Science Career Talks - 2020

Environmental and Sustainability Career Talk - November 2020

Justin Dearing
Sustainability and Climate Action Officer, Memorial University
Bachelor of Science (Biology), Memorial University
Masters Degree (Coastal Zone Management),University of Ulster
Advanced Diploma (Integrated Coastal and Oceans Management), Memorial University

To Justin, the bottom line is that the depth of our challenges directly relates to the quality of our opportunities and he is committed to helping communities take ownership of those opportunities. He believes the greatest untapped resource in our province lies in the innovation and leadership potential of its people. Justin’s personal mantra, “Waiting to make a difference, is the one thing that guarantees you never will”, motivates him to BE the change instead of WAITING for change.

Justin’s unique perspective and expertise are a result of his extensive advocacy work at the community level being combined with nearly a decade of strategically managing change from a university setting. Having been shaped by some of our country’s most inspiring leaders and passionate community volunteers, Justin has dedicated himself to supporting youth, communities, and engagement programs in NL. In 2010, Justin was recognized as one of Atlantic Canada’s 40 Emerging Leaders and received extensive leadership training from Atlantic Canada’s top business, government, and private sector leaders. In 2011, he was named the Multi Material Stewardship Board’s Waste Reduction Hero for leading the Marine Institute’s civic engagement and volunteer-based ocean conservation Ocean Net programs. In June 2013, Justin received the Newfoundland & Labrador Environmental Award (Individual) by the Department of Environment and Conservation for excellence in environmental leadership. From 2014-16, as Manager of Education, Outreach, and Alumni Programs with the Students On Ice Foundation, Justin helped lead life-changing expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic providing transformative learning opportunities for youth instilling the need for action and change. In 2020, Justin was chosen to lead Memorial University’s Sustainability and Climate Action Office and is devoting his efforts to navigating the opportunities to balances its climate impacts and strategically improve its capacity to be more efficient and sustainable.

Career History:
2004 – Wellness Coordinator, St. John’s Boys and Girls Club
2005 – Green Team Leader, Conservation Corps NL
2006 – Provincial Director, Ocean Net
2009 – Conference Coordinator, MI Ocean Net, Marine Institute (MUN)
2014 – Manager, Education & Alumni Programs, Students on Ice Foundation
2016 – Alumni Affairs Officer, Alumni Affairs & Development (MUN)
2017 – Social Innovation Changemaker, Harris Centre, (MUN)
2020 – Sustainability and Climate Action Officer, Office of Sustainability and Climate Change (MUN)

Sarah Kennedy, MRM, EP
Environmental Manager, JCL Investments Inc.
Bachelor of Science (Environmental Biology), Memorial University of Newfoundland
Masters in Resource Management, Coastal and Marine Resource Management, University Centre of the Westfijords

Sarah Kennedy is an Environmental Professional based out of Corner Brook, Newfoundland. She graduated from her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology (Memorial University (MUN)) in 2010. During her time at MUN, she worked with Dr. Robert Scott on projects that focused on the importance of Resource Management, sparking her passion in this field, leading her to a Masters Degree in Resource Management from the University of Akureryi, Iceland (2012). Upon returning to Canada, Sarah took on the role as Environmental Manager with Johnson’s Construction Ltd. (JCL). Here, she put her Resource Management skills to work to implement and manage an Environmental Program for the company that included regulatory compliance and environmental oversite, particularly within their Muskrat Falls contracts. In this position, Sarah’s role continues to vary and spans the entirety of company operations, involving both internal and external responsibilities and representing JCL in all matters related to the environment to outside partners and agencies.

Career History:
2014-Present – Environmental Manager, JCL Investments Inc., Corner Brook, NL
2011-2013 – Competed a Masters of Resource Management, University of Akureyri, Iceland
2011 – Research Biologist, Department of Natural Resources, Burgeo, NL
2011 – Research Technician, Department of Environmental and Conservation, Corner Brook, NL
2009-2010 – Research Technician, Memorial University of NL, Corner Brook, NL
2010 – Remote Research Assistant, Memorial University of NL, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA
2010 – Competed a Bachelor of Science, Environmental Biology, Memorial University, NL

Erin Woodrow
Environmental & Sustainability Manager, Finning (Global)
Bachelor of Commerce (Co-Op), Honours, Business Commerce, Honours, Memorial University
Exchange, International Business, University of Oslo
Masters in Science (Sustainable Energy Development, Environmental Science), University of Calgary

