Penny Pexman, an internationally recognized leader in the field of cognitive psychology, has been announced as Western’s new vice-president (research), effective Sept. 1, 2023. The board of governors approved a five-year term for Pexman at its meeting …
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Study calls attention to cyclist-motorist collisions
While deaths from cyclist-motorist collisions are relatively rare, nearly half of them can be attributed to driver fault and following too closely, according to Western researchers. “The most important takeaway is 43 per cent of cyclists that were killed were hit from...
Exploring how yoga healed a broken country
Dunna, a Colombian non-profit organization, is healing its country - one yoga class at a time. For the past 10 years, the organization has taught yoga to victims of the Colombian Conflict – a 60-year civil war that ended only two years ago – to help them cope with...
Entrepreneurial team wins with surgical precision
Make it another innovation-and-commercialization win for PhD candidate Patrick McCunn and Alex Moszcynski, PhD’17. After taking one of the top spots in last year’s Proteus Innovation Competition with their plans to commercialize a cloud-based data collection app, the...
Time to connect the dots to improve safe cycling on campus
Susan downshifts her bike to a lower gear with a soft ‘click click.’ Gliding into the safe haven of Western’s protected bike lane on Middlesex Drive, she begins the slow ascent. Halfway up the hill, a jaywalker scampers across the bike lane. "We get no respect," she...
Rising stars solving health, science puzzles
The core of discovery is research. And the core of good research is a dedicated, inquisitive team of scientists committed to solving some of the key questions of their discipline. Western is proud to highlight the work of teams newly granted Early Researcher Awards...
Study may reduce pain, improve play for those with arthritis
Ground-breaking work by Western researchers may soon help golfers with arthritis get a better grip on playing with less pain and more control.
Bringing inter-generational music to the community
The atonal clatter of utensils on plates falls away to near-silence when Kristal Daniels, accompanying herself on grand piano, begins to sing a soulful Verdi love song. One elderly diner whispers to her table partner, “It is so lovely to have our own lunchtime...
New tech may benefit Parkinson’s sufferers
A new prototype for wearable tremor suppression gloves has a team of Western researchers believing real change is on the way for the more than 6 million people in the world afflicted by Parkinson’s disease.
Study says Internet troll toll not always negative
Yimin Chen’s first experience with Internet trolls was in the early days of the worldwide web. Interested in “fairly nerdy and geeky stuff like comic books and video games” in chat rooms and forums, he found an online community where people shared interests, inside...
Russian doping about more than one Olympic Games
When you talk about the Russian doping scandal, it is a mistake to insist on speaking solely about the 2014 Sochi Olympics. That is, when the KGB – now named the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) – worked to allow dirty athletes to compete by...
Poet brings ‘terribly pleasurable’ work to page
In her small bachelor apartment in Halifax’s South End, in cafes and the public library nearby, Annick MacAskill has carved out small corners in which to write. She will sit, start writing a poem first in scratchy, illegible longhand in a Moleskine Volant journal,...
Study: Brief, brisk workout can improve cognition
Approaching his latest study, Matthew Heath already knew aerobic exercise can be as good for the mind as for the body. What he wanted to find out was how long you need to exercise in order to reap those cognitive benefits. There’s a well-documented link between...
Study calls attention to cyclist-motorist collisions
While deaths from cyclist-motorist collisions are relatively rare, nearly half of them can be attributed to driver fault and following too closely, according to Western researchers. “The most important takeaway is 43 per cent of cyclists that were killed were hit from...
Exploring how yoga healed a broken country
Dunna, a Colombian non-profit organization, is healing its country - one yoga class at a time. For the past 10 years, the organization has taught yoga to victims of the Colombian Conflict – a 60-year civil war that ended only two years ago – to help them cope with...
Entrepreneurial team wins with surgical precision
Make it another innovation-and-commercialization win for PhD candidate Patrick McCunn and Alex Moszcynski, PhD’17. After taking one of the top spots in last year’s Proteus Innovation Competition with their plans to commercialize a cloud-based data collection app, the...
Time to connect the dots to improve safe cycling on campus
Susan downshifts her bike to a lower gear with a soft ‘click click.’ Gliding into the safe haven of Western’s protected bike lane on Middlesex Drive, she begins the slow ascent. Halfway up the hill, a jaywalker scampers across the bike lane. "We get no respect," she...
Rising stars solving health, science puzzles
The core of discovery is research. And the core of good research is a dedicated, inquisitive team of scientists committed to solving some of the key questions of their discipline. Western is proud to highlight the work of teams newly granted Early Researcher Awards...
Study may reduce pain, improve play for those with arthritis
Ground-breaking work by Western researchers may soon help golfers with arthritis get a better grip on playing with less pain and more control.
Bringing inter-generational music to the community
The atonal clatter of utensils on plates falls away to near-silence when Kristal Daniels, accompanying herself on grand piano, begins to sing a soulful Verdi love song. One elderly diner whispers to her table partner, “It is so lovely to have our own lunchtime...
New tech may benefit Parkinson’s sufferers
A new prototype for wearable tremor suppression gloves has a team of Western researchers believing real change is on the way for the more than 6 million people in the world afflicted by Parkinson’s disease.
Study says Internet troll toll not always negative
Yimin Chen’s first experience with Internet trolls was in the early days of the worldwide web. Interested in “fairly nerdy and geeky stuff like comic books and video games” in chat rooms and forums, he found an online community where people shared interests, inside...
Russian doping about more than one Olympic Games
When you talk about the Russian doping scandal, it is a mistake to insist on speaking solely about the 2014 Sochi Olympics. That is, when the KGB – now named the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) – worked to allow dirty athletes to compete by...
Poet brings ‘terribly pleasurable’ work to page
In her small bachelor apartment in Halifax’s South End, in cafes and the public library nearby, Annick MacAskill has carved out small corners in which to write. She will sit, start writing a poem first in scratchy, illegible longhand in a Moleskine Volant journal,...
Study: Brief, brisk workout can improve cognition
Approaching his latest study, Matthew Heath already knew aerobic exercise can be as good for the mind as for the body. What he wanted to find out was how long you need to exercise in order to reap those cognitive benefits. There’s a well-documented link between...