The McGill Faculty of Science hosted the 38th edition of Soup & Science in the SSMU Ballroom from Sept. 3 to 6. Here, professors and students across many disciplines, from psychology to astrophysics, presented their scientific passion projects. 

Monitoring Arctic sea ice

To begin the Sept. 5 presentations, Mallik Mahmud, assistant professor in the Department of Geography, discussed how satellite imagery can detect changes in sea ice.

“The area of sea ice is decreasing drastically. At the same time, the thickness of the ice is also reducing over the years,” Mahmud explained. “Compared to the last 20 years, we have a very different set of ice in the [Arctic].”

Mahmud and his team also trekked to the Arctic to set up weather towers and use techniques like radar imaging, which uses light to create two-dimensional landscape images, to confirm the satellite imagery.

Eco-evolutionary dynamics in Alaskan lakes

Andrew Hendry, a professor in the Department of Biology, studies the evolution of biological diversity and is especially interested in the ecology of Alaska’s lakes.

“What [the Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics Laboratory does] is think about the fact that within each of those species, there is evolutionary variation,” Hendry explained. 

His group is researching how genetic variation affects the structure of lake ecosystems, paying special attention to the population of fish.

“[The fish] have all been sequenced individually with high coverage across their entire genome,” Hendry said. “We have complete knowledge of the genetic variation of all the [fish] in these lakes.”

Fast radio bursts—a cosmic mystery

Victoria Kaspi, a professor in the Department of Physics, discussed fast radio bursts (FRB), which are short radio wave flashes from space that last a few thousandths of a second. Kaspi said that FRBs are an “astrophysical mystery” that has received much public attention, with many erroneously ascribing it to extraterrestrial intelligence.

“How do you study the phenomenon? That’s the challenge,” Kaspi explained. “We need a telescope that can point everywhere all at the same time, all the time. We haven’t invented that, but we’re close—and that’s the CHIME telescope; the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Telescope.”

Canada’s CHIME telescope is located in British Columbia and has detected thousands of FRBs since its activation in 2018. 

How and why are friendships formed between people?

Melanie Dirks, a professor in the Department of Psychology, runs a lab that studies relationships and focuses on friendships.

Dirks explained that adults have certain beliefs about romances that extend to friendships. These beliefs are categorized into two groups: “Destiny” and “Growth” mindsets. A person with a Destiny mindset believes that a person is either “right” for you or not, and there is nothing to do about it. A Growth mindset, however, emphasizes the importance of overcoming conflicts that arise within the relationship.

“We tracked undergraduates’ friendships over the course of a year, and it turned out that people who more strongly endorsed Destiny beliefs and weakly endorsed Growth beliefs were more likely to tell us they had friendships end over the course of the year,” Dirks explained.

Sloths & science: The Panama Field Study Semester

Kristy Sanchez Vega, U2 Science, talked about her Panama Field Study Semester (PFSS), a four-month academic endeavour in Panama, and how beneficial the experience was.

“You take some amazing courses in PFSS,” Sanchez Vega said. “They vary from year to year, but the ones I took were history, agriculture, biology, and then an environment research course.”

Sanchez Vega described PFSS as an intellectually rewarding exchange which shaped her knowledge about land and environment. She also said that PFSS members receive an opportunity to present their research at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

“There’s only so many opportunities that you can take like this in undergrad, so if anyone decides to take PFSS after this, then I think I’ve done my job,” Sanchez Vega said.

Soup & Science is a semesterly event that showcases McGill’s brilliant minds. The event allows the student audience to explore their scientific curiosities and aims to foster their drive to pursue new academic challenges.