Erin Woodrow is the Environmental and Sustainability Manager for Finning (Global), where she is responsible for managing the development and delivery of the global sustainability roadmap, ESG and sustainability reporting requirements (CDP, SASB, TCFD, etc.) and Canadian regulatory and environmental programs, reporting and due diligence commitments. She has over 15 years of industry experience working in both the oil and gas, service and consulting sectors, ten of which directly supporting and contributing to the environmental and sustainability field.
Erin has held positions with Suncor (Petro Canada), Talisman and Brion Energy and worked as a management consultant for Deloitte. She has been responsible for the release of numerous sustainability reports (two of which and received the Canadian Institute of Charted accounts corporate reporting award of excellence), has developed and implemented environmental, health and safety ISO management systems and built and managed environmental and GHG reporting systems.

Outside of work Erin is best known for her achievements in the boxing ring where she previously held three national titles as an amateur Canadian boxing champion and represented Canada in numerous competitions on the world stage. In 2020 she was inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador sports hall of fame. Since retiring from the ring she has went on to compete in ultramarathons and has won numerous races over the past few years in Western Canada. She also spends time giving back to her community (Canmore, AB) by participating in the ladies auxiliary group for the Canmore Hospital and coaching mountain biking to young women and ladies in the bow valley. Also, while living in Calgary, she developed and ran a youth boxing program for girls aimed at building self-esteem and empowering youth through the boys and girls club.

Physics, Math & Stats Career Talk - October 2020

Andre Brown
Group Leader, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London
Bachelor of Science (Physics), Masters (Physics), Memorial University of Newfoundland
Ph.D (Physics), University of Pennsylvania

I started at Memorial in 1999 planning on studying biochemistry but I decided to switch to physics in my second year. I liked the mix of theory and experiment in physics and the idea of searching for simple quantitative explanations. I worked for a summer at the Newfoundland Science Centre in the Murray Premises (not sure it still exists, it was basically a science museum) after my first year but for every subsequent summer during my degree I was working in labs--usually at Memorial but I also spent one summer at McGill. I was already pretty sure I wanted a career in science at this point and so when I was nearing graduation I was thinking about PhD programs. I applied to a lot of places in the US and Canada and got a small number of offers. I decided to go to the University of Pennsylvania and did a PhD in physics. I enjoyed my PhD and living abroad and still wanted to pursue a career in research. For a mix of personal and career reasons I moved to Cambridge in the UK to do a postdoc in a biology lab where I learned more coding and data analysis. I'm currently a group leader at the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences at Imperial College London where my group works at the intersection quantitative biology, the physics of behaviour, and drug discovery. People from my lab have gone on to group leader positions in academia, analyst positions in government, and machine learning positions in the private sector.

Jayde Eustace
Senior Analyst, Johnson Insurance, 
Analytics Research and Development Team
Bachelor of Science (Pure Mathematics), Master of Science (Statistics), Memorial University

Jayde completed B.Sc. Pure Mathematics and M.Sc. Statistics degrees at MUN, and in 2012 she started her career at the provincial government's Economics and Statistics Branch. During that time, she developed an interest in the new field of data science and set a goal to make a career change. After working as a business analyst at Johnson Insurance for 2 years, she was able to transfer to the company's Analytics Research and Development team. She now works as a senior analyst, building predictive models related to losses, customer retention and other insurance applications.

Patricia Judd
Record Linkage/ General Social Survey, Statistics Canada
Bachelor of Science (Mathematics), University of Waterloo
Masters of Science (Statistics), Memorial University

Patricia has completed a Bachelor in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and Masters in Science from the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

While attending the University of Waterloo, she participated in the co-operative education program. Following completion of her undergraduate degree she worked as a health analyst at a Local Health Integration Network for one-year. After this period she moved to Newfoundland and completed a Master’s degree in Statistics. During her Masters, Patricia applied to the Statistics Canada recruitment process. She has been an employee of Statistics Canada for 4 years, and has had the opportunity to work in record linkage and for the General Social Survey.

Dr. Ronald Haynes, a professor in the department of Mathematics and Statistics and chair of the scientific computing graduate programs will give a brief overview of the program, the required skill sets for admissions and the outcomes for graduates.

