Season 2018-2019.
Science Symposium 2019
Arts & Design SCIENCE COMMUNICATORS
April 2019
Convergence Science Symposium.
April 27th, 2019. Concordia Faculty of Fine Arts.
1515 St. Catherine St. W. EV Building, 1.605, 3 PM.
The Convergence course invited students to creatively explore the intersection of arts, neuroscience, and society, and how these domains shape the understandings of ourselves and others. Concordia Fine Arts students worked with the RI-MUHC Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience program (BRaIN) and McGill Neuroscience students to create self-directed, collaborative projects which converge artistic and scientific research.
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For the teams, a final exhibition showed their collaborative efforts (click here to access the Exhibition Catalogue). For the scientists, an especial Science Symposium allowed them to showcase the alternative methods learned during the two-semester class. This is not just an art workshop based on neuroscience research; it is a course dedicated to exploring the use of emotion and art in Science Communication.
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Enjoy the 2019 Science Symposium.
Science Symposium 2019
Arts & Design SCIENCE COMMUNICATORS
StoryReading StoryTelling zahraa chorghay
Videographer: Cristian Zaelzer.
Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience in the laboratory of Edward Ruthazer, at the Montreal Neurological Institute / McGill University, Zahraa is studying neuron-glia interactions. Using a combination of cellular and molecular tools, as well as microscopy techniques, she investigates the underlying activity-dependent plasticity in the tadpole visual circuit. She occasionally attempts self-expression with art, calling upon her understanding of science, her experience with chronic illness, and her existence at the intersections of multiple self-identities.
Illustration VANESSA LI
Videographer: Cristian Zaelzer.
Vanessa Li came from a high school in southern China where students donned a school uniform lovingly dubbed the “frog suit” for its conspicuously green colouration. When she started her Ph.D. at McGill, she found herself working extensively with African clawed frogs, it felt like meeting some old friends. She studies the development of the visual system in tadpoles, focusing on the topographic organization of neurons entering the brain.
Comics RAINA FAN
Videographer: Cristian Zaelzer.
Raina Fan is a Master’s student in the Department of Biology at McGill University. Broadly interested in animal behaviour, Raina has studied cognitive processes in songbirds, crayfish, and dolphins. She is currently investigating the neural basis of social learning using the Trinidadian guppy, a tropical freshwater fish, as a model. Through her hobbies of photography and graphic design, Raina hopes to build a career in communicating research to a broad audience.
Experimental Music NAILA KUHLMANN
Videographer: Cristian Zaelzer.
Naila is a Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Milnerwood’s lab at McGill, studying a genetic mouse model of Parkinson’s disease (PD). She records neuronal activity in brain slices to understand how changes in a PD-linked protein alter neuronal communication, as well as the circuitry involved in motor control and decision making. Naila spends most of her free time dancing or training aerial circus and has organized a variety of science outreach events.
Graphic Design & Screen Printing MARIELLE McCRUM
Videographer: Cristian Zaelzer.
Marielle McCrum is a graduate of McGill’s School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. As a speech-language pathologist working in acute care settings, Marielle helps patients who have experienced changes in their communication following a stroke, brain cancer, head and neck cancer, and other disorders.
Painting LIAM O'LEARY
Videographer: Cristian Zaelzer.
Liam looks at human brain tissue under a microscope to investigate the potential links between neurons and suicidal depression. His research project focuses on the death of star-shaped cells called astrocytes and the ‘leakiness’ of brain blood vessels. Liam is interested in science or art that sincerely address suffering from optimism or compassion. In his free time, Liam likes to play with gymnastic rings, watercolours, and broken pianos.
StoryTelling KATHRYN VAILLANCOURT
Videographer: Cristian Zaelzer.
Kathryn is a sixth-year Ph.D. student in Neuroscience at McGill University. Her research uses post-mortem human tissue to understand how chronic cocaine addiction influences brain cells at the molecular level. She has also developed a passion for science communication and spends time as a science writer and podcaster when she is not in the lab.
