon. 

Undergraduate Student Sustainability Award

Sahand Babaie, Undergraduate Sustainability Award Winner

The Undergraduate Sustainability Award recognizes an undergraduate student who has led an initiative or project to advance sustainability. This initiative or project can be part of course work or take place outside of the learning environment.

Award Recipient: Sahand Babaie, Faculty of Science B.Sc. (General)

Sahand Babaie has been an active volunteer on sustainability projects across campus, including as president of the Science Student’s Association, where he led the work of digitalizing services to help decrease paper waste and shifting away from plastic cutlery to sustainable options. Babaie’s additional volunteer experience includes as a sustainability ambassador with the Office of Sustainability, recycling wood furniture with the Sustainability in Action Facility (SiAF), as social media coordinator for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) HUB, and as a student representative on the Sustainable Building Manitoba Board.

Recently, Babaie has been a participant in the SDG youth certificate classes put on by the Canadian Sustainable Development Solution Network and will be receiving his certification this spring.

Graduate Student Sustainability Award

Heather Eckton, Graduate Sustainability Award Winner

The Graduate Sustainability Award recognizes a graduate student who has led an initiative or project to advance sustainability. This initiative or project can be a part of course work or take place outside of the learning environment.

Award Recipient: Heather Eckton, Faculty of Education, PhD program

Heather Eckton is a SSHRC Doctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Education, the Climate Action Team Leader with Seven Oaks School Division, and the founder and program coordinator of the Sustainable Living Academy Manitoba in the Seven Oaks School Division. She is also a member of the Expert Advisory Council on the Environment and Climate Change and is a founding member of the Educators for Climate Action Manitoba.

Eckton’s doctoral research focusses on excellence in climate change education and transformational learning. She proposes to build capacity among MB school teachers towards climate change education.

Student Group Sustainability Award

The Student Group Sustainability Award recognizes a group of students who have led an initiative or project to advance sustainability at UM. This group also has made and will continue to make a lasting positive impact on the environmental, economic and social well-being of students at the University of Manitoba.

Prairie iGEM, Student Group Sustainability Award Winner

Award Recipient: Prairie iGEM

Prairie iGEM is a multidisciplinary student group targeting UN sustainable development goals through science and technology. Over two consecutive years, Prairie iGEM dedicated the team’s efforts to solve the polylactic acid (PLA) plastic pollution problem in Manitoba, by developing an engineered plastic eating bacteria that could improve PLA composting under challenging conditions.

The team researched waste management approaches used both within the university and across our province and created educational materials and programs for university members and visiting school students. Through these initiatives and in cooperation with different faculties and organizations, Prairie iGEM has contributed to the development of new strategies to manage waste in Manitoba.

Faculty Sustainability Award

The Faculty Sustainability Award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exceptional and continuous integration of sustainability into their teaching, research and engagement activities. This individual creates engaging opportunities for students through experiential learning, course design, innovative research and assignment creation. This person also shows a keen interest in campus related activities and sustainability as a whole.

Award Recipient: Dr. Joe Curnow, Educational Administration, Foundations & Psychology, Faculty of Education

Dr. Joe Curnow, Faculty Sustainability Award Winner

Dr. Joe Curnow has a track record of impactful research, community education, and international sustainability leadership. Curnow’s research explores how environmental activists learn through participation in social movements. Through participatory action research with fossil fuel divestment activists, her study examined a climate campaign with the potential to reveal both how mainstream environmental spaces become default spaces of Whiteness, masculinity, and settler-coloniality, as well as how these groups can become politicized, resisting social relations of dominance and centering reconciliation in their approach to climate justice.

Curnow’s research on sustainability learning has garnered prestigious awards. Curnow’s recent community-based education initiatives support sustainability organizing in Winnipeg. As part of the UM Social Justice Hub launch, she facilitated a Direct Action Organizing intensive workshop with cycling activists from UM and across Winnipeg. She has mentored community leaders as they develop practices to scale up their advocacy for sustainable transport infrastructure and safety policies.

