Education & Communications
Education and Communication Committee
Mandate
Partnerships
High School Teachers and Students
CNS Scholarship for an Undergraduate Summer Project
CNS Scholarship for PhD Graduate Research
CNS Bursary for the World Nuclear University
Rutherford Documentary
Publications
Ask An Expert!
General Educational Links
Canadian University Nuclear Programs
Contact
Mandate
Top of Page
The CNS Education and Communication Committee has the following mandate:
- To facilitate the exchange of information pertaining to nuclear-related issues amongst CNS members and the general public and to develop and administer educational program in this regard;
- To encourage CNS members to become involved in speaking out and writing on nuclear issues and to participate in public educational programs;
- To improve the means by which the CNS communicates with public;
- To coordinate programs with Learned Societies to Advance Science and Technology in Canadian Schools.
The CNS interacts with Canadian universities offering nuclear programs through the CNS Universities Committee.
Partnerships
Top of Page
The CNS maintains partnerships with other groups sharing our goals in education and communication. Through its Education and Communication Committee, the CNS supports the following initiatives:
- The Deep River Science Academy: A six-week summer program, established in 1986, in Deep River, Ontario. High-school students live at the campus and perform "real science" experiments in a professional environment, tutored by university-level students.
- The Manitoba Science Academy: A six-week summer program in Pinawa, Manitoba. High-school students live at the campus and perform research in a professional environment, tutored by university-level students.
- Science and Technology Awareness Network (STAN): The CNS is a member of STAN, a network of science educators and supporting organizations dedicated to improved scientific literacy in Canada. STAN seeks to enhance the profile of the science and technology education and awareness sector, by providing representation on appropriate advisory and decision-making bodies, increase the funding available to support the sector and its activities, increasing collaboration within the sector to enhance science and technology learning opportunities in schools and communities, increasing media coverage of sector issues and activities, and developing common standards of measurement for the sector.
- Visions of Science Network for Learning Inc (VoSNL) is a not-for-profit organization that advances the educational achievements and career aspirations of African Canadian and other under-represented youth in the fields of science, mathematics and technology. VoSNL has established a network of science clubs across the Greater Toronto Area for Grade 5 to 8 students.
- The CNS has sponsored a booth at the Science Teachers Association of Ontario Annual Conference in mid-November in both 2006 and 2007. The booth space was shared with the Deep River Science Academy (2006) and Visions of Science Network for Learning Inc (2006 and 2007). The CNS booths have been staffed by volunteers including CNS members, a representative of Women in Nuclear (WiN) Canada, the Power Workers Union, and volunteer staff of Candesco.
- Scientists in School (SiS) operates a science education program which originated in 1989. Presenters, passionate about science and trained by Scientists in School team leaders go into elementary school classrooms in a growing number of Ontario communities. There, they present one or more of the 77 hands-on, curriculum-aligned workshops in science, engineering, the environment, technology and mathematics. Fun topic titles such as: Electricity: Get Charged! and Soil: It's Too Important to Treat Like Dirt help to keep teachers and students intrigued and motivated. Scientists in School was awarded the Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion Excellence in 2002, and was recognized by the Conference Board of Canada as among Canada's Best 100 Business / Education / Community Partnerships in 1997 and 1999.
As the largest non-profit science outreach organization in Canada, Scientists in School works with 13 different school boards. For the 2008-9 school year, the organization's presenters reached 570,000 Ontario elementary students over their geographic footprint of 33,000 square kilometres in their 20th year of operation. The program originated in the Durham region through an initiative of the Canadian Federation of University Women. Scientists in School distributes its program catalogue to 1,500 schools in areas served; teachers request specific presentations and pay a fee for the service. SiS activities have ranged as far east as Fogo Island, NL, and west to Lethbridge, AB. SiS is supported by a number of funding partners, including the Canadian Nuclear Society.
CNS Scholarship for an Undergraduate Summer Project
Top of Page
The Canadian Nuclear Society offers scholarship support to summer work projects by undergraduate students in nuclear science and engineering at Canadian universities. The scholarships are awarded to undergraduate students for specific projects related to nuclear science and engineering.
Two awards of $5000 are available for the summer of 2010, described here.
This scholarship was developed by Elisabeth Varin of l'École Polytechnique and Eleodor Nichita of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, in consultation with the Education and Communication Committee of the CNS.
Scholarship Winners 2006
- Student: W. Scott, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Supervisor: E. Waller, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Experimental verification of simulations conducted in the summer of 2005, improvement of computational models, and researching novel approaches to coded aperture imaging techniques.
- Student: N. McKinley, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Supervisor: E. Nichita, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Implementation and comparison of a 3-dimensional two-group neutron flux mapping method and modal expansion method in a 3-dimensional two-group finite difference diffusion code.
