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Articles by Mandy Cook
Welcome investment
As work continues to establish Memorial University’s new co-operative bachelor of engineering in mining and mineral processing degree, the provincial government and industry partners are demonstrating strong support. The program builds on Memorial’s expertise in drilling engineering, mining systems, mineral processing, extractive metallurgy, green extraction technologies, process engineering, automation, data analytics, sustainability and process safety.
Memorial University of Newfoundland
“To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.” (from “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae) For one hour each year, the Memorial University community joins the rest of the country in remembering those who have served or died during active service in the First World War and subsequent conflicts. Ceremonies of Remembrance will be held on three campuses next week in advance of Remembrance Day. Memorial’s administrative offices are closed.
Warm welcome
On a golden afternoon in late September, sun streams through the windows of the Internationalization Office. Inside the building, housed in the Global Learning Centre on the east side of Burton’s Pond on the St. John’s campus, a lively crowd has gathered to share a delicious hot meal and connect with others just like them: new students in a new world.
Giving back
For Racquel Newman, completing a master’s degree at Memorial turned out to be about more than earning a credential. Fall graduate Racquel Newman says Memorial’s School of Graduate Studies provided pivotal support when both her father and grandmother died during her master’s degree studies. It’s about resilience, community and creating opportunities for others. Originally from Portmore, St. Catherine, Jamaica, Ms. Newman moved to Newfoundland and Labrador to study at Memorial in 2023.
Find your people
When it comes to starting university, new students can feel excited, overwhelmed and everything in between. Some of the student leaders and new students from the Campus Connect program. More than 130 new students signed up to participate this fall. That’s where Memorial’s Campus Connect program can help. Campus Connect aims to ease first-year students’ experience by building friendships and helping them get connected to campus life and feel more confident navigating university.
Op-ed: Roxana Fazli and Niraj Shukla
Revenue growth, investment, job creation and business scaling are widely accepted measures of startup success. But founders do not enter entrepreneurial ecosystems with equal access to the resources needed to achieve these outcomes. Some start with personal investment and established local relationships. Others may bring extensive education, international experience and strong entrepreneurial capabilities. For immigrant entrepreneurs, the problem is not always a lack of capital.
National honours x 2
It is unusual for the Canadian Bureau for International Education to bestow national honours on two students from the same university in the same year. From left, Yar Ayuen Malual and Quazi Mohammad Abrar Nafis, have both been recognized by the Canadian Bureau for International Education. The organization advocates for and builds capacity and partnerships to advance sustainable internationalization and global engagement.
Convocation season
Student Life Black hoods with brightly coloured trim. Black flowing robes to match. Square mortarboards and soft tams with gold tassels. Graduating Memorial University students will be decked out in full academic regalia at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre on Thursday, Oct. 15, when more than 900 undergraduate and graduate degrees are conferred during three convocation ceremonies.
Objective: career experimentation
Physics students spend plenty of time in the lab, experimenting with the fundamentals of motion, electromagnetism, quantum phenomena, optics, waves, sound and more. However, career experimentation hasn’t been part of the curriculum. Until now.
Finding strength in uncertainty
I still have memories of the wind that touched my face when I first arrived in St. John’s, N.L. It was sharp and unfamiliar. Nothing like home. Shrabontee Deepanwita is originally from Bangladesh. Because I was an international student, I quickly learned that being successful is not about the grades. Success is all about learning how to take one’s rightful place in unfamiliar places.
Excitement in the (crisp fall) air
While fresh-faced first-year students have just begun their inaugural Memorial University semester, seasoned Memorial graduands are about to receive their hard-earned degrees and cross the convocation stage. Memorial University will celebrate fall convocation at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre on Thursday, Oct. 15. During three sessions, more than 800 undergraduate and graduate degrees will be awarded to Memorial’s newest alumni, the Class of 2026.
Regents appointed
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has announced appointments to Memorial’s Board of Regents. The six newest members are Dean Ingram, Alex Gibson, Peter Carver, Travis Martin, Leslie Rowsell and joint representative Nina Rumbolt-Pye, who also serves on the College of the North Atlantic’s Board of Governors. More information about these regents can be found in the government’s news release.
