Biology news

February 01, 2012

Dear Biology family

Sadly I must communicate the passing last night of our colleague and dear friend Dawna Brand.  Dawna was a member of our department for years as an undergraduate, a graduate student, a research technician and for 13 years as a senior lab instructor.  As an SLI she skilfully and with great care and commitment  guided thousands of students and mentored dozens of graduate teaching assistants with experiential learning across the span of “biology”  from oceanography, invertebrate taxonomy, anatomy and behaviour, animal physiology to genetics.

Recovering from treatment for cancer two years ago she was feeling well and ramping her life and teaching back up to a level characteristic of her old self. After suffering a severe, deep brain aneurism 10 days ago she survived surgery and briefly showed some small signs of recovery but sadly  the damage was too extensive to overcome.  She is survived by her two sons, Rhys and Keagan and her partner Sean.  I do not yet have information regarding any services that will be held but will of course keep you informed of the family’s wishes when I learn of them.

Regards,

Dr. Delaney