Data centres – large industrial facilities that power cloud computing and AI – have become critical infrastructure supporting the world’s growing digitization. Everything from streaming video and online banking to scientific research and generative AI depends on their ability to store, process and move enormous volumes of data.

As demand for digital services continues to rise, these centres sit at the root of that growth. And, as they become more pervasive, conversations about broader implications are growing.

“Data centres are increasingly part of public debate because of concerns about energy use, environmental impact, local economic effects and data sovereignty in Canada,” says Lyndsey Rolheiser, an assistant professor at the .

Despite the growing significance, there remains a notable gap in publicly available information about these facilities.

“There is very little systematic evidence to inform that discussion,” says Alexander Carlo, a postdoctoral researcher at Schulich. “At a basic level, we do not have a clear picture of where data centres are located in Canada or where new ones are being developed.”

Rolheiser and Carlo set out to address that gap by creating the first comprehensive map of Canada’s data centre landscape. Their work, now and to be included in the forthcoming Schulich School of Business Real Assets Research Paper Series, documents both existing facilities and the growing pipeline of projects that have been announced or are under construction.

The authors built their analysis around a proprietary dataset from Aterio, a data intelligence firm that aggregates information on large‑scale infrastructure projects. Using permitting records, utility filings and company disclosures, they tracked facilities from initial announcement through construction to full operation, then layered in census and provincial electricity data to assess location, scale and energy implications.

Once completed, they mapped out a much clearer picture of how Canada’s digital infrastructure is changing. The analysis shows that while Canada’s current data facilities footprint remains relatively modest, the pipeline of planned facilities is nearly 10 times larger – and those new centres are far bigger than older ones, reflecting a shift toward hyperscale infrastructure designed to support AI.

Future development is also highly concentrated: Alberta alone accounts for more than 90 per cent of planned capacity, despite relying on a comparatively high‑emissions electricity grid. At the same time, new facilities are increasingly being built far from major cities, often hundreds of kilometres from urban cores. Meanwhile, provinces with cleaner electricity systems, including Quebec, Ontario and B.C., have begun restricting or carefully managing grid access for large new data centres.

These patterns reflect a set of broader concerns the authors explore in the paper. Data centres consume enormous amounts of electricity – often equivalent to tens of thousands of households per facility – while creating relatively few long‑term jobs compared with the scale of public infrastructure they require. Their expansion can reshape provincial power systems, raise emissions concerns and crowd out other users. The authors also point to questions of data sovereignty, since most large facilities are owned by foreign firms and to the risk that some projects could become stranded assets if AI demand slows or climate policy tightens.

While Rolheiser and Carlo do point to these risks, the aim of the research is to ground future discussions in evidence. “This is a necessary first step for any informed policy or public debate,” Rolheiser says.

“At a minimum,” Carlo adds, “the paper should help clarify what the current landscape looks like and where development is taking place.”

Both researchers hope their work contributes to more informed discussions about data centres in Canada, and provides a solid evidence base that helps policymakers and the public better understand these sites and their impacts on grid access, emissions and economic benefits.

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From 3 to 4 a.m. on April 8, physics and astronomy students used the observatory’s one-metre telescope to image Orion as it travelled back toward Earth after looping around the moon. The capsule carried Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The observation was led by graduate student Sunna Withers and supported by Naul Sethuram Ramjee, an undergraduate student. Ramjee also completed the data reduction, animating the images to produce a short movie showing the spacecraft moving against background stars.

"I worked on processing the Artemis II data using Siril (an astronomical image processing software)," says Ramjee. "I uploaded the sequence of images and applied auto stretch to enhance the brightness and contrast, and then converted the sequence into a video to visually capture it's movement over time."

Because Orion appeared low on the horizon, the imaging capture pushed the limits of the telescope. The team used a Mallincam camera mounted on the one-metre telescope at York’s Keele Campus to capture the historic mission.

Elaina Hyde, director of AICO and associate professor in the Faculty of Science, says this kind of telescope access and training is rarely available to undergraduate students. Having the largest telescope on any Canadian post-secondary campus, she notes, "is quite a boon to any space fan at York."

She adds that certification to use the telescope is open to all undergraduate students.

