SFU Science Recognizes the 2025 Recipients of the Excellence in Science Public Engagement and Outreach Awards

Tammy McMullan, Senior Lecturer, Biological Sciences

McMullan is recognized for her long commitment to engaging with K-12 students through various outreach activities from 1991 onward, communicating about science and nature in an approachable way. In recent years this has included forest tours, vertebrate bone activities, Online Meet-a-Scientist activities for high school students from BC and Alberta.

Since 2018 she has engaged an estimated 2500 children across 60 events at the VanDusen Botanical Garden Pollinator Days and Summer camps, and nurtured a key relationship with the Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association.

Ricky Chu, Teaching Technician, Physics

Chu has been an exhibit interpreter at Science World for 18 years and provided multiple years of outstanding support for Physics and Faculty of Science outreach events such as Science Rendezvous, Spooktacular, Discover Physics@SFU and Girls-in-Physics. He was cited in particular for outstanding contributions to the Trottier Observatory 10th Anniversary Celebration, developing a wide variety astronomy-oriented demonstrations. 

Sarah Aufrère, PhD student, Earth Sciences

Aufrère has demonstrated outstanding communication skills, adapting scientific information to a wide variety of audiences, from specialist scientific conferences to news media interviews. She placed highly in the 3 Minute Thesis competition in both English and French, and played a key role in ensuring that the Canadian government’s “Volcanoes of Canada” web page contains accurate, accessible information in both official languages. She tutors students with disabilities and connects with classrooms worldwide via "Skype A Scientist."

Diane Finegood, Professor, Centre for Dialogue and Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology

Finegood leverages her academic expertise in systems thinking to facilitate crucial dialogues that have resulted in actionable policy impact and the evolution of best practices in public health and healthcare. Her contributions include:

• Leading national dialogues supporting the Framework for Diabetes in Canada, tabled in Parliament in October of 2022.
• Serving as the lead designer, facilitator, and organizer for the "Shifting the Paradigm on Self-Injurious Behaviour (SIB)" Think Tank held in 2021. Supported by Pacific Autism Family Network and a UBC grant, the report led to actionable items and important changes for the location and operation of the SIB clinic.
• Work to address the lack of access to appropriate hospice and palliative care for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. This critical initiative, initiated in the fall of 2022 by PAFN and partners, aims to ensure individuals can “live and die with dignity.”
• Development of the Complex Systems Framework, a collection of freely accessible online resources featuring over 50 frameworks and models. These graphics and explanations allow health leaders, policymakers, students, and others to grasp the dynamics of complexity in ways that written text alone often cannot.