New research from Prof. Andrea Soddu and his team of neuroscientists has unearthed a different method of calculating distance in the brain.
Graduate Student Pubuditha Abeyasinghe authors the paper, which is now published in the journal Brain Connectivity.
To read more, please visit http://mediarelations.uwo.ca/2018/07/24/new-research-western-university-call-arms-flat-brainers/
On Thursday July 12, 2018 the Purple Crow Lidar group hosted scholars from the SHAD program for an evening of scientific discovery at the Environmental Sciences Western Field Station. Students in the SHAD program are high school students who come to host Universities for immersion in the fields of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math). This year the program’s focus is on Natural Disasters.
The Purple Crow Lidar group is headed by Dr. Bob Sica, Chair of Western’s Physics and Astronomy Department. A lidar is a laser radar that can measure atmospheric temperature, composition, and wind. More information about the lidar and the Purple Crow group can be found here http://pcl.physics.uwo.ca/
Western’s 75 SHAD students were treated to a tour of the Lidar facilities and presentations by Graduate students and Summer Students from the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Jeff Vankerkhove and Ali Jalali gave tours of the laser and liquid mirror telescopes. Presentations included Graduate students Achini Abayakoon explaining how lidar can measure forest fires, Shannon Hicks speaking about Global Warming, and Ghazal Farhani discussing measuring ozone with a lidar during the Polar Night in Eureka, Nunavut. Graduate students Venu Wadehra and Shayamila Gamage and Summer students Rick Sugden and Dakota Cecil showed the SHAD students how to measure humidity in the air using a thermometer and a piece of wet gauze.
The night concluded with the Purple Crow team turning on the lidar while the SHAD students sang, cheered, and took pictures. This video captures the students’ reaction to seeing the laser beam go up into the sky: http://drp.rjsi.ca/jZqQ22/jAtdl9MPBOmQ+
The Department of Physics & Astronomy would like to thank Environmental Sciences Western’s Caroline Rasenberg and Peter Duenk for their support in running this event, and a special thank you to Shayamila Gamage for her organization of the visit.
Assistant Professor Robert Cockcroft, a 2018 recipient of the UWOFA Contract Faculty Research and Development Fund, is developing a fascinating new course. Indigenous Astronomy will be available in Fall 2019 and will combine traditional Indigenous concepts of the sky with the principles of Western astronomy.
To read more about this exciting offering, please visit https://www.uwofa.ca/article/contract-faculty-fund-recipient-developing-indigenous-astronomy-course
The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Western is proud to announce that Adjunct Professor Dr. Gordon McBean is the recipient of this year’s International Meteorological Organization (IMO) prize.
From the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) website, “the IMO Prize is the equivalent of the Nobel prize for meteorology. Established in 1955 and named after the predecessor of the WMO, the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), it is awarded every year by WMO Executive Council”.
For more information, please visit https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-presents-top-scientific-prize-gordon-mcbean-of-canada