Withers describes the event as "very exciting." Because the capsule was barely visible against the stars, it took careful comparison of multiple images to identify its motion. "It was a great feeling once I spotted it," says Withers. "Artemis II is a historic mission, especially with a Canadian on board, and its amazing that we were able to get a glimpse of it through the one-metre telescope."

A video of the spacecraft imaging, along with a technical discussion of the observations, is available for public viewing on .

“This work highlights how York students participate directly in space-related observation, data analysis and telescope operations using on-campus infrastructure,” says Hyde. “Monitoring mission activity gives students experience with real-time space missions.”

Alongside astronomical research, the observatory tracks satellites and space missions connected to human exploration programs.

Artemis II is part of NASA’s broader Artemis program that is preparing for a return of astronauts to the moon in 2028.

AICO supports both research and public engagement and offers free weekly public tours on Wednesday evenings, featuring its 60-centimetre and one-metre telescopes. This summer will also host the 2026 AstroFair – a community fundraiser to support AICO’s programming. More details will be released ahead of the Aug. 29 event.

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The study, published in , tested a multi-agent system built with large language models (LLMs) to simulate the work of a liver transplant selection committee – a multidisciplinary group that decides which patients are placed on transplant waitlists.

Using real-world transplant registry data, the AI system demonstrated high accuracy in identifying patients who are likely to benefit from a liver transplant and those for whom transplantation would be unlikely to help.

“Liver transplantation is a rare case in medicine where access to a life-saving treatment is limited by organ availability,” explains co-senior author Divya Sharma, assistant professor in the Faculty of Science. “Decisions about who is waitlisted are complex, and committee deliberations can be subject to unconscious bias where a clinician's own background or identity may subtly influence their judgement, even when national guidelines are in place.”

Researchers set out to test whether AI agents – each assigned a clinical role – could support more objective decision-making. To test the approach at scale, researchers evaluated the system against transplant outcomes data.

The study analyzed 20 years of data from more than 8,000 adult liver transplant recipients in the U.S. using the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. A simulated group of patients with known contraindications was also created to test the system’s accuracy in flagging cases that should be excluded from transplant consideration.

Results show the AI committee predicted one-year post-transplant survival with 92 per cent accuracy and six-month survival with 95 per cent accuracy. Contraindications were identified with an accuracy of more than 98 per cent, thereby identifying transplant candidates efficiently.

The research team also examined where errors occurred to better understand where the AI system works well, and where it needs careful oversight and improvement. The authors caution that continued monitoring is needed because transplant data can reflect broader inequities in access to health care.

“Our work positions LLM-based multi-agent AI systems as potential clinical decision-support tools, rather than replacements for human judgement,” says Sharma. “While AI shows promise in making liver transplant decisions more objective, it’s crucial to emphasize that the final responsibility must always remain with transplant teams and human oversight is critical to address ethical considerations.”

Sharma says while more research is needed to test the AI tools in real-world settings across different health systems, AI-supported committees have potential to help standardize complex medical decisions where resources are limited.

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Throughout his more than 15 years as an investment analyst and strategist, Adjunct Professor Nadeem Kassam, at the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, says he interviewed hundreds of new graduates eager to start their careers in capital markets.

Over time, he noticed a recurring pattern: students often arrived with strong theoretical knowledge, but struggled to present that knowledge in ways that clearly demonstrated their abilities to potential employers.

“They would have all this knowledge, but it wouldn’t be packaged yet in a way that showcased their abilities and skills to a potential employer,” says Kassam.

Earlier this year, Kassam – who teaches advanced portfolio management at York – partnered with York’s Finance Student Association to give a group of undergraduate students the chance to produce an industry grade report modelled on the kind of research produced by investment firms, as part of a new .

Under Kassam’s supervision, the project challenged students to analyze real world market data and synthesize and present their findings clearly and concisely under guidelines similar to those used in the industry. The goal, Kassam says, was to give students hands-on exposure applying classroom theory in ways that mirror real capital-markets work while helping them build tangible evidence of their competencies.

Those interested in participating were required to apply as they would for a job. Kassam reviewed applications from an employer’s perspective and provided individualized feedback – whether students were selected or not – to help them better understand how they might strengthen future applications. By the end of the process, he selected 14 students.

Among them was Abishek Daryanani, a fourth-year Bachelor of Commerce student specializing in finance. “I wanted to step outside of standard textbook coursework and gain practical, hands-on experience in macroeconomic analysis,” says Daryanani.

