UNews - Department of Mathematics & Computer Science

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers awarded federal research grants worth more than $3 million

caroline.zentner — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 21:50:59 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are among the successful applicants for federal grants announced by The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health.

The more than $1.3 billion in funding supports over 9,700 researchers and research projects in Canada through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

“From brain plasticity and the mechanism of low-dose radiation to supporting newcomers through mentoring, these grants illustrate the diversity of research being done at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, vice-president of research. “This funding not only helps established researchers continue their work but also helps our early career researchers build their research programs. Ultimately, our students benefit with increased opportunities to engage in research throughout their post-secondary careers.”

In total, ULethbridge received funding from NSERC for nine Discovery Grants and two Discovery Development Grants. The Discovery Grants will bring in nearly $475,000 a year for the next five years. The research projects include the following:

Dr. Gerlinde Metz (Neuroscience) will receive $96,000 per year for a study looking at the social determinants of experience-dependent brain plasticity.
Dr. Stacey Wetmore (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $89,000 per year for a project involving computer modelling of modified RNA.
Dr. Olga Kovalchuk (Biological Sciences) was awarded $55,000 annually to study the fundamental mechanisms of low-dose radiation.
Dr. Borries Demeler (Chemistry & Biochemistry) is set to receive $47,000 yearly for solution studies of interacting biopolymer systems.
Dr. Hadi Kharaghani (Mathematics & Computer Science) will receive $32,000 a year for his project on special orthogonal matrices.

The remainder of the NSERC recipients are four early career researchers, each of whom received a Discovery Launch Supplement of $12,500 in addition to their Discovery Grant.

Dr. Corina Birghila (Mathematics & Computer Science) was awarded a yearly amount of $31,000 for a project titled Optimal Decision under Uncertainty.
Dr. Jessica Willi (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $44,000 annually for a project on ribosome functions through synthetic biology.
Dr. Vineet Rathod (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $38,000 annually to examine the structure-function relationship of natural and engineered amyloid proteins.
Dr. Dylan Girodat (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $42,000 per year for a project on the structural dynamics of ribosomes during translation.

In addition, Discovery Development Grants, worth $22,000 each, were awarded to Drs. Christopher Hopkinson (Geography & Environment) and Marc Bomhof (Kinesiology and Physical Education).

Hopkinson will use remote sensing to model vegetation and snowpack response to wildland fire in headwater basins.
Bomhof intends to look at the interplay between exercise and dietary factors on appetite regulation.

ULethbridge social science and humanities researchers were awarded $645,000 in SSHRC Insight Grants.

Dr. Daniel O'Donnell (English) will work on a project involving Research Data Management and Research Data Infrastructure by humanities researchers.
Dr. Scott Rathwell (Kinesiology) wants to enhance sport participation, promote physical activity and improve health outcomes for aging adults by establishing a framework for effective sport programming in middle-aged and older adults.

Several ULethbridge researchers are the recipients of Insight Development Grants totalling more than $291,000.

Dr. Toupey Luft (Education) has designed a project to address the gap in understanding how arts-based mentorship may enhance a sense of belonging for newcomer young adults.
Dr. Kenneth Holyoke’s (Geography & Environment) project investigates the nature and scope of climate impacts on the Wolastoqiyik and Wabanaki archaeological record in New Brunswick.
Dr. Justin Raycraft’s (Anthropology) objective in this project is to increase understanding of the social dimensions of human-carnivore coexistence in the Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania.
Dr. Jeffrey MacCormack (Education) will develop a professional development intervention consisting of a community of practice for teachers and principals where they learn evidence-based practices to support students with profound and multiple disabilities.
Dr. Miranda Leibel (Liberal Education) will examine how the creation and maintenance of postal services are an important component of Canadian state- and nation-building.

Dr. Jackie Rice appointed to second term

caroline.zentner — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 16:21:58 +0000

Accomplished researcher and administrator Dr. Jackie Rice has been appointed to a second term as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Associate Vice-President (Research) and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.

