Jane Heffernan elected President of Society for Mathematical Biology

Congratulations to Professor Jane Heffernan, Department of Mathematics & Statistics, for being elected as the next president of the Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB)—the largest and only international society in its field. Her position commences in summer 2022. Heffernan is an international leader in infectious disease modelling, tackling important questions related to the spread of […]

Peter Backx receives CIHR grant for atrial fibrillation research

Congratulations to Professor and Canada Research Chair Peter Backx, Department of Biology, for receiving nearly $750,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant Program, for his project “Understanding the Causes of Atrial Fibrillation.” The program is designed to fund ideas with the greatest potential to advance health-related fundamental or applied knowledge, health […]

Seyed Moghadas receives President’s Research Impact Award

Congratulations to Professor Seyed Moghadas, Department of Mathematics & Statistics, for receiving the President’s Research Impact Award, announced at the York University Research Awards Celebration on April 19, 2022. The event recognized the contributions of researchers from all Faculties and schools, and in areas including Indigenous knowledge, Black scholarship, global health, vision science, and space […]

Paving paradise: putting up parking lots put bumblebees at risk in Toronto

Media release from March 21, 2022 “They paved paradise, put up a parking lot.” Written and sung by Joni Mitchell in the 1970s, those lyrics still hold true today as pavement and concrete structures squeeze out Toronto’s native bumblebees, say York University researchers in a new study published today. The research found areas of the […]

Prof Dawn Bazely receives provincial award of excellence

York University Professor Dawn Bazely, Department of Biology, was among 30 recipients of the Minister of Colleges and Universities’ Awards of Excellence. The awards, which were launched in 2020, recognize the leading work of Ontario’s faculty and staff during the pandemic. More than 675 nominations were received. Bazely is a professor in the Department of […]

DNA from air could revolutionize the way we measure animal biodiversity, say scientists

Media release from January 6, 2022 Two new studies published today in the journal Current Biology show that environmental DNA (eDNA) collected from air can be used to detect a wide range of animal species and offers a novel, non-invasive approach to monitoring biodiversity. The findings were made by two independent groups of researchers, one based in […]

Research Areas

The Faculty of Science is home to five Departments with over 150 full-time faculty members focusing on research areas spanning nanotechnology to ecosystems to planetary systems. Some of our scientists are also members of Organized Research Units at York University. Below is a listing of our major areas of research within the Faculty of Science, […]

Departments

The Faculty of Science is comprised of five departments that are home to a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs and high caliber researchers exploring areas of study that are shaping society.  Biology The Department of Biology conducts research and offers programs in all the major fields of biology, with particular strengths in cell and molecular biology, physiology, ecology and evolutionary biology. Learn more about […]