Monarch butterflies, a bike rodeo and what plants are saying behind your back
McMaster is known for making a positive impact on the local, national and international stages. Each week, The Office of Public Relations highlights a few of the many McMaster stories making the news.
Research
CBC TV’s The National and CBC Radio’s The World At Six both interviewed Matthew Woolhouse (Music) about McMaster’s new Digitial Music Lab.
CBC Radio’s nationally-broadcast As It Happens, spoke to Susan Dudley (Biology) about research she did with graduate student Amanda File on the altruistic behaviour of plants. Later, CBC Hamilton posted a text story on the same subject, including a link to the audio file from As It Happens. The same research was also featured on the PBS program Nature, under the title What Plants Talk About – an edited version of an earlier Nature of Things program.
The Regina Leader Post continued the previous week’s coverage of research by Chris Bart (DeGroote School of Business) into the decision making abilities of women and men.
Teaching, learning and student success
The Globe and Mail published a story about student William Van Nest (DeGroote School of Business) and strategies employed by the Mac Investors Club — students who buy $250 shares and invest them in the fall based on the wisdom of the group before selling them in the spring and splitting the proceeds.
The Financial Post published a piece on the Focus 2040 competition, facilitated by McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business, including a description of the entry by finalist and McMaster student Brianna Smrke (also recently named one of McMaster’s two 3M National Student Fellows).
Community engagement
The Hamilton Spectator published a column by Jeff Mahoney about political science student Carissa Borowitz and her efforts to organize a campus group and fundraiser to help build latrines in Kenya.
The Hamilton Spectator published a front-page story and photo about Biology students under the guidance of Jim Quinn volunteering to remove invasive and tenacious buckthorn plants from the McMaster lands on Lower Lions Club Road. The story cited student organizers Sydney Duggan, Nadine Asmis and Lucy Mang.
The Hamilton Spectator published a full page of photos illustrating the bike rodeo organized under the auspices of Mac Bike U, an initiative supported by the Petro Canada Young Innovators Award of Michael Egan (History).
Expert opinion
The Hamilton Spectator interviewed Marvin Gunderman (Biology) about steep declines in the population of monarch butterflies.
The St. Catharines Standard asked Henry Jacek (Political Science) about the implications of municipal amalgamation, an idea that is being explored in Niagara.
Feature Story
The Hamilton Spectator published a photo and story featuring an array of top-notch recruits attracted to McMaster by its successful football program.
In other news
The Ottawa Citizen published an op-ed by author Robert J. Sawyer, where he mentioned McMaster’s acceptance of his literary archives as support for the idea that his genre, science fiction, is increasingly being accepted as a form of serious literature.