Rice, who assumed the role when it was originally combined in 2020, will begin her second term on July 1, 2024.

A professor of computer science, Rice attended the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria and received her BSc in 1993, her MSc in 1995 and her PhD in 2003. She has worked as a sessional instructor at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria, an instructor at Camosun College in Victoria, a programmer/analyst for SHL Systemhouse, and a computer consultant at various times throughout her career. She has been teaching at post-secondary institutions since 1995 and came to ULethbridge in 2002.

An outstanding researcher who has championed the role of women in science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM) fields, Rice has also keenly supported public outreach activities and mentoring for young people. Her current area of research focuses on an examination of how people use programming languages and relating sociolinguistics characteristics to differences in the use of programming languages.

“Dr. Rice has played an integral role in advancing the impact and profile of the School of Graduate Studies and greatly enhancing the ULethbridge experience for researchers across our campuses,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, Vice-President (Research). “I am pleased to appoint Dr. Rice for a second term and to continue the positive momentum she has helped to foster for both our research engagement and graduate studies programming.”

Broad areas of research awarded federal funding

caroline.zentner — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 21:03:34 +0000

A spectrum of research projects at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge have been awarded nearly $2.6 million in federal funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

The funding is part of $693.8 million for several NSERC research competitions recently announced on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

“This investment in ULethbridge research activities speaks to the excellence and nationally competitive research we do — everything from mapping fuels for wildland fires to bee behaviour and the dynamics of black holes,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, vice-president research. “Our researchers investigate topics that impact the ways we understand the world around us and the complex influences and interconnectedness of the natural environment, agriculture and food security, and deep space phenomena.”

In addition, Dr. Monique Giroux had her Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Métis Music renewed for $500,000 through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

In all, 14 ULethbridge projects are receiving funding support from NSERC through the Discovery Grant and Discovery Development Grant programs. Among them are the following projects:

Dr. Laura Chasmer, a professor in the Department of Geography & Environment, will use novel Earth observation and geospatial data to examine how variations in vegetation ecosystems, both in space and in time, may enhance and reduce wildfires in Western Canada. The research program, which will include Indigenous land managers and knowledge keepers, will develop new ways of understanding fire hazards and recommendations for ecosystem management to lessen the impact of fire and improve the resilience of ecosystems and communities.
Dr. Sergio Pellis, Department of Neuroscience, will investigate the role of rough-and-tumble play or play-fighting in the development of cognitive and social skills in non-human mammals. Based on preliminary findings, Pellis hypothesizes that species with more complex social systems that require them to negotiate more varied relationships will have patterns of play that train youngsters for the social skills they’ll need as adults.

Discovery Grants

The funding listed for the following projects is over five years:

Dr. Theresa Burg, Biological Sciences — Evolution of High Latitude Birds ($200,000)
Dr. Shelley Hoover, Biological Sciences — Interactions between social bee behaviour and health ($190,000)
Dr. Steve Wiseman, Biological Sciences — Toxicant Induced Dysregulation of Oocyte Maturation ($235,000)
Dr. Nehal Thakor, Chemistry & Biochemistry — Regulation of mRNA Translation During Cellular Stress and Apoptosis ($200,000)
Dr. Laura Chasmer, Geography & Environment — Spatio-temporal variations in wildland fire fuel connectivity and behaviour using multi-data analytics ($275,000)
Dr. Joy Morris, Mathematics & Computer Science — Unexpected Symmetries of Graphs ($135,000)
Dr. David Euston, Neuroscience — Risk, Reinforcement Schedules, and Dopamine ($165,000)
Dr. Sergio Pellis, Neuroscience — Social play, the prefrontal cortex and the development of socio-cognitive skills ($275,000)
Dr. Alexandra Tetarenko, Physics & Astronomy — Unravelling how black holes power explosive outflows ($145,000)
Dr. Stephanus Henzi, Psychology — Contingency and Specificity in the Structure and Dynamics of Social Behaviour in Baboons and Vervet Monkeys ($235,000)
Dr. Jean-Baptiste Leca, Psychology — Mechanisms and evolution of material culture in primates: Does object play facilitate tool use? ($268,690)
Dr. Jamal Mansour, Psychology — Measuring cognitive processes that predict eyewitness identification performance ($165,000)

