The trick to being a good engineer is to learn by doing and to persevere through challenges, failures and setbacks, says Enriched Science co-coordinator Chris Whittaker. This year 27 Dawson students on eight teams lived this experience through the Science on tourne! competition.
Visit the link to learn about the wining team's project in the homepage news story.
Dawson students are helping bring science to life for younger learners through an interactive workshop at the Montreal Biodome that blends art, technology and education.
The initiative is part of L’Écho des Plantes, a collaboration involving the AgeTeq lab at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie, Opéra de Montréal and students in Dawson’s SciArt Club. As part of an extracurricular activity led by teacher Annie-Hélène Samson, students are designing and animating workshops on photosynthesis for primary and secondary school groups.
Kaleb-Wolf De Melo Torres, an ALC student, contributed by developing an interactive game to explain scientific concepts. “I was primarily responsible for designing a basic game system which the students attending the workshop interacted with,” he said. “The goal was to create an interactive experience that would break down the concepts of photosynthesis.”
Visit the link for the homepage news story.
Founded in 2023, STEMM FEM is a student-led, student-funded club at Dawson College that continues to grow and expand, now reaching beyond the college level into universities. The club is dedicated to building a supportive community that empowers individuals from underrepresented groups to pursue and thrive in science and medicine.
The Communications Office spoke with co-founder Alexa Blasato and current members Samantha Bierd, Tristan Peirce, and Amélie Zurawski about the club’s impact and evolution.
Visit the link for the homepage news story.
In winter, Canada’s lakes fall quiet as if everything has gone to sleep. Then spring arrives, bringing with it the unmistakable chorus of frogs. This season, Dawson Biology faculty member Jessica Ford and her students are tuning in to that chorus, contributing to a five-year, cross-Canada multidisciplinary research project that explores how human activity is reshaping the country’s lakes.
“My research on amphibians, their preferred habitats, and how habitats change when amphibians use them for breeding or not, will be useful in understanding the role amphibians play in these lake ecosystems,” Jessica said.
Jessica is hoping to detect changes in amphibian ranges by identifying new or previously unknown populations.
Visit the link for the homepage news story.
Despite budget constraints, the Office of Sustainability at Dawson College advanced the vision of the Dawson community’s campus landscaping plan last fall by launching a micro forest initiative.
After Jennifer de Vera identified a funding opportunity from Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), she brought it to the team. Along with Eva Helms, Sophie La Font and Diana Rice, they applied for a grant to create a micro forest with guidance from the First Peoples’ Centre and Kanienʼkehá꞉ka staff.
Visit the link for the homepage news story.
Gisela Frias and Dawson’s Geography Department have developed a project called Mapping Fast Fashion. The ongoing pedagogical project is a means of exploring the present dominant economic model. It engages students in critically examining fast fashion and the global web of economic, social, and environmental relations that sustain it. Through a series of course assignments, students actively participate in research, knowledge production, collective mapping, and knowledge sharing.
Visit the link for the homepage news story by Gisela Frias.
As part of an intensive course this winter on Migrant Justice, we visited multiple organizations that devote themselves to migrants and help them with their struggles. In a class of around 25 students, we were led by Benjamin Lander, our teacher, to explore Montreal through the lens of migration. This adventure took place between Jan. 13 Jan. 16; we met for several more days in March. Our itinerary in January consisted of five organizations: The Immigrant Workers Center, the JIA Foundation in Chinatown, The Refugee Center, Welcome Collective, and Solidarity Across Borders. Each of these resources shed light on fundamental issues immigrants and undocumented people are faced with on the daily.
Visit the link for a homepage news story by Social Change and Solidarity student Marie-Noël Chayeb.
This summer, select Dawson College Science students will dive into Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and federal government-funded research at McGill University’s Interstellar Flight Experimental Research Group. The projects tackle fusion stability, laser thermal propulsion for rapid spaceflight, and plasma magnet technologies, bridging theory with hands-on validation alongside industry partners.
“The project is being led by Dr. Andrew Higgins (McGill Engineering) and Dawson student involvement will be coordinated by McGill graduate and undergraduate students, including Dawson Enriched Pure & Applied graduate (2021) Anthony Coté who is currently in his final year of Mechanical Engineering at McGill,” said Chris Whittaker who is the Dawson lead for the project.
Visit the link for the homepage news story.
Journalism isn’t always boring. In fact, it can feel like a game of cops and robbers. That’s what ALC students discovered during a recent visit from Chris Curtis, founder of Montreal’s The Rover. The talk was organized through a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) on journalism and media literacy, which brings together faculty and others from across disciplines to develop tools and approaches for teaching media literacy in the classroom.
With over 37,000 Instagram followers, Chris has become known for condensing complex local issues into accessible reels, offering an alternative to mainstream media and meeting audiences where they already are. The approach resonated strongly with students.
Visit the link for the homepage news story.
Geology faculty member Adamo Petosa long dreamed of an urban sugar shack. This year, he decided to implement his vision at Dawson.
There were actually two maple operations at Dawson this year. Adamo joins the project led by Ben Lander and Tiawenti:non Canadian (more on that project soon we hope).
Visit the link for Adamo's story.
Last Modified: April 30, 2026