The same motivation drew Sidonia Sin Ying Wu, also a fourth-year Bachelor of Commerce student. “As someone pursuing a career in finance, I believe it’s not enough to simply know how to analyze data – you also need to know how to present that information clearly and explain the reasoning behind your interpretation to others,” Wu says. “The project’s combination of technical work and commentary writing was what really attracted me to this opportunity.”

Students began by learning to work with industry-standard tools such as the Bloomberg Terminal and Capital IQ, using real-world market data. With the S&P Capital IQ plug-in, they built live Excel dashboards that automatically updated as markets changed – a foundation they would rely on throughout the project.

From there, the focus shifted from working with data to turning analysis into insight that could be clearly communicated to others. Kassam asked students to apply the theories they had learned in class to the information in front of them, using those frameworks to understand what was happening in global markets, and why.

In practical terms, that meant answering questions investors ask every day: Why were stock markets moving the way they were? Why were bonds or commodities behaving differently? Which assets were acting as safe havens during periods of uncertainty, and how could those trends be explained using economic and financial theory?

“That foundational understanding of financial markets, reinforced with real-world application, was the main core,” Kassam says.

Students were then tasked with consolidating their assessment into a single report. Kassam imposed professional style constraints, requiring teams to work within fixed templates, page limits and formatting rules – boundaries designed to force prioritization and clarity.

“That process was much harder than I initially expected,” says Wu. “It wasn’t just about gathering data – it was about deciding what actually mattered and making it easy for readers to interpret.”

That process was exactly what Kassam had hoped students would experience. “That’s essentially the job that I’ve had to do for many years,” he says. “You’re given a lot of information. You have to take it away, figure it out, and then come back with a clear and concise report – often with just one slide and five bullet points.”

Collaboration was also central to the project. While students worked in small groups covering different areas of the markets, they were collectively responsible for contributing to a single, unified report – one Kassam expected to read as though it had been produced by a single analyst.

To achieve that cohesion, he took a hands-on role throughout the process, holding regular meetings where students presented findings, discussed market developments and received feedback to ensure consistency in analysis, tone and presentation.

The work culminated in the group’s inaugural report, released publicly in February. A second edition followed in March, with additional reports planned as part of the eight-month program. Students in future cohorts, he adds, will continue the series.

For students, seeing the work move from interpretation to a finished, public-facing report was a significant payoff. “It felt like all of our effort had turned into something tangible and professional that others could actually read and benefit from,” says Wu.

Daryanani agrees. “Seeing the final product come together and knowing that it mirrors the analytical rigor and formatting you would expect from a real strategy team is incredibly rewarding,” he says. “It’s something you just can’t get from a lecture hall.”

The project is also proving beneficial in other ways. Kassam says some students have used the reports in job applications as concrete examples of their skills.

“If you put this type of product in front of an interviewer, it shows the polish of a very clean, professional quality piece of work,” Kassam says. “It speaks volumes. It says, ‘I have experience. I work well in a team. I’m detail‑oriented – and here’s the proof.’”

Having hired hundreds of graduates over his career, Kassam says that kind of clarity helps remove uncertainty for employers evaluating early‑career candidates. “It’s about removing the guesswork for a potential employer,” he says.

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Several times a month, a small drone rises above the trees at Swan Lake, following a precise path over the water. Parkgoers who enjoy walking, jogging or birdwatching might assume it’s there to capture scenic footage. Instead, the drone is part of a �첥��Ƶ-led effort to understand – and help restore – the health of an urban lake under pressure.

Swan Lake, a former gravel pit transformed into a stormwater pond and community green space, faces ongoing water quality challenges. As rainwater flows into the site from surrounding roads and neighbourhoods, it carries excess nutrients, road salt and other pollutants. Over time, this can fuel frequent algae growth, cloud the water and reduce oxygen levels, stressing fish and wildlife, limiting recreation and, in some cases, raising public health concerns.

Since April 2025, �첥��Ƶ researchers, led by CIFAL York, have been turning concern about the lake’s health into measurable data and practical action through the Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab (SLCS Lab). The initiative brings together York research centres, including ADERSIM and the One WATER Institute, with local partners such as Friends of Swan Lake Park, a community‑based volunteer organization dedicated to protecting and improving the area’s ecological health.