Discovery Development Grants

The funding listed for the following projects is over two years:

Dr. Philip Bonaventure, Geography & Environment — Climatic, geomorphic and ecosystem-driven multi-scale permafrost modelling and testing ($40,0000)
Dr. David Morris, Mathematics & Computer Science — Arithmetic groups, orderability, bounded generation and automorphisms ($40,000)

The Research Support Fund supports a portion of the costs associated with managing the research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, such as salaries for staff who provide administration support, training costs for workplace health and safety, maintenance of libraries and laboratories, and administrative costs associated with obtaining patents for inventions.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers awarded more than $2.3 million in NSERC, CFI funding support

trevor.kenney — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 22:07:42 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers across a breadth of disciplines have earned more than $2.3 million in funding support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), as announced by the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, and the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health in Edmonton today.

The funding support is part of a $960-million investment by the federal government in research activities across the country.

“This funding is an integral part of the research process and supports our faculty members and their teams in multiple ways, from hiring essential personnel to training graduate and undergraduate students, to acquiring essential equipment and more,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, ULethbridge vice-president (research). “This support allows our researchers to continue to pursue the solutions to a host of issues facing society today and in the future.”

“My best wishes to all the recipients of these grants, awards and scholarships,” adds Minister Holland. “The government is pleased to invest in your diverse array of health, natural sciences and engineering research projects because we know that your ideas, passion and hard work, as well as the evidence you uncover, are instrumental in improving the health and quality of life of people in Canada, and your findings contribute to the international research effort around the world.”

In all, nine ULethbridge researchers were successful in their NSERC grant applications, which included funding for projects in neuroscience, biological sciences, chemistry & biochemistry and mathematics & computer science. As well, Drs. Majid Mohajerani and Stacey Wetmore earned CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) awards.

Among the projects are Dr. Roy Golsteyn’s (biological sciences) work investigating human cell division and utilizing beneficial chemicals in Canadian prairie plants, which was funded at $300,000 ($60,000 per year over five years). As well, Dr. Bruce McNaughton (neuroscience) receives $420,000 over five years for his study to understand the neural basis of long-term, episodic memory, and Dr. Robert Benkoczi (mathematics & computer science) is receiving a Discovery Development Grant valued at $40,000 over two years as he conducts fundamental research into finding new and more efficient algorithms for planning large scale evacuations.

“The projects our researchers are involved in cover a wide range of topics, all of which are focused on bettering society while providing excellent mentoring and training to undergraduate and graduate students,” adds McMartin. “These funding awards give just a glimpse of the breadth of research activity taking place daily across our campuses.”

Following are details on today’s grant announcements.

NSERC

Discovery Grant (5 years)

Dr. Roy Golsteyn (biological sciences) — Natural products as novel tools to investigate human cell division ($300,000) — Our research uncovers how human cells divide and seeks beneficial chemicals in Canadian prairie plants. From potential cancer treatments to sustainable practices, we are supporting scientific and economic innovation, while fostering cultural exchange with southern Alberta Indigenous communities.

Dr. Igor Kovalchuk (biological sciences) — Transgenerational response to stress in Arabidopsis ($255,000).

Dr. Marc Roussel (chemistry and biochemistry) — Delays in gene expression models: methodological developments ($225,000) — Development of methods for building and analyzing mathematical models of gene expression systems, where transcription, translation and splicing may play a significant role in the timing of events.

Dr. Bruce McNaughton (neuroscience) — Consolidation of cortical memory representations into hippocampus-independent form: neural ensemble dynamics and mechanisms ($420,000) — We are attempting to understand the neural basis of long-term, episodic memory, and its integration into generalized knowledge encoded by brain cells in the cerebral cortex.

Discovery Development Grant (2 years)

Dr. Olga Kovalchuk (biological sciences) — Exosomes - important mediators of direct and bystander radiation effects on the brain ($40,000).