For more than twenty years, Curnow has been active in sustainability and environmental activism.

Staff Sustainability Award

Debbie Armstrong, Staff Sustainability Award Winner

The Staff Sustainability Award recognizes an individual staff member’s efforts to educate, advocate and advance sustainability within their department and/or unit. This person shows a keen interest in campus-related activities and sustainability as a whole. Sustainability may or may not be defined in this person’s job responsibilities.

Award Recipient: Debbie Armstrong, Centre for Earth Observation Science, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources

Debbie Armstrong goes above and beyond to make UM a more sustainable place through her initiatives, teaching and research. Armstrong was instrumental in applying for and receiving a Strategic Initiative Fund to install a first of its kind solar panel system at the Sea-Ice Research Facility. She advances sustainability through cutting-edge environmental research in the ultra-clean trace elements laboratory, where she monitors pollutants and climate change indicators. And as an instructor, Armstrong is sure to include teaching on climate change and sustainability aspects in her courses.

Collaborative Sustainability Award

Period Poverty and Equity on Campus and Beyond, Collaborative Sustainability Award Winner

The Collaborative Sustainability Award recognizes a unique collaborative effort between students, faculty, staff and community members to integrate sustainability into a project or initiative. This unique category puts emphasis on interdepartmental interactions at UM in efforts to find solutions to sustainability-related challenges.

Award Recipient: Period Poverty and Equity, on Campus and Beyond

The Period Poverty and Equity, on Campus and Beyond (PPECB) project is a collaborative project based at the Center for Human Rights Research (CHRR). The PPECB project utilizes a menstrual justice lens to bring together faculty, staff, students and organizations to address period poverty (the increased economic vulnerability resulting from the financial burden posed by the need for menstrual supplies) and promote a broader vision of menstrual justice.

The PPECB was initially funded by a University of Manitoba Strategic Initiatives Award. This one-year project was anchored by an interdisciplinary and inter-faculty research team consisting of CHRR manager Dr. Pauline Tennent, Dr. Adele Perry (Arts), Dr. Julia Smith (Arts), and Dr. Lindsay Larios (Social Work), and supported by Heather Stark of the Office of Sustainability. The PPECB employed two graduate students, Chloe Vickar (Master of Human Rights) and Mikayla Hunter (Master of Community Health Sciences) and three undergraduate students: Bethel Alemaio (Arts), Hannah Belec (Arts), and Victoria Romero (Arts). The PPECB project has engaged approximately 80 volunteers, many of them students and a smaller number of staff and faculty.

Interested in nominating an individual or group for the Sustainability Awards? Keep an eye out for next year’s call for nominations in early 2026.

“One proven approach in drug discovery is to find the proteins that play a key role in a disease or help harmful microbes survive. If we can target those proteins with the right small molecules, we can disrupt the disease process”, says Hamid Hadipour, data scientist.

Hamid Hadipour, Data Scientist

Hadipour conceptualized the idea and designed the algorithms along with Dr. Pingzhao Hu. Hu is an adjunct professor at UM Max Rady College of Medicine.

Hadipour explains that GraphBAN predicts if a small molecule can bind to a protein. It can also tell us which parts of it the protein interacts with. This deep learning model speeds up the prediction process by doing a visual test using AI. It saves time and money, helping researchers focus on the best drug candidates. These can be antibiotics or cancer treatments.

Hamid Hadipour and Dr. Silvia Cardona

GraphBAN reflect a strong interdisciplinary collaboration between chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology and computer science. The project was made possible with Dr. Silvia Cardona‘s contributions and co-supervision. Cardona is a professor and associate head graduate at the Department of Microbiology. Her lab studies molecular microbiology and microbial genomics. All with a focus on antibiotic discovery. Cardona tells us that we are going to see more AI predictions in science. Predictions that we then have to confirm with experimental research. In a way, AI won’t replace experimental research but rather complement it.

GraphBAN has recently been published in Nature Communications. To learn more about GraphBAN and the team behind it, watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.