“Communities often know when something is not right with a local ecosystem, but it’s hard to act without clear, comprehensive and consistent information, as well as meaningful community engagement” says Ali Asgary, director of CIFAL York and professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. “The goal of the lab is to support those concerns with reliable data that can guide real decisions.”

"To assess a lake is to assess ourselves," adds Satinder Kaur Brar, director of the One WATER Institute and professor at the . "Its health card is a mirror of our environmental stewardship."

One way the lab is assessing the lake is through advanced technology, such as the use of multispectral and thermal drones operated by York research teams.

Equipped with special cameras that capture different types of light – including some invisible to the human eye – the drones can detect potential algae growth and subtle changes in water clarity as they scan the lake from above. Flying low and on demand, they provide detailed, up-to-date views of trends across the entire water body, offering a clearer picture than satellite images and a broader perspective than scattered and spot‑by‑spot water sampling.

The drones have already yielded valuable insights, recently shared in a York‑led, under-review study that monitored patterns from spring through fall 2025. By flying the drones roughly once a month and analyzing the findings over time, researchers were able to pinpoint where algae forms, how blooms shift across the seasons and how changes in water cloudiness are driven by biological growth rather than stirred‑up sediment.

The findings confirm what many residents and park managers have long suspected: the lake is rich in nutrients and prone to recurring algae growth. The drone data, however, also reveal something new.

Conditions vary significantly from one area to another, suggesting that targeted, location‑specific interventions may be more effective than broad, one‑size‑fits‑all treatments applied across the entire lake. Knowing where problems emerge helps guide chemical treatments, shoreline naturalization projects and future restoration efforts – and provides a better way to measure whether those interventions are working. "Interconnecting drone data with on-ground water quality can turn ecological signals into informed action that is vital for communities," says Brar.

“What the data made clear is that this isn’t a uniform problem,” adds Asgary. “When conditions vary so much from one part of the lake to another, it changes how you think about solutions. This kind of information allows us to be more precise, more proactive and more strategic in environmental management.”

In addition to monitoring Swan Lake, York‑led teams are working to make the data easier to interpret and use in planning. Researchers are developing AI tools to identify patterns in the drone imagery, anticipate conditions such as algae outbreaks and translate complex trends into clearer insights.

Other teams are using virtual reality and simulation to help users visualize the lake over time and explore how different interventions might affect conditions. Meanwhile, geographic information system (GIS) specialists are turning the results into interactive maps and dashboards that help the public and those involved in lake management understand what is happening across the site.

A core goal of the Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab is to encourage meaningful community engagement and shared stewardship.

“From the start, this was never about researchers working in isolation,” says Asgary. “The goal of the Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab is to create a shared process, where community knowledge and scientific tools come together.”

Local partners are not just observers; they are active partners in the research. Residents take part in field checks, help interpret findings, attend workshops and contribute to outreach efforts that share findings. Alongside them, �첥��Ƶ students gain hands‑on experience applying classroom learning to a real environmental challenge, working with researchers and resident members in a local setting.

For CIFAL York, which is affiliated with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, the work at Swan Lake is a pilot that could inform other communities facing similar pressures on small urban lakes and wetlands.

“The impact here is very tangible,” says Asgary. “Through drones, data and collaboration, we’re building a deeper understanding of how this ecosystem functions and how it can be protected over time. That kind of shared knowledge is what allows stewardship to last.”

Find out more about the SLCS Lab, and see it in action, in the video below.

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In collaboration with Internet Archive Canada, a non-profit digital library, the MHSO is making its collection of multicultural newspapers – one of the most comprehensive in the country, with titles dating back to the 19th century – freely accessible online to scholars, educators and the public.

Housed within the offices of �첥��Ƶ’s Institute for Social Research (ISR), the MHSO’s archive was previously hosted by Simon Fraser University Library but is now migrating to a centralized, open-access platform designed to ensure long-term preservation and improve discoverability.

The initiative has launched with – The New Canadian, The Canadian Jewish Review, The Canadian Jewish News and L’Ami du Peuple – which document the experiences of Japanese Canadian, Jewish Canadian and Franco Ontarian communities.

Additional titles, including Chinese Canadian Community News and The Chinese Times, are being added, with more publications from the MHSO’s extensive collection to follow.