Dr. Robert Benkoczi (mathematics & computer science) — Models and algorithms for facility location ($40,000) — This award supports fundamental research into finding new and more efficient algorithms for planning large scale evacuations.

Dr. Shahadat Hossain (mathematics & computer science) — Efficient computation with sparse and structured matrices – mathematical derivatives and beyond ($40,000).

Research Tools and Instruments (1 year)

Dr. Trushar Patel (chemistry & biochemistry) — Isothermal Titration Calorimetry for Studying Macromolecular Interactions ($150,000) — The installation of ITC (Isothermal Titration Calorimetry) at ULethbridge strengthens the biochemical and biophysical infrastructure as well as the research programs aimed at examining communication events that are at the heart of viral infections and cancer.

Dr. Matthew Tata (neuroscience) — Critical Refit and Upgrade to Electroencephalography Lab at ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge ($149,140) — This upgrade includes state-of-the-art electroencephalography systems to study how brain regions communicate with each other while solving the computational problems of perception and cognition.

CFI

John R. Evans Leaders Fund

Dr. Majid Mohajerani (neuroscience) — Innovative brain imaging techniques for aging-associated diseases ($563,466).

Dr. Stacey Wetmore (chemistry & biochemistry) — Tools for modeling the chemistry of modified nucleic acids ($139,702).

PUBlic Professor Series talk delves into the scary world of mathematics and how to conquer math anxiety

trevor.kenney — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 18:45:01 +0000

Math anxiety forms at an early age and often follows us into adulthood — but math isn't going anywhere, and we use it to varied degrees throughout our entire lives. So, how do we cope with the associated anxiety?

Dr. Habiba Kadiri seeks to ease your mathematical fears.

On Thursday, January 26, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge mathematics professor, Dr. Habiba Kadiri, will present Resilience in Mathematics as part of the PUBlic Professor Series. The free event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge and is open to the public.

Solving a mathematical problem is a hurdle one encounters starting in elementary school. Attached to this is a unique educational issue known as math anxiety. Resilience and persistence are essential skills in research, and particularly in mathematics where problems can remain open for generations. In this talk, Kadiri will address the lifelong endeavour to tackle problems, both mathematical and societal, and find resources to overcome these issues.

Habiba Kadiri is a French-born mathematician working in the field of number theory. She has been a ULethbridge faculty member since 2007. Before moving to Lethbridge, Kadiri was a postdoctoral fellow in Montreal, where she was a member of Andrew Granville’s (CRC I, FRSC) dynamic research group. Kadiri received her BSc and MSc from Université de Bordeaux. She received her PhD from Université de Lille in 2002.

Mathematics instructor Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick honoured with 2022 Excellence in Teaching Award

trevor.kenney — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 14:35:05 +0000

Renowned for understanding the student perspective and tailoring his teaching to minimize student anxiety and elevate understanding, Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick has been awarded the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s 2022 Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick is regarded as one of the most popular instructors on campus.

Fitzpatrick is one of the most popular instructors on campus as he employs innovative techniques and uses open education resources to enhance his students’ understanding of complex mathematical concepts. He will be presented with the Excellence in Teaching Award at Fall 2022 Convocation, Saturday, October 15, 2022, 10 a.m. in the 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness.

Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick

Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick doesn’t mind seeing his students fail. In fact, he encourages his students to take chances and push beyond their comfort zones, accepting that mistakes will happen — and that’s where the true learning begins.

An instructor in ULethbridge’s Department of Mathematics & Computer Science since 2014, Fitzpatrick is comfortable challenging long-held standards of assessment and emphasizing flexibility and availability, both for himself and course materials.

At the core of his teaching philosophy is that mathematics is learned through trying, failing and then learning from mistakes. He trusts his students want to learn, and whenever possible, will allow students to revise and reassess their work for credit — even on tests. The approach reinforces a class dynamic where he and his students learn and advance collectively.