Psychology, Biology & Chemistry Career Talk - September 2020

Kathryn Rogers
Director of Forensics and Property Control, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
Bachelor of Science (Biology), Memorial University
Master of Science (Forensic Science), King's College, England

Kathryn Rodgers is a native of St. John’s, Newfoundland. After completing her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Memorial University of Newfoundland, she continued her studies at King’s College of London in England where she earned a Masters of Science in Forensic Science. After graduate school she moved to the United States where she spent 14 years analyzing crime scene evidence as a Forensic DNA Analyst. Kathryn has testified as an expert in Forensic DNA analysis approximately 120 times throughout the US including several notable homicide and sexual assault cases. In 2019 Kathryn returned to Newfoundland with her husband and two small children to begin her new position as the Director of Forensics and Property Control with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.

Weyam Fahmy
Policy, Planning, and Research Analyst, Eastern Health
Bachelor of Science (Psychology), Master of Science (Experimental Psychology), Memorial University

Weyam holds an MSc in Experimental Psychology as well as a BSc in Psycholoy from Memorial University. She worked under the supervision of Dr. Brent Snook in the Psychology and Law Lab for both her Honours and Master's research, and was also supervised by Dr. Kirk Luther in Lancaster University in the UK for her Master's research (funded my Mitacs Canada). After graduating, Weyam returned to Lancaster University to work as a Research Associate, and recently returned to Newfoundland to accept a position as a Policy, Planning, and Research Analyst at Eastern Health. In the past, Weyam has volunteered with the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council (RIAC) as an English teacher, as well as with MUN Mentors, Students Offering Support, and several other initiatives at MUN.

Toni Doody
Field Service Representative II (Mud Engineer)
Bachelor of Science (Chemistry), Memorial University
Advanced Diploma in Water Quality, Marine Insititute

Toni is a graduate of Memorial University, April 2015, with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Chemistry. In 2017 Toni decided to continue her education and received an Advanced Diploma in Water Quality from the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland. While working on her Advanced Diploma, she completed an internship working with Agriculture and Agri-foods Canada as an Environmental Research Assistant working on various projects such as reduction/removal of nitrate in contaminated agriculture field run-off. Once Toni finished her second degree she moved to Ontario where she has worked with Toronto Research Chemicals as an Analytical Chemist. She has since moved back to Newfoundland and has spent the last two years working as a Field Service Representative II (Mud Engineer) for Halliburton Energy Services completing the decommission projects for Exxon Mobile Sable Island and Ovintiv Deep Panuke.

Theresa Mackenzie
Co-operative Education
Faculty of Science, Memorial University

Theresa Mackenzie, BSc, MSW, co-facilitates Co-operative Education programs within the Faculty of Science including Computer Science, Psychology, Behavioural Neuroscience and Biology. She can be reached at coopscihss@mun.ca.

Health Services Career Talk - March 2020

Science alumni working in the health services industry will speak about the career path they have pursued and how they navigated their job search with a science background. Since many jobs are not publicly advertised, networking often plays a major role in how students and graduates find jobs and careers that fit their interests and values.

This event provides a great opportunity for science students and graduates to build their network, learn what opportunities there are in the hidden job market and how to best market their skills to industry professionals.

Courtney Langille
Canopy Growth

Courtney is the Community Engagement Lead for Canopy Growth Corporation in Atlantic Canada, based in Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador. Courtney educates and builds meaningful relationships with business, social services, community organizations, and more, to further the public’s understanding of cannabis legislation, legal cannabis products, services and applications, and, ultimately, help people navigate this new market responsibly. She enjoys discussing all aspects of the cannabis industry, focusing on destigmatizing cannabis through education and awareness. Courtney will deliver a corporate introduction to Canopy Growth Corporation, and speak to the scope of the growth of the cannabis industry and the opportunities within it, right here at home.

Kathryn Dalton
Research Coordinator, Sleep, Health and Wellness Lab, Memorial University
Bachelor of Science: Neuroscience/ Mental Health

Kathryn completed her Bachelor of Science (honours) in Neuroscience and Mental Health at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. During Kathryn's time in Ottawa she volunteered with the Ottawa Hospital doing presentations to high school kids about traumatic brain injury. From here, Kathryn realized she wanted a career within academia because she enjoyed teaching and was eager to research topics related to her undergrad courses. Kathryn went on to pursue a Master of Science in Pharmacy at MUN. Kathryn convocated in 2019 and began her role as Research Coordinator at MUN's Sleep, Health, and Wellness Lab withn the department of psychology. Kathryn believes her skills she gained throughout her masters helped prepare her for her role as research coordinator. In Kathryn's new role she is helping with a study researching the best way to improve cognitive impairment in cancer survivors.