Now an instructor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Mehta shares her story for Women’s Empowerment Month, reminding us that leadership is not just about rising—it’s about reaching back and bringing others with you. 

Finding her voice through activism and education 

Mehta began her post-secondary education at the University of Winnipeg, where she earned two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Women and Gender Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Her undergraduate thesis titled Not So Informed Consent: Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Canada examined the ethics of researchers using eggs from deceased women and aborted fetuses in stem cell research without proper consent.  

She later completed a Master of Science while living in Island Lake, Manitoba, where she explored The Epidemiological Impact of No Running Water in a Remote Community in Northern Manitoba.  

Rather than immediately pursuing a Ph.D, Mehta spent years working with the Red River Métis Nation alongside one of the province’s first Métis physicians. Together, they conducted research on chronic diseases, births, heart attacks, diabetes, and cancer, travelling across northern Manitoba to document health disparities. She later joined the federal government’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, where she gained firsthand insight into Indigenous health policies and the gaps within them. 

Bringing healing into community work 

As a child, Mehta was taught that the Jain way of life—rooted in non-violence and spiritual purity—served as a powerful shield while living in a colonizing country. This belief carried over into her work with The Mothering Project at Mount Carmel Clinic, where she led a yoga and body mapping initiative for mothers experiencing addiction. 

Mehta emphasizes that yoga has been heavily commodified in Western culture, often reduced to a focus on the physical body. However, its thousands-year-old history tells a different story—yoga is a lifestyle, a way of thinking. (Her book on decolonizing yoga: from critical to cosmic consciousness was published in 2021). When she joined The Mothering Project as a “yoga instructor,” she spent a year meeting with mothers weekly, listening to their stories, discussing their wellness goals, and exploring what it means to feel grounded. 

Furthermore, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was a research coordinator for an HIV stigma project, using photovoice to explore how race, gender, and class shape stigma, particularly among Black, Indigenous, Two-Spirit, and LGBTQ+ communities. Many participants found the storytelling process deeply affirming during times of isolation. 

A call for a new kind of leadership 

As a racialized woman in academia, Mehta acknowledges the additional emotional labour that comes with mentorship. “There’s an expectation that I have to be a role model for racialized women in ways white colleagues aren’t often asked to,” she says. “People trust me with their deep and personal stories, which is an honour, but also a weight.” 

For her, empowerment means education and freedom. 

“I have read a lot of books about other women’s lives that have created pathways to accessing knowledge and support that allows me to thrive.”

“I tell my students: Be a free woman” she says “Empowerment means that the due date isn’t the most important thing, but being compassionate, kind and having empathy.”

Looking ahead, Mehta hopes the next generation of women in STEM will go beyond breaking glass ceilings. “They will be transforming spaces and redefining leadership as coming with care, compassion and solidarity with one another.” 

Through research, mentorship, and community work, Mehta continues to champion a vision of leadership that ensures no woman has to walk her path alone.  

Tomy is a professor, director of the Centre for Oil and Gas Development and an associate head in the chemistry department. His lab develops analytical methods to detect and measure chemicals in the environment and then makes toxicological assessments on the potential health impacts these chemicals have on non-targeted biological organisms.

Watch the full interview with Loudon, as we learn more about her journey in science, her experience with the summer research program, and the work they have recently published.

This year, we talked with Dr. Katie Mitchell-Koch, associate professor at the Department of Chemistry and Kara Loudon, undergraduate chemistry student about their experience as a woman in science, their proudest achievements, and the challenges they have faced and how they have overcome those.

Dr. Katie Mitchell-Koch, associate professor, Department of Chemistry

When asked about the challenges women face in science, Mitchell-Koch tells us that her experience has been that men are believed to be capable, on the face of it and women must prove that they are capable.

“You just have to work a little harder. But I learned so much, because I did, because I had to go over and over again and try harder. My science got better”, says Mitchell-Koch.

Loudon points out the representation from a student point of view and that the majority of the professors remain male, and women are underrepresented in these and similar leadership roles.