Fitzpatrick is keenly aware of the student experience and has long been a champion of equity in education. Recognizing the cost of textbooks can be a prohibitive barrier for many students, he developed his own website, where he hosts or links to textbooks for 17 courses in mathematics and statistics. Some are available in HTML, which works on any device, have embedded videos, interactive graphics and homework exercises, and even code cells that let students execute live computer code to help with calculations. In addition, Fitzpatrick maintains a free online homework portal for all his classes — something which has been adopted by instructors throughout the department.

Accessibility is another hallmark of his teaching. Utilizing the Teaching Centre while a Teaching Fellow from 2018 to 2020, Fitzpatrick took advantage of the lightboard resource to create hundreds of professional-quality instructional videos and develop his own YouTube channel. Many new students struggle to make effective use of their textbooks, and by augmenting the books with video explanations, students digest ideas they are not used to seeing in print.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers successful in securing NSERC funding support

trevor.kenney — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 16:23:37 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers from the Departments of Mathematics & Computer Science, Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Physics & Astronomy were awarded grants totalling more than $277,000 as the Government of Canada announced funding awards through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, along with the Honourable Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board, announced funding of more than $506 million — an investment in the world’s brightest minds to increase the impact of science, technology and innovation in Canada.

“Discovery is the foundation of all advancements. Through this major investment in some of Canada’s most promising and innovative researchers we are supporting scientists and students to become global leaders in their field,” says Champagne. “By helping to expand the frontiers of science, we are investing in a better society and a brighter future for Canadians.”

Researchers from across the country are receiving the funding to continue to lead world-class research programs in a wide variety of natural sciences and engineering disciplines. These include research programs focused on climate change, chemistry, biology, mathematics and statistics, computer science and artificial intelligence, and engineering.

Dr. Dena McMartin, ULethbridge vice-president (research), says the continued success of applicants from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is indicative of the innovative environment nurtured by faculty.

“When you have world-class faculty dedicated to their craft, and dedicated to their students and discovery, it fuels their own research programs and inspires colleagues to push for these funding opportunities as well,” says McMartin. “The success of these researchers continues to advance the reputation of their programs within their respective fields and opens up even greater opportunities for their students, trainees and further innovation down the road.”

The following programs are receiving NSERC funding:

Dr. Yllias Chali, Mathematics & Computer Science, Text Summarization and Question Generation Models — $24,000 (5 years)

Dr. Michael Gerken, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Donor-Stabilized Fluorido Cations and New Tungsten-Based Weakly Coordinating Anions — $62,000 (5 years)

Dr. Jean-Denys Hamel, Chemistry & Biochemistry, New Catalytic Methodologies for the Synthesis of Organofluorine Compounds — $25,000 (5 years)

Dr. Jean-Denys Hamel, Chemistry & Biochemistry, New Catalytic Methodologies for the Synthesis of Organofluorine Compounds — $12,500 (1 year)

Dr. Trushar Patel, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Understanding Communications Between Viral RNAs and Human Proteins — $40,000 (5 years)

Dr. Marc Roussel and Dr. Stacey Wetmore, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Critical Renewal of an Obsolete Computational Biochemistry Suite at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge — $90,050 (1 year)

Dr. Mark Walton, Physics & Astronomy, Phase space Quantum Mechanics and the Quantum-Classical Relation — $24,000 (5 years)

Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick earns Excellence in Teaching Award

trevor.kenney — Thu, 16 Jun 2022 17:27:35 +0000

Congratulations to Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick, an instructor in the Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, for being named winner of the 2022 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick came to ULethbridge in 2014 and over the course of the last eight years, has taught 14 different courses ranging from introductory to senior level and from algebra to calculus and specialized topics such as topology. He earned his bachelor’s in mathematics and physics at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Winnipeg, then earned a master's and PhD in mathematics at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto.

Fitzpatrick will be honoured at the Fall 2022 Convocation ceremony.

U of L researchers receive nearly $4 million in NSERC Discovery grants

caroline.zentner — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 21:44:54 +0000

A crop of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are recipients of close to $4 million in new grants payable over multiple years through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s Discovery research program.

