Science experiences
These science experiences will give you an idea of what it's like to learn, teach and do research here. See career profiles for more examples of careers in science.
Rebecca Courtemanche - Chemistry
Graduating this spring with an honours degree in Chemistry, Rebecca Courtemanche chose to do her studies at the University of Victoria because of the flexibility of the programs, the location and the size of the campus.
Read the full storytop of pageMarcel Celaya - Mathematics and Statistics
Recently graduated from the University of Victoria, Marcel Celaya holds a degree in Computer Science and Math (co-op/honours). He chose UVic for many reasons including the small size of the campus, and the fact that he had several friends that also resided in Victoria.Read the full storytop of page
Tabitha Gaudet - Biology
There are many paths students travel to end up with a degree from UVic. For honours student Tabby Gaudet (biology) it started with choosing programs that sounded interesting, and then filling in the spaces with courses required for graduation.Read the full storytop of page
Emma Conway – Biochemistry and Microbiology
Emma Conway recently graduated from the University of Victoria with a BSc with Honours in Microbiology. She considered several universities in her last year of high school before making UVic her number one choice. Emma was attracted to our campus by its size, friendly atmosphere and the reputation of the science program.Read the full storytop of page
Alice Koning - Physics and Astronomy
Graduating with a combined honours in astronomy and physics with coop designation, Alice Koning chose to study at the University of Victoria because of the size of the campus and the wonderful opportunities the weather affords for hands-on astronomy exploration.Read the full storytop of page
Julia Baum - Biology
Dr. Julia Baum is an assistant professor in the biology department at UVic. Her research focuses on understanding how anthropogenic disturbances, ranging from exploitation to climate change, are changing the diversity, structure, and function of marine ecosystems, and what this means for human.
Read the full storytop of pageMartin Boulanger - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Dr. Martin Boulanger studies the structural interactions between proteins, such as the interactions between microbial pathogens and their hosts. One of his projects involves the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, which causes the flu-like disease toxoplasmosis.
Read the full storytop of pageTalon Jones - Chemistry
Talon Jones is proof that it pays to listen to your teachers. He’s completing his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry on the advice of his high school chemistry teacher and UVic professors.
Read the full storytop of pageSteve Evans - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Steve Evans' childhood interest in rocks and minerals led him to a career in medical research. Now he uses x-ray crystallography and other techniques to study the structures of molecules involved in disease.
Read the full storytop of pageKim Venn - Physics and Astronomy
UVic astronomer Kim Venn, the Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics, is fascinated by the serendipitous chemical reactions in the universe that led to our existence.
Read the full storytop of pageMike Hamilton - Chemistry
Undergrad Mike Hamilton has done research co-op terms with two UVic professors, as well as an honours project with a third. He says, "Nowhere else would you have this opportunity to sample and do research in three different aspects of a field during your undergraduate degree.”
Read the full storytop of pageKevin Daze - Chemistry
PhD candidate Kevin Daze’s research into prostate cancer has received funding from across Canada. He finds working in med-chemistry exciting and challenging.
Read the full storytop of pageLauren Braun - Biology
Honours student Lauren Braun chose to study biology because there is so much interesting information to be learned, and so much still to be discovered.
Read the full storytop of pageMatt Parker - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Originally from the East Coast, PhD student Matt Parker was drawn to UVic because of his supervisor's research and the quality of life in BC.
Read the full storytop of pageAlexandre Brolo - Chemistry
Chemist Alexandre Brolo looks for new ways to fabricate very small metallic structures. He explores their interesting properties in a variety of applications, such as sensors for cancer diagnostics and the fabrication of more efficient solar cells.
Read the full storytop of pageDante Canil - Earth and Ocean Sciences
UVic geologist Dante Canil is an international leader in the study of the Earth’s mantle, the layer of rock below the crust that makes up about 65 per cent of the planet’s mass.
Read the full storytop of pageStephen Johnston - Earth and Ocean Sciences
Dr. Stephen Johnston, UVic geologist and expert in plate tectonics, is working on one of the most complex geological puzzles in the world—how the western edge of North America was formed.
Read the full storytop of pageVerena Tunnicliffe - Biology
As director of the ocean observing network VENUS, Dr. Verena Tunnicliffe’s lab interacts extensively with a wide research community interested in ecosystem processes in the Salish Sea.
Read the full storytop of pageCaroline Cameron - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Dr. Caroline Cameron, Canada Research Chair in Molecular Pathogenesis, is one of a handful of researchers who study syphilis and the only one in Canada examining it at a basic science level.
Read the full storytop of pageJulio Navarro - Physics and Astronomy
UVic's Julio Navarro is one of the world’s leading astrophysicists. His research on galaxy formation and evolution—primarily using sophisticated computer simulations—has shaped our current understanding of how structures in the universe formed.
Read the full storytop of pageAsit Mazumder - Biology
Dr. Asit Mazumder, NSERC Research Chair on Water, is an international leader in the ecology of aquatic ecosystems and the implications for human health.
Read the full storytop of pageAnthony Quas - Mathematics and Statistics
Mathematician Anthony Quas is an expert in dynamical systems, a term for chaos theory. He applies the techniques of probability to the study of ergodic theory, which makes predictions about the average long-term behaviour of chaotic dynamic systems.