Kara Loudon, undergraduate chemistry student

“I think maybe part of that is women entering jobs that were traditionally considered to be male-dominated with no adjustments for their unique needs”, explains Loudon.

Join us as we continue the conversation and watch the full video on the Faculty of Science’s YouTube channel. You can view the Women in Science news archive to learn more about the inspiring women in science.

However, many people carry Streptococcus pyogenes on their bodies, and it doesn’t make them sick. Some of the big questions in the field are when, how and why does it make you sick? And why does Streptococcus become a pathogen?

In answering these questions and to understand how phages transform Streptococcus into a deadly pathogen, Dr. Gerd Prehna and his lab have been studying the phage protein paratox (Prx). Two graduate students, Tasneem Hassan Muna and Nicole Rutbeek from the Prehna Lab have discovered that phages use paratox to control the metabolism of Streptococcus, redirecting DNA processing pathways for the benefit of the phage. With help from undergraduate student Julia Horne, the team was able to demonstrate that paratox also likely regulates when it is time for the phage to leave Streptococcus and go on to infect new bacteria. Muna and Horne now have a protein named after them, JM3 which stands for Julia Muna construct 3.

Prehna goes on to tell us that this discovery, published in the Journal of Nucleic Acids Research, has opened many doors for future research projects.

“What’s neat about this project is that it just keeps giving and it keeps opening more doors. We’ve discovered that it binds a whole bunch of other proteins. However many of these proteins are in regulatory pathways that control the biology of Streptococcus in ways that are completely unstudied and not understood at all. Now we have to characterize all these new brand-new proteins and brand-new pathways and understand how they affect the biology and metabolism of Streptococcus”, says Prehna.

Watch the complete interview on the Faculty of Science’s YouTube channel.

Lalonde is passionate about and committed to giving back to the communities she is a part of. She volunteers with her Métis community as the treasurer of Seven Oaks Métis council, here in Winnipeg. Lalonde works at the Faculty of Science Dean’s Office as the Wawatay program development specialist. “[Wawatay] is a program that helps immerse students; and connect them with their culture and take their ways of knowing which a lot of people call Indigenous ways of knowing, but which is just the students’ way of knowing and applying it to what they’re learning in that Western science environment. It’s valuable, to actually be part of that community as well, and helping the students establish a community on campus,” says Lalonde.

Lalonde’s recent accomplishment, being among Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards as the Amex Emerging Leader, comes to no one’s surprise as she is an extraordinary example of making bold decisions and exploring new perspectives. To watch the full interview with Lalonde, please visit the Faculty of Science’s YouTube channel.

Research breakthroughs

From discovering ground-breaking facts about the smallest mammals to exploring deep space, from shaping the future of vaccine research to searching for a potential dark matter, our scientists have made remarkable contributions that drive meaningful change in our society. They are leading the way for innovative solutions to climate-related food security problems and protecting biodiversity. Explore our articles and videos to learn more about their impactful work.

Students’ success

Whether it’s winning a gold medal at the world expo of synthetic biology or competing in the Olympics, our students have accomplished it all. Supporting our students and witnessing them develop novel approaches for early disease detection in infants, driving a fundamental discovery from a chemistry lab to the market, volunteering for the love of bringing science to the general public, and so much more, have been our true honour. Dive deeper into our videos and articles to hear our students’ inspiring stories.

Our community

At the heart of science is people. People who come from different backgrounds, have different stories and bring diverse perspectives to the table. It is this diversity that enables us to tackle the world’s most complex challenges and create inclusive solutions. At the Faculty of Science, we strive to foster an equitable, inclusive and diverse environment where our community feels valued and empowered. Learn more about our initiatives on equity, diversity and inclusion and their impact, in action through our featured videos and articles.

2024 was a year where we had life-changing conversations with the members of our community and learned so much about the people who make the Faculty of Science an amazing place to study and work. Our communications team is grateful to everyone who gave us their time, appeared in front of our cameras, and gave us their story to write about. We cannot wait to see what 2025 brings along! Here is a compilation of all the moments that no one has yet seen behind the scenes.