The Honourable Navdeep Bains, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, recently announced more than $492 million in funding to some 2,400 researchers across Canada. At the U of L, 19 researchers were successful in their applications for Discovery grants. These grants, which vary in amounts from $23,000 to $65,000, will enable discoveries in chemistry, biochemistry, biological sciences, neuroscience, mathematics and computer science and psychology. The U of L was also successful in receiving two Research Tools and Instruments grants worth almost $300,000.

“We are excited to share the news of these grant recipients and extend congratulations to each and every one of them,” says Dr. Robert Wood, interim vice-president (research). “Our success rate of 76 per cent in this granting cycle is well above the national average. This is testament to the skill of our researchers and the significant impact of the work they are doing. It is talented researchers such as these that make the U of L one of Canada’s leading research universities for its size.”

Below are listed the recipients in each department:

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry: Drs. René Boeré, Paul Hayes, Ute Kothe, Trushar Patel and Athan Zovoilis.

Department of Biological Sciences: Drs. Matthew Bogard, Julie Lee-Yaw, Jenny McCune, Gregory Pyle and Stewart Rood.

Department of Neuroscience: Drs. Aaron Gruber, Andrew Iwaniuk, Artur Luczak, Robert McDonald and Masami Tatsuno.

Department of Mathematics & Computer Science: Drs. Andrew Fiori, Habiba Kadiri and Nathan Ng.

Department of Psychology: Drs. Fangfang Li, David Logue and Paul Vasey.

In addition, Drs. Ute Kothe and Aaron Gruber received Accelerator supplements, valued at $120,000 each over three years, on top of their Discovery grants. And, four early career researchers, including Lee-Yaw, Bogard, McCune and Fiori, were awarded Discovery Launch supplements, each valued at $12,500.

More information can be found on the NSERC website.

PUBlic Professor Series talk analyzes the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence

trevor.kenney — Wed, 13 Nov 2019 21:12:56 +0000

We hear about artificial intelligence (AI) in all sorts of high-tech and somewhat distant technologies like self-driving cars and robotics, but AI is here in your life right now in ways that you may not realize. Banking, insurance, medicine, education and the justice system all offer examples of how AI has been and continues to be put to use. But what are the downsides to this, and how can we harness the power of AI in ways that benefit everyone? From deciding who gets a bank loan to learning how men and women write differently, we need to have an understanding of how AI is being used, and what the implications mig We hear about artificial intelligence (AI) in all sorts of high-tech and somewhat distant technologies like self-driving cars and robotics, but AI is here in your life right now in ways that you may not realize. Banking, insurance, medicine, education and the justice system all offer examples of how AI has been and continues to be put to use. But what are the downsides to this, and how can we harness the power of AI in ways that benefit everyone? From deciding who gets a bank loan to learning how men and women write differently, we need to have an understanding of how AI is being used, and what the implications might be.

On Thursday, Nov. 21, Dr. Jackie Rice will present The Benefits and Risks of Artificial Intelligence.

On Thursday, Nov. 21, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge computer science professor, Dr. Jackie Rice, will present The Benefits and Risks of Artificial Intelligence. This is the third talk of the 2019/20 season for the Faculty of Arts & Science’s PUBlic Professor Series. The free event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge and is open to the public.

Rice earned a BSc in 1993, an MSc in 1995, and a PhD in computer science in 2003 from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria. From 1995 to 2000 she worked as a computer consultant for various areas of industry and has been teaching at post-secondary institutions since 1995. She has taught at the U of L for the past 17 years.

Rice's experiences as one of very few women in her area have shaped how she conducts research. As well, these experiences have given her the drive to encourage diversity, and not just in computer science. As a result, Rice is active in outreach and mentoring for young people from many different backgrounds, including working with the local sea cadets as a civilian instructor. She is currently an associate dean with the Faculty of Arts & Science.

In this talk, she will explore both the benefits of the amazing recent advances in artificial intelligence, as well as the risks these present to society.

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