Read the full storytop of pageLaura Cowen - Mathematics and Statistics
Laura Cowen's background is in seabird research on remote islands off the coast of BC and Alaska. These experiments are used by wildlife biologists to estimate population parameters and are a bridge between the worlds of ecology and statistics.
Read the full storytop of pageSara Ellison - Physics and Astronomy
Sara Ellison's keen interest in astronomy dates back to her high school years, when she was given a book that started her off stargazing in the back garden. Now as a Canada Research Chair she's developing new avenues of research in galaxy formation and evolution.
Read the full storytop of pageCuong Le - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Cuong Le is focusing his graduate research on metabolomic analysis of plant and bacterial metabolism and its application to human health. He chose UVic because of the quality of our research labs, equipment and facilities, and the professors he wanted to work with.
Read the full storytop of pageQuinn Matthews - Physics and Astronomy
Graduate student Quinn Matthews is studying medical physics. He's participating in research for improving the practice of treating cancer with radiation therapy.
Read the full storytop of pageAntoine Julien - Mathematics and Statistics
Originally from France, Antoine Julien is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He's studying non-periodic tilings and his research at UVic has allowed him to broaden his background and collaborate with a variety of people.
Read the full storytop of pageElizabeth Hoffman - Biology
Now a fourth year biology student in the honours program, Elizabeth Hoffman visited numerous universities before making UVic her number one choice. Attracted to the outdoors all her life, Elizabeth’s studies involve learning more about plants and animals, and complete ecosystems.
Read the full storytop of pageKseniya Garaschuk - Mathematics and Statistics
PhD student Kseniya Garaschuk has always preferred mathematics over other subjects for its concreteness and unforgiving logic.
She says, “Math is an objective science: mathematical theorems are not influenced by someone’s opinion or point of view. Once proven, a mathematical result is universal and beyond any doubt, once we agree on the axioms.”
Read the full storytop of pageMichèle De La Chevrotière - Mathematics and Statistics
Michèle De La Chevrotière is a PhD graduate student in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, where her research interests are in geophysical fluid dynamics and numerical analysis.
Read the full storytop of pageMichelle Tonkin - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Graduate student Michelle Tonkin is working towards developing therapeutics to treat diseases such as malaria. She was recently awarded the top prize out of more than 250 of the top 5 per cent of health research graduate students across Canada.
Read the full storytop of pageCaren Helbing - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Dr. Caren Helbing listens to frogs. She's developing new molecular tools and methods for assessing the safety of our water and for evaluating the effects of contaminants on human and wildlife health.
Read the full storytop of pageBoualem Khouider - Mathematics and Statistics
Boualem Khouider's discovering challenging real world problems for which numerical analysis is one of the main tools. Climate change science is one of them.
Read the full storytop of pageAlicia John - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Undergrad Alicia John is studying how genetics play a huge part in our lives. She finds that the challenges and setbacks encountered in science are greatly outweighed by eventual successes.
Read the full storytop of pageLouis Saumier - Mathematics and Statistics
Mathematics and statistics graduate student Louis Saumier believes that mathematics is the language of nature. He feels that by studying mathematics, he's studying the foundations of our universe.
Read the full storytop of pageCharli Sakari - Physics and Astronomy
Charli Sakari's PhD project will investigate the chemical abundances of distant globular clusters around the Andromeda Galaxy. This information could provide valuable information about the formation and evolution of galaxies and their clusters.
Read the full storytop of pageLisa Honeyman - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Microbiology student Lisa Honeyman urges all students to take advantage of the opportunities UVic has to offer, like living in residence, co-op, honours and clubs.
Read the full storytop of pageDeanna Pineau - Physics and Astronomy
By taking part in co-op, physics and astronomy student Deanna Pineau spent exciting work terms at places like the Institute for Quantum Computing in Waterloo, ON, and the Joint Astronomy Centre in Hilo, Hawaii.
Read the full storytop of pageMichael Suits - Biochemistry and Microbiology
Dr. Michael Suits is a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Postdoctoral Scholar. Of research, he says, "It's an amazing feeling to have your hard work and research intuition culminate in such an amazing eureka moment right in front of your eyes on a computer monitor.”
Read the full storytop of pageLuc Simard - Physics and Astronomy
Dr. Luc Simard is part of an international team of scientists and engineers currently building the world’s largest and most advanced optical telescope—the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).
Read the full storytop of pageJessica Simpson - Biology
Jessica Simpson has an academic resume that could have taken this bright young neuroscience researcher anywhere she wanted. But Simpson, who completed a combined biology and psychology honours degree in 2009 and recently received her MSc in biology, chose to stick to her hometown of Victoria when it came time to pursue—and continue—her studies.
Read the full storytop of pageArif Babul - Physics and Astronomy
UVic astrophysicist Arif Babul uses powerful supercomputers to replicate the 14-billion-year history of the universe in complex simulations that produce 3D models of galaxies and galaxy systems. The simulations, which can be observed as they change over time, are helping unravel the intricate relationships between gas, stars and dark matter.
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