Watching a reef come to life
Illuminated by an underwater light, a live camera feed captures a vibrant marine ecosystem where cunners, crab, lobster and sea urchins move among swaying kelp and algae-covered reef structures. Every hour, a two-minute photoshoot takes place, capturing a snapshot in time. The imagery is immediately uploaded to an online visual library that researchers will document for years to come.
From classroom to practice
Fostering student engagement within the entrepreneurial ecosystem and providing students with practical experience throughout their university degree programs. From left to right are master of business administration students Sajib Sarker, Alberta Opare, Kasiemobi Anumba, Oluwayemisi Ogundipe and Samuel Oppong, who contributed to this article.
Parallel learning
As its name denotes, the recent Grenfell art exhibit Parallel encouraged viewers to draw connections between distinct geographic and cultural contexts. Students from both universities created photographic typologies drawn from their local surroundings, which were then juxtaposed in the exhibition. All participants worked with black-and-white film and produced their prints in the darkroom.
Future responders rise
The future of fire and emergency services is taking shape as Fire Rescue Technical Certificate Program students nearing graduation recently put their skills to the test at the Offshore Safety and Survival Centre.
Into the ice
When the Fisheries and Marine Institute’s Dr. Maxime Geoffroy steps aboard the Tara polar station in northern Norway in August, he won’t just be embarking on an Arctic drift expedition. He will become the only Canadian scientist participating in one of the world’s most ambitious polar research missions. As a drift expedition, Dr. Geoffroy and his team will leave the route up to the Arctic Ocean.
Investing in success
Following a record-breaking 61st Annual Business Day in May, the Faculty of Business Administration’s student organizing committee donated $6,221 in surplus back to the Business Day endowment. Presenter Heather Tulk and student Russell Noseworthy during Business Day 2026.
Resilience, curiosity, commitment
Campus and Community President Janet Morrison Hello colleagues, As Memorial’s 100th anniversary year concludes, I want to thank the members of our community — students, faculty, staff, alumni, partners and friends — who helped us celebrate this milestone in meaningful ways.
Leadership appointment
Dr. Janet Morrison is pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer O’Neill as Memorial University’s executive director of the Office of Development and Alumni Engagement, effective July 20. Jennifer O’Neill is the executive director of the Office of Development and Alumni Engagement. “Jennifer is a valued and trusted colleague who has effectively propelled our work in advancement, fundraising and donor relations,” said President Morrison.
Building on momentum
Following a comprehensive international search, Dr. André McDonald — an accomplished researcher and dynamic, collaborative leader — has been appointed vice-president (research and innovation) (VPRI) at Memorial University. Dr. McDonald will begin his tenure on Oct. 19, 2026. As VPRI, Dr. McDonald will champion research excellence across all disciplines, strengthening the pathway from discovery to impact and accelerating innovation across the university.
‘Transformative power of access’
For many refugee children, education begins with hope — and ends at a cliff. Student Refugee Program members at a training session. While 67 per cent of refugee children enrol in primary school, that number drops to 37 per cent in secondary school. Only nine per cent reach higher education. Behind these statistics are brilliant, determined young people whose futures are constrained not by merit, but by displacement.
‘Right place to study’
From a close-knit town to a close-knit program. Spring graduate Ciara Cheeks says the constant assistance and support from her mentors Drs. Andrew Staniland and Clark Ross pushed her to create something professional and representative of herself as an artist. Growing up in Gander, N.L., Ciara Cheeks learned the value of a tight-knit supportive community. It’s what made her feel right at home at Memorial University’s School of Music.
‘I am a different person’
Sydney Wells believes that supporting individuals through life’s challenges by offering a safe, compassionate space can be deeply meaningful work. Since the age of 13, Mrs. Wells has had the long-term goal of working in the mental health field.
Op-ed: Dr. Kevin Power
I’ve been reflecting on the role of positivity in shaping the environments we create at Memorial. Not positivity in the superficial sense, but as a deliberate approach to how we respond to people, especially when they bring forward new ideas. At its core, this is about whether we create spaces where people feel safe to contribute, or spaces where they quietly decide it’s not worth the risk. I am by nature a positive person, with plenty of optimism tempered by realism.