“Ethnic and francophone newspapers were vital instruments for community members to engage with and express their views on contemporary events,” says Julia Rady, Chair and president of MHSO. “Through our collaboration with Internet Archive Canada, there is now a single platform for people to discover and research these important resources, helping to preserve their legacy for generations to come.”

“This partnership significantly expands access to rare and historically important primary sources,” says Lorne Foster, director of ISR. “For York researchers – and scholars at other institutions – it supports new and existing work in areas such as migration and diaspora studies, history, sociology and equity-focused research.”

Beyond preservation and access, the collaboration also creates opportunities for student engagement. Under its agreement with York, the MHSO provides orientation and training for students working with its archives, supports work-study and co-op placements, and connects students with community historians and organizations. York is also represented on the MHSO’s board of directors.

The development builds on York’s and the MHSO’s shared leadership in digital research and cultural preservation. The ISR helped bring the MHSO to York’s Keele Campus in 2023, contributing to a growing digital ecosystem that includes searchable archives of oral histories, newspapers, photographs and textual records documenting the experiences of ethnocultural and Indigenous communities across Ontario.

“By supporting open, digital access to these materials,” says Foster, “the initiative helps preserve and amplify the histories of underrepresented communities in Canada, while highlighting the University’s role in fostering inclusive research infrastructure through its hosting of the MHSO and its connections with community-based knowledge.”

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At York, his impact was immeasurable and will continue to enrich the lives of students and scholars for generations to come. His legacy at the University spans his influential research in physics, decades of teaching and leadership, and transformative philanthropy that strengthened scholarship across disciplines.

“Dr. Carswell’s passing marks the loss of a pioneering force in physics, a devoted builder of institutions and a generous supporter of education, health care and the arts,” says Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Lisa Philipps. “His prolific career reflected a rare combination of scientific excellence, entrepreneurial vision and profound commitment to the public good, leaving an indelible mark on Canadian science, higher education and community life.”

Carswell earned his BASc in engineering physics (’56), MA (’57) and PhD in physics (’59) from the University of Toronto, which he followed with a postdoctoral research position at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Amsterdam. It was there that he focused his career on high-power lasers and the emerging field of laser radar, now known as LiDAR (light detection and ranging).

Nearly 58 years ago, Carswell joined �첥��Ƶ as a professor of physics. During his tenure, he pioneered LiDAR applications for remote sensing, environmental diagnostics, and atmospheric monitoring (including Arctic ozone layer observation). He was internationally recognized as a founding figure in LiDAR technology, and his research innovations revolutionized Earth and planetary mapping, atmospheric science and space-based environmental monitoring.

Most notably, LiDAR technology developed through his research was later deployed by NASA as part of the Mars Phoenix Lander’s weather station, a mission led by York scientists and work that led to the first observation of falling snow on Mars.

His career at the University spanned three decades. He was named professor emeritus in 1998.

In 1974, Carswell founded Optech with his late wife, Helen Carswell, who played a formative role in the company’s growth. Initially operating the business out of their family home, the company bridged the gap between academic research and real-world, deployable technologies. Under Carswell’s leadership as founder and president (1974-2000), Optech evolved into a global leader in high-tech laser systems. Operating today as Teledyne Optech, the company’s technologies have been deployed on all seven continents, in space and on the surface of Mars.

Beyond research and entrepreneurship, Carswell was a prominent leader in Canada’s scientific community. He served as Chair and member of the National Science & Research Physics Committee (1977-81), Chair of the committee on Laser Atmospheric Studies of the American Meteorological Association (1984-86) and president of the Canadian Association of Physicists (1985-86).

He was also a founding member and board director of Ontario’s Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science (now CRESTech), where he served as principal investigator who oversaw LiDAR atmospheric observatories in Toronto and the Canadian High Arctic.

Inspired by Helen, Carswell and his wife began their philanthropic journey with a $1,000,000 gift to establish a program at the East General Hospital where Helen had trained as a nurse.

After retiring from York, he assumed the role of president of the Carswell Family Foundation where he supported causes across education, health care, science, engineering and the arts. Carswell’s philanthropic legacy at �첥��Ƶ was profound.

Over decades of sustained giving, Carswell supported scholarships, observatory infrastructure, public science outreach and three endowed research chairs across the Faculties of Science and Health, and the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design.

