News

New updates, kind of. After a very long hiatus, I’ve updated some parts of this website. Including an updated CV and new profile picture. – October 21, 2015

Website redesign. As some of you might have noticed, this website has recently experienced an extended period of downtime and a radical redesign. I’ve been having problems with my previous hosting company and have recently switched to a new service. However, I’ve lost all the comments on the old site in the process and so if you are one of those commentators, I apologize. But things should be fine now.  – August 10, 2013

Recent Posts

An Open Letter to my MP on Public Science Funding

September 2nd, 2014

Note: This letter was written as part of my #ALSIceBucketChallenge. In my challenge video (which you can find here) I talked at some length about public funding for science in Canada (or lack thereof). As a result I additionally challenged myself to write a letter to my MP urging more federal funding more basic science research. Below you will find a letter from myself to Ms. Susan Truppe, MP London North Centre. Add. note: I forgot to mention this in the video, but I did end up donating to ALS Canada and would encourage you to do the same.  Charles Yin 1703 McCallum[...]

3 Tips For Being Productive During An Undergraduate Thesis

June 22nd, 2014

The senior research thesis is an experience shared by almost all undergraduate science students. These days, an undergraduate thesis is a requirement for obtaining an honours degree in the sciences and something that is highly recommended, if not required outright, for post-graduate professional programs such as medicine or dentistry. For some, the senior thesis is a culmination of several summers of work in a single lab. For the majority, the thesis is the first time they have stepped foot in a lab. Having completed my own senior thesis this past year, I thought I would share some tips for incoming undergraduate[...]

Finding a Research Position as an Undergraduate Student

July 12th, 2013

How do I start to look for a position in a research lab as an undergraduate? It's a question I've been getting a lot recently, especially from students who have just completed their first year of university and from entering students. It is a very daunting question to go about answering on your own, especially if you, like the majority of new university science students, have never worked in a lab before. Where do you start looking? Who should you contact? How? The unfortunate reality is that there are very few formal structures within the university that address this issue. At[...]

Kenya in Retrospect

May 16th, 2013

As part of my studies abroad at the University of Leicester, I had the opportunity to do a field course in sustainability in Kenya. Six students, including myself and another two students also on exchange from my home institution, ended up signing on for the course, which would involve camping at a conservation site and working with the local community on implementing sustainable living practices based on sound research and scientific principles. The six of us, along with a grad student mentor, would live for two weeks in a camp at the Lake Bogoria conservation area in the rift valley zone[...]