Bridging cultures, building belonging
Last year, the Internationalization Office was successful in a proposal submitted under the Newfoundland and Labrador Settlement and Integration Program to support the settlement and integration of international students attending Memorial. Dave King and Joshua Chidera take a selfie during an excursion to Flat Rock. As part of this work, the office launched a new initiative called Community Bridge: International Student Mentorship Program — a community integration pilot for international students.
Op-Ed: Dr. Evan Edinger
The third week of January, I received an unexpected email message from the House of Commons committee on Fisheries and Oceans, inviting me to address the committee for its study on Canada’s Marine Protected and Conserved Areas. After swallowing hard, I realized that I had to accept, although recognizing that it might be the most difficult education assignment of my career.
Convocation nears
Almost 3,000 degrees will be awarded to graduating Memorial University students during spring convocation. The first three sessions of convocation will take place at the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre on May 14; nine sessions will take place at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre from May 26-29.
Smart investment
Memorial University ranks among the country’s top 15 universities for business and economics, and second in Atlantic Canada, according to Times Higher Education 2026. Memorial also tops the list for research quality performance in the field. In recent rankings by Times Higher Ed, Memorial earned a place among the best business and economic programming in the country. The Times Higher Education Subject Rankings: Business Schools in Canada evaluate teaching, research and international outlook.
High demand, low enrolment
As policy and practice shift toward more inclusive models of education, the complexity and diversity of student needs in K-12 classrooms have increased substantially. From left are the Faculty of Education’s Drs. Gabrielle Young and Sharon Penney. Instructional resource teachers are an important part of the province’s inclusive education model.
Symbol of remembrance
In the lobby of the Queen Elizabeth II Library on Friday morning, there was a palpable sense of reverence in the crowd. President Morrison addresses the assembled guests in the Queen Elizabeth II Library lobby on May 1. Members of the Memorial University community listened with rapt attention to the speakers as they gathered for the official unveiling of a Danger Tree replica destined for permanent installation at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial in France.
Healthy planet, healthy humans
Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine’s first Planetary Health Report Card will be released today, Earth Day, joining 11 other medical schools across Canada. From left are Leah Curnew, Arista Marthyman, Kaur Kirndeep (Kira) Singh and Dr. Krista Mahoney. Founded in 2019, the Planetary Health Report Card is an international health student community working to inspire institutional change.
Celebration season
A culmination of each student’s academic journey, Memorial University’s 2026 spring convocation ceremonies will see almost 3,000 degrees, including more than 750 graduate degrees, conferred. Convocation takes place at the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre on May 14 and at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre from May 26–29.
Op-ed: Julianna Brinston and Keona Russell
The urban Indigenous community in St. John’s is one that is diverse and growing. Broad census metropolitan data tells us that the number of Indigenous Peoples living in Newfoundland and Labrador’s capital city has risen to approximately 7,000, from 3,580 in 2021. While the median age of St. John’s Indigenous residents is 31, compared to 42 for non-Indigenous residents, the Indigenous population continues to report higher rates of chronic disease and poorer health outcomes and access overall.
‘Immediate value’
Maiza Asif knew her work term would be interesting and a challenge. Not only is the Memorial University computer science student enjoying her role at CanAI Garage in St. John’s, she says she feels completely comfortable there and genuinely enjoys it.
Fresh perspectives, strong skills
Unlimited possibilities. That’s how graduate student Hendrik Van Heerden describes his Master of Arts in Economics Co-operative Internship Option Program at Memorial University.
'Meaningful partnerships'
Building on a growing network of industry partnerships that support student learning and innovation, Memorial University is accelerating and enhancing students’ learning experience by leveraging opportunities with industry partners, thanks to a $10-million investment from the Hebron Project. The funding will support the Centre for Analytics, Informatics and Research (CAIR), Memorial’s high-performance computing data centre.
Trust, action and the future
The 61st Annual Memorial University Business Day will bring students, alumni and industry professionals together under this year’s theme, The Power of Connection: How Leaders Build Trust, Inspire Action, and Shape the Future. From left are Business Day committee members Luke Cornick, Elizabeth Stevens and Lauren Slaney.