His support was the driving force behind York’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory, home to the largest telescope on a Canadian university campus. The Helen Carswell Chair in Community Engaged Research in the Arts (2016), the Allan I. Carswell Chair for the Public Understanding of Astronomy (2018) and the Helen Carswell Research Chair in Dementia Care (2019) were established to promote research excellence, community engagement and knowledge mobilization.

In 2019, the Helen Carswell STEAM Program for Women was launched to honour Helen’s legacy as a nurse, entrepreneur and co-founder of Optech.

In recognition of his contributions to science and society, Carswell received numerous honours. He was inducted into the Order of Canada (2005), the Order of Ontario (2021), the University of Toronto Engineering Alumni Hall of Distinction (2006) and the Canadian Academy of Engineering (2011).

He received the John H. Chapman Award of Excellence (2006), Ernst & Young Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year (2009), the Volunteer Award from the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (2010), the C.D. Howe Award from the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (2010) and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).

He was also appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1984) and a Fellow of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (1982). In 2022, he was named Philanthropist of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Throughout his long and distinguished career, Carswell exemplified the integration of academic excellence, innovative leadership, public service, and philanthropy.

"He made exemplary and lasting contributions to Canadian science, technology and society at large and remained an enduring inspiration for future generations of scientists, innovators and community leaders at �첥��Ƶ and beyond," says Philipps.

A celebration of life will be held at �첥��Ƶ, in the McEwen Auditorium, Schulich Executive Learning Centre, 111 Ian Macdonald Blvd. at 1:30 p.m. on April 19 with a reception to follow.

Click here to view the .

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Faculty of Science Professor Cora Young and Associate Professor Trevor VandenBoer were recognized through the NASA Group Achievement Award for their contributions to the Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions Observed from Megacities to Marine Areas (AEROMMA) campaign, a joint effort between NASA and the The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to study air quality and climate interactions across North America.

The award is reserved for those who have made exceptional contributions to NASA's mission and scientific endeavours.

AEROMMA combined aircraft, ground-based measurements and satellite observations to study how contemporary emissions from cities and oceans affect air quality and climate. NASA and NOAA approached York to lead the Toronto supersite, one of several measurement hubs established in major North American cities to contribute to the campaign's airborne data.

Young served as scientific lead, coordinating a team of 25 to 30 researchers; VandenBoer served as logistical lead, overseeing the physical transformation of York's rooftop laboratory – on the Petrie Science and Engineering Building – to host the research.

Also involved were York colleagues Mark Gordon, associate professor at the , and Rob McLaren, professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry.

Collaborators came from across Canada and internationally, including Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the University of York in the U.K.

York graduate and undergraduate students had the opportunity to work on the project with those visiting researchers.

"Our ability to bring together this strong team of researchers allowed us to ensure it was worthwhile for AEROMMA to include Toronto," says Young. "Otherwise, we would have missed out on this unprecedented opportunity to learn about modern air quality here."

The 2023 summer AEROMMA project unfolded during a period of intense wildfire smoke across the region, an unplanned development that offered a rare opportunity for study.

"Wildfires will exacerbate air quality issues," says VandenBoer. "Understanding the chemistry of wildfire plumes arriving in the city is going to be critical to informing the public on when and how to protect their respiratory health."

The existing Air Quality Health Index is not well-suited to wildfire conditions because the smoke differs from the other drivers of urban air pollution.

One of the first papers to emerge from the project, now in its final round of peer review, found that wildfire smoke changed chemically as it travelled, changing how health and climate impacts are understood and communicated.

York researchers have also been in dialogue with the team behind ECCC’s 2024 �첥��Ƶ of Winter Air Pollution in Toronto (SWAPIT). Together, the summer and winter datasets create a year-round picture of urban air quality in Canada’s largest city that could inform policy on everything from wood-burning smoke to the atmospheric impacts of road salt.

The work also validated NASA’s TEMPO satellite, a space-based instrument tracking air pollution across North America. Measurements from York’s site, alongside NASA research aircraft and ECCC sites, were essential in confirming the satellite’s early readings, helping move the tool into practical use for ongoing air-quality monitoring and research.

For York graduate students, the initiative created opportunities to build international networks. VandenBoer says students helped host collaborators by familiarizing them with York’s facilities and procedures, and in some cases were involved with operating, maintaining and responding to issues with visiting researchers’ instruments.

