News and events

  • Congratulations to Neil Marshall – Student Experience, Recruitment and Outreach Award

    The Mathematics & Statistics Department congratulates Neil Marshall in receiving this year’s Student Experience, Recruitment and Outreach Award from the Dean’s Office. For significant contribution in the previous academic year to the Faculty’s efforts regarding overall student experience, recruitment and outreach. Neil is an integral part in making the department programs successful.

    “Neil has worked in the Department for over six years and is a valuable resource to the Department due to his course knowledge, dedication to student success, technical expertise, and willingness to assist Department members wherever possible. One of Neil’s major responsibilities is managing our Learning Centre and providing weekly one-on-one help hours in the Centre for all first-year courses.  Providing effective help at a distance is particularly difficult, but Neil has managed to design and implement a very effective strategy and all hours are well-attended by students.”

    “Neil is a key resource for first-year students whose first university experience has required them to adjust to learning in an online environment. He may, in fact, be the only contact that many students make when they need assistance.  Consequently, the relationship between Neil and these students is very important. At all times, Neil maintains a professional demeanour while exhibiting empathy for the difficult learning environment in which students find themselves. These students are lucky to have someone so knowledgeable who is genuinely interested in their success and who can appropriately convey his concern for the challenges they are facing.”

    “Neil is always interested in the opportunity to work on a new project that extends beyond his normal job duties.  Most recently, with the move to online teaching, the Service Course Committee recommended that some written assignments in Math 1P98 be replaced with online assignments.  This required that several new online assignments be developed, and Neil readily agreed to work with one of our part-time instructors to create them for the fall term.”

  • Congratulations to Dr. Laura Broley now a post-doc fellow at Brock

    One of former MICA students, Dr. Laura Broley (BSc ”13) is now a visiting post-doc fellow here in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Please see her story in the Brock News. Congratulations to Dr. Broley on her continuing success!

  • Congratulations to Statistics Master student Brayden Prentice!

    Our Statistics Master student Brayden Prentice was hired as a Methodologist by Statistics Canada starting September 2020, Congratulations to Brayden!

    Categories: News

  • Online Seminar Series on Programming in Mathematics Education

    Friday, June 19, 2020, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm EDT

    Celia Hoyles & Richard Noss University College London, UK

    Mapping a Way Forward for Computing and Mathematics: Reflections on the UCL ScratchMaths Project

    In England, computing (including a sizeable component of programming) is compulsory for all students from age 6 to 16 years old. In this talk, we briefly describe the UCL ScratchMaths research project, which started in 2014, and developed a 2-year curriculum for 9-11year olds in England aligned to the mandatory national computing and national mathematics primary curricula. We will share the project’s findings derived from its internal and external evaluations, reflect on limitations, offer what we judge to be exemplary tasks and finally, suggest fruitful next steps for research and practice.

    FREE registration – visit the MKN website

    Download poster

  • Online Seminar Series on Programming in Mathematics Education

    Prof. Chantal Buteau is co-hosting, with Prof George Gadanidis (Western University), an international online seminar series on Programming in Mathematics Education starting June 19 until August 28, 2020. See the attached poster program.

    Registration is free: http://mkn-rcm.ca/online-seminar-series-on-programming-in-mathematics-education/.

    At the first seminar held on June 19, 166 registrations from 24 countries had been received  (registrations continue to arrive as the series continues). This seminar aims at the following demographics: half academics, a quarter graduate and undergraduate students, and a quarter elementary and secondary school teachers and leaders.

    The series is funded in part by the Mathematics Knowledge Network (MKN), hosted a the Fields Institute and financed by the Ontario Ministry of Education, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (S.S.H.R.C).

    All seminars are recorded and available on the MKN website (URL from above).

    For inquiry, please contact Prof Buteau at cbuteau [AT] brocku.ca

  • Congratulations to Simon and Benjamin Earp-Lynch

    Our Masters students Benjamin and Simon Earp-Lynch have been awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal Award at Brock’s Virtual Spring Convocation. They jointly achieved the highest academic average for a graduate student in their program. For more details, please see this story in the Brock News.

    Congratulations Simon and Benjamin! We wish you to continue your success at Carleton University.

  • Dr. Molino Colloquium Talk Fri March 13 4:00 PM MCJ 430

    The Department of Mathematics and Statistics would like to invite anyone interested, including graduate students, to a Colloquium Talk by Dr. Michelle Molino on Friday March 13, 2020 from 4:00 to 5:00 PM. The talk will take place in Mackenzie Chown J-block 430 and is entitled An introduction to Algebraic Geometry. Undergraduate students are encouraged to attend.

    Abstract:
    What is Algebraic Geometry, and why should we study it? In this first seminar, we will introduce the main concepts of Algebraic Geometry at an undergraduate level. We will define the objects of study in this subject, such as the systems of algebraic equations and their sets of solutions, and study the geometry of conics as motivation for the projective plane.

  • Dr. Nanayakkara Colloquium Talk Wed March 4 2:00 PM TH 253

    The Department of Mathematics and Statistics would like to invite anyone interested, including graduate students, to a Colloquium Talk by Dr. Basil Nanayakkara on Wednesday March 4, 2020 from 2:00 to 3:00 PM. The talk will take place in Thistle 253 and is entitled Galois Descent and Hilbert’s theorem 90. Graduate students are encouraged to attend.

    Abstract:
    After discussing Galois Descent and nonabelian group cohomology, we’ll state a major theorem in Galois Descent without proof. (This theorem will be proven in a future talk, if there is sufficient interest.) Hilbert’s Theorem 90 will be deduced from the said theorem.

  • Congratulations to Matthew Babela

    The Department of Mathematics and Statistics would like to extend its well wishes to one of our former M.Sc. Mathematics students, Matthew Babela.  Matthew will be starting as an Instructional Support Coordinator at the University of Waterloo. Congratulations Matthew! We appreciate all the work you have done for the Department as a student as well as a part-time instructor. We wish you all the best!

  • Congratulations to Basil Nanayakkara and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics

    On Monday, January 27th 2020, the Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science invited members to the 6th Annual Celebration of Excellence. One of our members of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Basil Nanayakkara, was recognized by the students of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science Council for the Teaching & Student Engagement Award. Basil received this award due to his excellence in teaching and his commitment to helping his students understand challenging material. This is the second time he has been the recipient of this award. In 2014, with a completely different set of undergraduate students, he had also been their choice. Congratulations Basil!

    The Department of Mathematics and Statistics was honoured by the Dean for achieving the highest financial surplus in the Faculty with the Highest Departmental Surplus Award. The Chair of Mathematics and Statistics, Dr. Thomas Wolf, wishes to thank the Dean for recognizing us and all members of the Department for their contribution.