Registration open
Environmental sustainability. That’s the theme of Memorial University’s International Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (EDI-AR) Conference, taking place on the St. John’s campus this spring. Presenters will highlight ethical research, policy and practice, climate justice education and strategies for equitable systems change, says Cherry Ralhan-Khanna of Memorial’s EDI-AR office.
A Q&A with Russell Noseworthy
While waiting for his Equitable Energy Transitions class in the Faculty of Business Administration to start, Russell Noseworthy thought he’d quickly check his email. He knew the Frank H. Sobey Awards for Excellence in Business Studies decision was due soon. When he clicked on a message from the dean’s office address that asked if he could stop in before the end of the day, he knew something was up. Whether it was good news and bad news, the message didn’t say.
Building from memory
On a trip to France with the Great War Veterans Association in the early 1920s, Gerald Joseph Whitty visited the memorials erected to honour those who fought and those who fell at the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel. Gerald Whitty leans against the Danger Tree circa 1920. The unidentified couple on the right are believed to have lost their son at Beaumont-Hamel. A veteran of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, Mr. Whitty served in Gallipoli in 1915 but soon after fell ill with typhoid fever.
Indigenous verification policy approved
Memorial took a significant step on its shared path toward truth and reconciliation when its Board of Regents approved an Indigenous Verification Policy on Feb. 25, 2026. The policy, developed by and with Indigenous communities, affirms that opportunities intended for Indigenous people must be held by Indigenous people, and that the responsibility for determining eligibility for these opportunities lies with recognized Indigenous collectives — not the university.
Rooted here, leading by example
Newfoundland and Labrador has always depended on nurses who are resilient, resourceful, and deeply rooted in their communities. Dr. April Pike is the dean of Memorial University’s Faculty of Nursing. At Memorial University’s Faculty of Nursing, we are building an education system that reflects that same spirit: provincial in reach, strong in standards and grounded in community care. I understand this deeply.
Among the world’s best
The news magazine published its World’s Top Universities of 2026 list in late January and includes rankings of 500 academic institutions around the world. Memorial offers more than 300 undergraduate program options including certificates, diplomas and degrees, and over 100 graduate diplomas, master’s degrees and doctoral degree programs.
Living wall
Tucked inside a corner of Memorial’s Johnson Geo Centre lobby, something is growing quietly. A lush collection of coleus, begonia rex, lamb’s ear, sweet potato vine, tradescantia, ferns, pilea, ivy and more is tucked into little plastic buckets stacked in rows in a “green wall.” Adjacent to the plants is another section, mostly herbs, with pungent oregano, basil and mint, some of it planted from seed by summer camp children.
'This is what we do'
What is the connection between ice hockey, guitar playing and target shooting? From left are President Janet Morrison, Dr. Leonard Lye and Catherine Dutton during the 2025 MUNPA Tribute Awards ceremony on Dec. 9. The Tetra Society of North America and, more specifically, the Newfoundland and Labrador chapter. The Tetra Society is an award-winning charity dedicated to assisting people with disabilities to achieve an independent and fulfilling life in the community.
Hidden talents
The year 2025 is coming to a close, which means the Gazette is offering its end-of-year glimpse into the outside lives of some members of the Memorial University community. Read on to learn about some of the “extracurricular” activities a few folks at Grenfell Campus, the Faculty of Science on the St. John’s campus and at the Marine Institute get up to outside of their regular work hours. Jennifer Broadbent is a self-professed Christmas fanatic.
Role models
Memorial University honoured outstanding employees during a special ceremony at Signal Hill Campus on Dec. 16. Family and friends joined the individuals who have demonstrated excellence at our institution and in the community. The President’s Awards shine a spotlight on people who are among the most commendable members of the Memorial University community — teachers, researchers, service providers and publicly engaged groups and individuals nominated by their peers.
Learning to lead
For eight early-career ocean scholars, arriving in Newfoundland and Labrador this October marked the beginning of an immersive adventure in oceanographic research.
Leadership update
I am writing to share that Dr. Tana Allen, our colleague and vice-president (research) pro tempore, has accepted the role of vice-president research and innovation at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. It is a wonderful opportunity for Dr. Allen, and I have wished her well in this next phase of her journey.
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