Those connections continued beyond the project. Graduate student Yashar Ebrahimi-Iranpour later spent two weeks collaborating at NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory, while graduate student Na-Yung Seoh went on to join an international University of York-led campaign in Cape Verde.

AEROMMA involved a range of York collaborators, including facilities staff, operations teams and University leadership.

"It's a York community undertaking," says VandenBoer. "A lot of people wanted to support us, and for no other reason than that's just the type of community that we have."

Young points to why the work is imperative today.

"There are a lot of chemicals being emitted into the environment we can't see or smell or taste," she says. "Just because we can't detect them with our own senses doesn't mean they're not a problem. We need to keep on top of it."

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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In the course, students are asked present industry‑ready marketing campaigns directly to industry representatives. When Rachel Saarony's turn was up, she noticed her hands trembling as she walked into the offices of Penguin Random House Canada (PRHC).

The fourth-year professional writing student was about to present a full-scale marketing plan to the country’s largest book publisher, completing the final assignment for PRWR 3004/4004 – an upper-year course designed to bring real-world publishing exposure into the classroom.

For Saarony, the moment felt significant. “I felt a lot of pressure to leave a strong impression in front of industry professionals,” she says. It was her first encounter with the publishing industry, and the stakes felt real.

That opportunity was exactly what Matthew Bucemi, director of �첥��Ƶ’s Book Publishing Specialization in the Writing Department, had in mind when he helped reshape the program in 2022. Among his efforts was the desire to create meaningful connections between academic learning and the industry realities students would face after graduation.

“My goal was for students to get a level of hands-on experience that a classroom can’t provide,” Bucemi says.

As part of that push, Bucemi drew on industry connections at Penguin Random House Canada and approached Polly Beel, director of marketing and publicity, to explore collaborations. The result was PRWR 3004/4004, a course grounded in a shared idea that students learn best when they are asked to meet professional standards and should have the opportunity to present their work beyond the classroom. “What does it feel like to really present something to senior staff at a publishing house?” says Bucemi.

First, however, it was Beel’s who would present. In January, she and members of PHRC's marketing team visited Bucemi’s class to introduce a project where students would develop original, comprehensive marketing plans for Spoiled Milk, a debut supernatural gothic horror novel scheduled for release.

While students were given broad creative freedom, Beel outlined the same expectations a marketing team like theirs would face, including deliverables, timelines and creative standards. “It reframed the project from a classroom exercise into something that felt professionally real,” says Saarony.

The class was divided into five teams, each responsible for a different piece: a preorder push, influencer outreach, paid digital advertising, organic social media content and an in-person reader event. Over the course of three months, students worked collaboratively to build a unified, multichannel strategy that blended digital marketing with immersive, experiential ideas.

The final campaign leaned heavily into the gothic atmosphere of Spoiled Milk. Elements were timed around culturally resonant moments, such as Friday the13th and Halloween, with the aim of extending the novel’s eerie tone beyond the page. One proposed initiative – dubbed a “Summer-ween” reader event – imagined bringing the book’s haunted boarding school setting into the real world.

Saarony served as one of two team leads on the influencer mailer project, which focused on creating a tactile, interactive experience for book-focused creators on TikTok and Instagram. She and her team designed a themed mailer inspired by the novel’s setting.

The package took the form of a vintage steamer trunk and included story-linked objects such as tarot cards, a custom bookmark and a painted compact mirror featuring a rotting apple. Interactive elements encouraged recipients to explore the contents over time, including hidden messages revealed with a UV Ouija planchette (also known as a spirit board pointer).

“Our goal was to give influencers something they could return to,” Saarony says, “objects they could explore, decode and interact with.”

Another student, Lauren Russell, co-led the digital ads team, which developed a cross-platform advertising strategy tailored to online book audiences. The team identified platforms such as Goodreads and Book Riot, and created a range of static and animated banner ads, alongside short-form video content for social media.

For Instagram, Russell took on an acting role, posing as a fictional student from the novel’s boarding school in a character-driven mock interview. The team also produced a TikTok-style video showcasing gothic horror recommendations, positioning Spoiled Milk within a broader reading community.

At the end of March, students visited Penguin Random House’s Toronto offices to deliver their pitch.

After months of preparation, Russell says the key was stepping into the room with confidence. “We kept reminding ourselves that we knew our work was strong,” she says. “Our job was to show it clearly and enthusiastically.”