Tara Antle
Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN)
BSc.AHN, RHN, RNCP
Bachelor of Science in Applied Human Nutrition Degree (BSc.AHN)

Tara is originally from St. John’s, NL and has nearly two decades worth of experience working in the nutrition field across Canada, most recently here in our beautiful province as well as in Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. She has helped thousands of Newfoundlanders, Labradorians and Canadians reach their individual health goals and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Tara opened her own private nutrition consulting business, Healthy Balance, in St. John’s, NL almost ten years ago and has recently expanded her business to become a Holistic Health Group.

Tara’s diverse educational background blends together two very different ends of the nutrition spectrum. To encompass the traditional side of the dietetic field, she graduated from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Human Nutrition Degree (BSc.AHN). She is also a Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN) as she graduated from a 2-year program at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition in Ottawa, Ontario. Tara has since registered with the professional governing body Nutritional Consultants Organization of Canada, a division of the International Organization of Nutritional Consultants. This enables her to use the professional designation of Registered Nutritional Consulting Practitioner (RNCP). As well, Tara’s services are covered by most insurances under Naturopathy.
Tara is a hard-working, energetic and creative individual who truly believes that education and prevention are key factors for a healthy population. She promotes the concept that the combination of proper nutrition, regular physical activity and maintaining a positive attitude are achievable means for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to enhance their health and well-being. She embraces the concept of nourishing and nurturing our body for optimal health and wellness.

Tracy Parsons
Manager, Analytics, Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information
B.Sc. (Psychology/ Biology), M.Sc. (Medicine/ Community Health)

Tracy Parsons is the Manager of Analytics at the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information. Her interests include using administrative data for the purposes of providing information that can be used to inform the health system. The analytics team collaborates with the Department of Health and Community Services, other government departments, and the Regional Health Authorities of Newfoundland and Labrador as well as other provincial and national stakeholders. She has a Bachelor of Science (Psychology/Biology) and a Masters in Science in Medicine (Community Health). She started at the NL Centre for Health Information as a research analyst and has almost 15 years of experience in secondary use of health data.

Rebecca Newhook
Co-operative Education
Faculty of Science, Memorial University

Rebecca will talk about the kinds of work that co-op students have been involved in on their work terms and how students can apply to participate in the co-op program.

Geography and Earth Sciences Career Talk - February 2020

Randal Greene
GIS Analyst, Software Developer, President, Feaver's Lane Enterprises
BComm. Honours (Co- op)
MSc., (Geography)

Randal's first time through university, he completed a Bachelor of Commerce, concentrating in Information Systems and Management Science. After starting in business database applications, he moved to ICAN, a company with software products for marine navigation and surveillance, and held management positions involving internal IT, customer technical support, product software engineering and project management. The geographic nature of ICAN’s products sparked an interest in analytical GIS, and he then completed a MSc in Geography, concentrating on multiple-criteria decision analysis for land management. This led to positions with Nature Conservancy of Canada, a not-for-profit conservation land trust, as a conservation analyst and GIS modeler, with Memorial University as a cartography lecturer, and with the Too Big To Ignore project, designing and developing a crowd-sourced, map-based online information system that helps advocate for small-scale fisheries, as well as to his consulting practice.
Randal has been facilitating decisions for over 25 years. Applications have ranged from management information for healthcare, tourism and telecommunications, to real-time situation awareness for marine navigation and surveillance. He now concentrates on geographic information systems (GIS) for systematic conservation planning, natural resource management and related applications through his consultancy Feaver's Lane.

Piers Evans
Climate Change Coordinator, Town of Portgual Cove-St.Phillips
Bachelor of Science: Geography and Earth Science
Master of Science: Biogeography

Piers is currently working to mitigate climate change impacts from corporate operations within a municipal government. Through improvements to asset management strategies, corporate culture change, and investment in forward-thinking technologies, Piers believes municipalities large and small can lead societal reductions in GHG outputs. His academic experiences lie in ecological field research, focussed primarily on forest ecology and investigating the complexities of climate change induced species distributional shifts. Piers is on the board of the Environmental Education Commission and have several years' experience as both a classroom instructor/teaching assistant and an outdoor educator.

Andrew Peach
Location Manager/ Geotechnical Services Leader, Golder Associates
Bachelor of Science (B.S.c), Honours 499A Completed, Metamorphic Geology, Memorial University 
Graduate Certificate, Geotechnics, Missouri University of Science and Tecnology
Master of Engineering - Geological Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Andrew is a senior geotechnical, geological and environmental professional with over seventeen years of consulting experience. Areas of specialization include: dam safety, slope stability assessments, erosion and sediment control, and geotechnical investigations and foundation design for various types of construction projects.