(Pictured above: James La, Kieran Mounce-McKinney, Dr. Dylan Webb, Emily Trew, Tigist Tilahun and Caden Albright)

MRU Represents at CSC 2025

With June comes the annual conference by the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC), the Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, colloquially known as the CSC2025. This year it was hosted in our nation’s capital, Ottawa, between June 15th and 19th. A small group from MRU attends every year, with several students representing the exciting research being conducted on our campus. It is also a great opportunity for networking and connecting with past MRU students.

• Kieran Mounce-McKinney, Dr. Dylan Webb’s student, presenting in the Inorganic poster session about the work he had conducted during his student research assistantship – a paper on the work coming out soon!

• Caden Albright, Dr. Jeella Acedo’s student, who had just graduated the week before, presented work from his time in the Acedo group focusing on antimicrobial peptides. Caden has been quite successful during his time at MRU and will be missed!

• James La, Dr. Jeella Acedo’s research assistant, had been working with the Acedo group for quite some time and was hired after graduating in 2024. His contract has since ended but he managed to show off the research he had been doing on the world stage.

 

Dr. Karen Ho, together with her undergraduate students Alfie Chen and Harman Kaur, presented their research at the Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (CSC 2025) in Ottawa. They shared their work through both a poster titled Storytelling for Belonging: Enhancing Engagement Among Diverse Students in the Classroom and an oral presentation titled Implementing Diverse Continuous Reflective Strategies in a Multi-Section General Chemistry II Lab. Their presentations highlighted how narrative and reflective approaches in chemistry education can foster STEM identity, enhance students’ sense of belonging, strengthen self-efficacy, and positively influence classroom climate and laboratory performance.