For Saarony, the nerves subsided quickly. “Once we started, I went into autopilot,” she says. “I trusted the preparation, and it went better than I could have hoped.”

Following the pitch, PRHC staff provided detailed, industry-aligned feedback to each group. Students were encouraged to think critically about their creative choices, audience targeting and feasibility. One piece of feedback resonated strongly across the class. “We were told that the presentation we had put together was corporate level,” says Russell. “I felt like all our hard work culminated in that moment.”

With the project complete, students reflected on what they gained. For Saarony, the opportunity helped build confidence in her ability to contribute to large projects, and to lead them – which sparked a new interest. During a post-pitch conversation with PRHC’s managing editor, Saarony mentioned her curiosity about the legal side of publishing – an exchange that led to an offer for her to connect with the company’s legal team to learn more.

Russell similarly described the experience as a turning point, noting how it sharpened her leadership, communication and research skills while demystifying how much planning and coordination goes into launching a book.

For Bucemi, those outcomes reflect the program’s broader purpose. Giving students the chance to apply their skills in a real-world context helps them see how theory translates into practice, and how their interests might evolve once they engage directly with the industry. “Understanding what professional life looks like before you graduate makes a real difference,” he says.

At the same time, he was pleased when Beel noted that the students demonstrated a level of ambition and creativity that would get them a job at any company in the industry.

“The biggest thing for me is helping students get practical opportunities that will support them as they enter the job market,” he says. “My hope is that putting something like this on their resume will be a real X-factor when they're looking for a publishing job."

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An associate professor of math education at �첥��Ƶ’s Faculty of Education, Osibodu focuses her research on how Black students experience math and how education systems can better support equity.

“I want Black learners who enter a mathematics classroom to be fully, completely themselves instead of feeling like they don’t belong,” says Osibodu, who is keenly aware of the persistent and unfounded stereotypes about Black learners’ abilities in math – and how those beliefs intersect with Canada’s colonial legacy and history of immigration.

Osibodu’s teaching experience across three continents has fuelled her interest in and passion for addressing challenges faced by Black students in Canada. Before joining York, she taught secondary school mathematics in South Africa and later taught mathematics and mathematics education courses in the U.S. and Canada. Her research has since documented a range of obstacles faced by Black students in Canadian classrooms.

“It’s impossible to look at course syllabi without realizing that it’s important for equity to be at the core of the teaching practice,” she says. “My ultimate goal is to create math education where Black learners are thriving.”

A key aspect of her work is understanding how Black students experience math, which, in Canada, requires knowledge of the population’s demography. As her colleague Carl James, the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora at �첥��Ƶ, has long emphasized, the Canadian Black community is diverse – including descendants who arrived via the Underground Railroad, families who immigrated from the Caribbean decades ago and more recent immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa – leading to a variety of educational experiences.

“It’s something I hope to explore,” Osibodu says. “In the United States, many scholars in mathematics education have studied the racialized experiences of Black learners and can trace these experiences through generations. In Canada, that isn’t the experience of most Africans, who are largely first-generation immigrants with a fairly young population.

African-born parents tend to be trusting of education systems, she notes. “I want to understand how these parents navigate the mathematics education of their children in the Canadian system. I want to collaborate with and support these parents with more tools to advocate for their children better.”

Osibodu is also examining how math education can address broader social and economic realities. Together with Alexandre Cavalcante at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, she has findings from their Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development Grant exploring critical financial literacy among Black youth. The work highlights the importance of teaching financial literacy in response to Ontario’s 2020 mathematics curriculum, which introduced financial literacy expectations.

The research emphasizes that financial literacy should be taught through a systemic lens (e.g. discussing barriers to financial systems) rather than focusing exclusively on personal responsibility (e.g. budgeting).

Osibodu’s scholarship often draws on decoloniality as a theoretical and analytical lens, particularly for work directly connected to sub-Saharan Africa. One of her examined the impact of coloniality through the widespread use of the British-developed Cambridge Assessment International Education curriculum throughout anglophone Africa.

Across her work, Osibodu returns to the same principle for math education worldwide.

“It is imperative for equity to be at the core of a mathematics education practice and to constantly challenge deficit narratives about who belongs and who doesn’t,” Osibodu says. “We need to be very intentional in pushing against those narratives.”

With files from Elaine Smith

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