No one dreamed, or nightmared, that this would be the year a microscopic monster would dominate the global conversation and spark the most intense research collaborations of our time. (Do most of us even remember January? Does anyone else look at pre-March group photos and think, for a fleeting moment, “They’re standing too close…”?)
2020 will forever be known as a watershed.
We mourned: four brilliant Western students lost in the downing of an Iranian jet.
We took action: a commitment and a plan to eliminate anti-Black racism and redress colonialism’s harms.
We celebrated: figurative caps thrown in the air, digital fireworks cascading above a livestreamed University College Hill.
Even as 2020 earned its reputation as a serious and sombre year, it also provided curious minds with a wealth of new knowledge, and discoveries from the mammoth to the minuscule: exomoons in distant solar systems; 5G technology; fruit-fly mating choices, the dietary habits of ancient Arctic beavers.
We discovered that bilingualism doesn’t make us smarter (incroyable!); that sparrows can predict snowstorms; that even minor, non-concussion hits to the head can alter brain function.
And we also learned that we are bigger than our circumstances. We led world-changing research into global diseases, including COVID-19. We pivoted in ways we had never anticipated. Above all, we took care of each other and our community.
Here, we share 10 stories – in images, video and words – from the year that was.
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Year in review: The new language of COVID
“Because of COVID” became shorthand for the myriad ways we became experts in the art of the pivot.
The Western community pulled together for new safety protocols and a mix of online and in-person learning. Photo by Frank Neufeld / Special to Western Communications
Year in review: A community mourns four Iranian students
The graduate students’ Western home became a focal point for a community remembering their lives and grieving their loss.
Western students lost aboard flight PS 752: Ghazal Nourian, Hadis Hayatdavoudi, Milad Nahavandi and Sajedeh Saraeian.
Year in review: Parr, partnerships, pace-setters
A raft of gifts and investments showed faith in the quality and potential of Western and its people.
The Labatt Family’s gift will help educate nurses like Nour Al-Farawi, BScN’12, BHSc’12, MN’15, who witnessed first-hand how vulnerable populations can be affected by a health-care crisis while working at a London COVID-19 assessment centre.
Year in review: Let me count the ways
A Western researcher analyzed what makes relationships work, or not. Turns out, relationship success has little to do with your personal awesomeness, and even less to do with fairy-tale love potions and Puccini arias.
Photo by Jasmine Carter of Pexels
Year in review: Lightning-fast research
We are speed. Western became the first Canadian university with a 5G research network.
Westerin is the first Canadian university with a 5G research network, part of a partnership with Bell Canada. Photo illustration by Rob Potter/Western Communications
Year in review: Western research addresses One Big Problem
Every faculty at Western brought some new research insight to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 virus, magnified. Source: US Centres for Disease Control
Year in review: Western sustainability, version 2.020
Western’s renewed and renewable commitment to sustainability is far more than a (phosphate-free) laundry list of activities.
Western has installed a secure, solar-powered bike shelter beside Alumni Hall. Photo by Brandon Watson/Western University
Year in review: The birds and the bees (and other beasts)
This was a year of quirky critter news, Western research that made international headlines, from ancient beavers to murder hornets.
Vespa mandarinia – or ‘murder hornet’ – came to Canadian shores this year.
Year in review: Addressing and redressing racism, colonialism
Western shone an unblinking spotlight on the scourge of racism and the shadows of colonialism.
As special advisors on anti-racism, Nicole Kaniki and Bertha Garcia are laying the foundation for an interim advisory council on equity, diversity and inclusion at Western. Photo and photo composite by Andrew Campbell / Western Communications
Year in review: Western Space looking for life in all the right places
In its first full year, Western Space explored, discovered, dreamed – and became recognized as one of the leading authorities for all things terrestrial and extra-.
CubeSat illustration by Rob Potter/Western Communications
