Professor Christian Genest recipient of the Acfas Urgel-Archambault prize (2025)
Professor Christian Genest is the winner of the 2025 Acfas Urgel-Archambault prize.
Le Prix Acfas Urgel-Archambault 2025 pour les sciences physiques, mathématiques, informatique et génie, est remis à Christian Genest, professeur titulaire au Département de mathématiques et de statistique de l'Université McGill.

Bringing environmental policymakers together to focus on the future sparks empathy for nature and later generations, McGill study finds
When environmental policymakers are invited to imagine the future together, they don’t just think differently, they feel differently, too.

How a McGill undergrad’s summer research project became a paper in a prestigious journal
When then-McGill undergraduate Maya Willard-Stepan cold-emailed a professor asking to help with their research, she didn’t expect the project to end up in the Nature-partner journal npj Urban Sustainability.
“I really wanted to get involved in research early,” said Willard-Stepan, who had come to McGill from a small town on Vancouver Island.

Climate change could result in contaminant spread in the High Arctic, McGill study finds
Warming temperatures and increased precipitation in the Canadian High Arctic are mobilizing new pathways for subsurface contaminants to spread from more than 2,500 contaminated sites associated with industrial and military sites across the region.

Ancient mammoth tooth offers clues about Ice Age life in northeastern Canada
A worn-down mammoth tooth discovered nearly 150 years ago on an island in Nunavut offers new insights into where and how the Ice Age giants lived and died.

Experts: Social prescribing
As part of a new partnership with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (MSO), member doctors of Médecins francophones du Canada can now prescribe tickets to live performances.

Homecoming 2025: Water, Climate Change, and the Future
As part of last weekend’s Homecoming festivities, Interim Dean of Science Alanna Watt hosted an engaging and timely event on Friday morning entitled “Water, Climate Change, and the Future,” which highlighted the importance of freshwater science research in the face of a changing climate.

Documenting Change: A conversation with Mostafa Shagar from Science for the People
Mostafa presenting on Science for the People at a Biology Seminar Day.
Authors: Lina Champain and Alia Sanger
Lina Champain and Alia Sanger interviewed Mostafa Shagar as an assignment in FSCI 500: Science Communication & Outreach. The interview has been edited for length.

Experts: Hurricane Melissa
Hurricane Melissa, now a Category Five tropical cyclone, has made landfall in Jamaica. It is the strongest storm to hit the island country in at least 150 years and the most powerful recorded anywhere in 2025. It has caused severe flooding and mass evacuations across Jamaica and along the storm’s projected path, which includes Cuba and the Bahamas.
McGill experts are available to comment on this topic:

Fast Radio Burst Conference hosted at McGill for the first time
Physics researchers Amanda Cook and Alice Curtin organize FRB2025, celebrating the 10th anniversary of a major finding in the field Doris Hua, Faculty of Science Communications AssistantWhen astrophysicists Amanda Cook and Alice Curtin were attending the Fast Radio Burst (FRB)

Nineteen new or renewed Canada Research Chairs awarded to McGill
Federal investment boosts McGill’s research leadership with over $13 million for Canada Research Chairs
Today, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, announced over $198 million in federal funding through the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program, including more than $13 million to support 19 Chairs—nine new and ten renewed—at McGill.

McGill team pinpoints where a type of cell death begins
A team at McGill University studying ferroptosis, a form of cell death, have discovered that the process begins deep inside the cell, a finding that could lead to new treatments for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Biology’s Mahnaz Mansoori wins President’s Award for Administrative and Support Staff
Phytotron Manager Mahnaz Mansoori (pictured above, left, with Biology Department Chair Prof. Gregor Fussmann) was one of nine McGill staff members honoured with the President’s Award for Administrative and Support Staff at last week's afternoon convocation ceremony. These annual awards recognize the talent, dedication, and hard work of staff members who have made outstanding contributions to the University’s mission.

McGill research flags Montreal snow dump, inactive landfills as major methane polluters
Montreal’s methane emissions are unevenly distributed across the island, with the highest concentrations in the city’s east end, McGill researchers have found. The worst polluters include the city’s largest snow dump, which emits methane at levels comparable to the city's current and former landfills, and natural gas leaks.

McGill researchers awarded $9.7 million in CFI funding
Thirty-two McGill research projects have received new funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation's for investments in research infrastructure to support their innovative projects, for a total federal investment of $9.7 million.