Scholarship Winners 2007
- Student: Mathieu Massicotte, École Polytechnique de Montréal
Supervisor: Guy Marleau, École Polytechnique de Montréal
Effect of stratified coolant voiding on the reactivity of a CANDU-6 cell - Student: Pamela Anne Christina Yakabuskie, University of Western Ontario
Supervisor: J. Clara Wren, University of Western Ontario
Effect of Dissolved Transition Metals on Water Radiolysis
Scholarship Winners 2008
- Student: Andrei Hanu, McMaster University
Supervisor: Soo Hyun Byun, Department of Medical Physics & Applied Radiation, McMaster
Further optimize the gas electron multiplier detector design and simulate the detector responses to neutron and gamma-ray. - Student: Tomy Fawcett, University of Ontario Institute for Technology
Supervisor: Eleodor Nichita, UOIT
Preliminary Study of Neutronic Properties of a Supercritical-Water CANDU Core
Scholarship Winners 2009
- Student: Ahmed Jihad Zerouali, École Polytechnique de Montréal
Supervisor: Guy Marleau, École Polytechnique de Montréal
Error propagation calculations in DRAGON - Student: Bradford Holmes and Mohamed Geweida, University of Ontario Institute for Technology
Supervisors: Ben Rouben and Matt Kaye, UOIT
Neutronics Analysis of An Incorporated Thorium/Uranium Breeder Booster in CANDU
CNS Scholarship for PhD Graduate Research
Top of Page
The CNS offers a scholarship to support a PhD level full time graduate student entering their second or third year of graduate research in nuclear science and engineering at a Canadian University.
One award of $10,000 per year for a total of two years is available. Applications must be received by 2010 April 22 as described.
CNS Bursary for the World Nuclear University
Top of Page
The CNS is pleased to have supported Dominic Rivard (Hydro Québec at Gentilly-2) with attending the WNU session in Sweden in 2006, and Eric Araujo (AECL SP) attending the WNU session in Korea in 2007.
No applications were received for this bursary in 2008 and 2009.
The 2010 WNU Summer Institute will be held 3 July - 14 August at Christ Church College, University of Oxford. The deadline for applications was 27 November 2009.
CNS Members in good standing are eligible to apply for this bursary of up to $5k by email to the CNS Office by 2010 May 15.
- The application must include information that demonstrates a need for financial support to attend WNU.
- The application must include a personal resume and summary of work experience.
- The applicant must notify the CNS Office by email with a copy of their acceptance for admission to WNU Summer Institute 2010 by 2010 May 31.
The Education and Communications Committee of CNS Council will review the applications received and rank them.
The Bursary recipient will be notified by mid-June.
If no suitable recipient is identified, the Bursary will not be awarded.
Rutherford Documentary
Top of Page
The Canadian Nuclear Society is proud to be a Principal Patron of a new documentary project on the life and legacy of Lord Ernest Rutherford. The documentary is expected to be completed in 2010. It was developed to commemorate of the 100th anniversary of Lord Rutherford's Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1908), which was awarded for ground-breaking work performed during Rutherford's tenure at McGill University in Montreal, from 1898 to 1907. The project leader for this timely documentary is Prof. John Campbell of the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, who is also a biographer of Lord Rutherford, and creator of a Rutherford website.
Publications
Top of Page
The CNS, through its Education and Communication Committee, has co-sponsored several brochures on the Canadian nuclear industry. Please see the "Brochures" section on the CNS Publications page.
CNS past-president Jeremy Whitlock has produced a self-running PowerPoint slideshow (13 MB pps file) on the CNS and Canadian nuclear history.
The CNS has establishing a resource for consulting by email with experts in Canadian nuclear science and technology. "Ask an Expert!" puts teachers, students, journalists, and other interested persons in direct, informal contact with Canadian nuclear scientists and educators -- CNS members who have volunteered for this role.
Click to Ask an Expert !
General Educational Links
Top of Page
These links, many extracted from the Uranium Information Centre of Australia (UIC), British Nuclear Industry Forum (BNIF), and the Uranium Institute's pages, provide a good beginners level introduction to the area of nuclear science. For more detailed and advanced links please see the "Nuclear Links" page. Additional educational material is always welcome. If you think you have something that is suitable please contact the .
- The Canadian Nuclear FAQ
- ABCs of Nuclear Science (educational site from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
- Particle Adventure (another, more general, educational site from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
- Interactive chart of the nuclides at the National Nuclear Data Centre / Brookhaven National Laboratory
- The Virtual Nuclear Tourist
- Nuclear Questions & Answers from the Manitoba Branch of the CNS.
- Here's another neat nuclear quiz! - from the World Nuclear Association (London).
- Institute for Science and Society
- Want to check out a nuclear research reactor? Take a look at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor
- Deep River Science Academy
- AECL's Kids' Zone!
- Trade Up for Success - Apprenticeships in the Skilled Trades
Canadian University Nuclear Programs
Top of Page
- University of Toronto - Chemical Engineering Department
- Simon Fraser University - Nuclear Science Minor
Contact
Top of Page
Dr. J.J. Whitlock
CNS Education & Communication Committee Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
Chalk River, Ontario, Canada
K0J 1J0
Phone: (613) 584-8811
FAX: (613) 584-1108
Email:
..... Download this contact sheet for educators (PDF format).
Further information can be obtained by contacting the Canadian Nuclear Society directly.