Mentors of the Faculty of Science
Jay T. Cullen
Professor
Earth and Ocean Sciences
I grew up in the Kawartha Lakes area of central Ontario in Peterborough on Treaty 20 lands and developed an interest in lakes and oceans early on. The first in my family to go to university, I took a BSc (Honours) in Biology from McGill University and PhD in Chemical Oceanography from Rutgers University in New Jersey. After a postdoctoral scholarship at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts I moved to UVic in 2003. I am an oceanographer and Professor, Provost’s Engaged Scholar and Director of the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences. In 2017, I was shortlisted to be an astronaut with Canadian Space Agency. I am happy to support first generation students at UVic to reach their goals.
Devika Chithrani
Associate Professor
I grew up in Sri Lanka and am the first one in my family and extended family to go to the university. I majored in Physics at University of Colombo and won the gold medal for physics as well as the faculty gold medal. These accomplishments gave a wonderful opportunity apply to University of Toronto to my doctoral studies. I am very fortunate be a mentor for many graduate and undergraduate students for so many years now. I am very passionate about research I do in addition to teaching. I teach Physics and do cancer research. This seems like two different disciplines to handle. My message to you is that nothing is impossible if you have the passion for it. I am happy to share my story with you and motivate you to achieve your dreams.
Francis Juanes
Professor
Biology
I grew up in Spain and emigrated to Canada at 14. My parents only completed primary school, so I was the first in my family to attend high school and university, eventually earning a PhD in Coastal Oceanography from SUNY Stony Brook in New York. After 17 years as a professor at UMass Amherst I moved to UVic in 2011 to take up the Liber Ero Chair in Fisheries Research. My research interests include salmon ecology, predator-prey relationships and underwater soundscapes. I’m keen to share my experiences with other first generation students to make university life as fulfilling as possible.
Kerry Delaney
Professor
Biology
I went to high school in Terrace and hitch-hiked to attend UBC a long time ago. Only a handful of my high school classmates went to university and was the first in my extended family to go. I made it through 2 years before being hungry all the time and bored with my required courses caused me to quit and go work in a lumber mill. I traveled for 10 months in the tropics before figuring out I really loved zoology, returned to finish my BSc, eventually stumbling into neuroscience for graduate school. To be successful at university a) show up to class, b) treat your professors and their time with respect, c) study a little bit all the time, don’t cram the night before the exam. Not sure I can offer much more advice than that but if you have questions I’ll try to answer them.
View Kerry Delaney’s UVic profile
Violeta Iosub
Assistant Teaching Professor
Chemistry
I was born and raised in Romania. I came to Canada in 2005 on student visa to pursue research in chemistry as a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Calgary. I am the first in my family to go to university. As an international graduate student, I wasn’t aware of all the resources available to me, and by focusing solely on my research, I missed on some valuable opportunities. I am hoping that sharing my experiences with first generation students will make their understanding of the university landscape more accessible and enjoyable.
David Punzalan
Assistant Teaching Professor
Biology
I was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Toronto at a very young age. I did my undergrad and PhD at the University of Toronto, before stints in Ottawa and then Cornwall (UK) as a postdoc. I am grateful to now live in Victoria, situated on unceded Lekwungen territory. I am an evolutionary biologist with a particular love of insects, and a passion for teaching and outreach. I was lucky to have received strong mentorship myself, and I believe in ‘paying it forward’. I am also committed to creating an inclusive and equitable place to work and learn.
Website : www.davidpunzalan.com
View David Punzalan’s UVic Profile
Barbara Ehlting
Associate Teaching Professor
Biology
Barbara Ehlting was born and raised in Bavaria, Germany. She attended boarding school from grade 5-13. She did her undergraduate degree in biology at Julius Maximilians University, Würzburg and her master thesis (partially in Hawai’i) on plant root pressure. Her PhD thesis, done in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, deals with isolation of isoprene synthase from poplar. She did post doc studies at UBC, Vancouver, on gene expression level of insect-infested conifers. She is now an associate teaching professor in the Department of Biology at UVic. When she is not working, she enjoys the outdoors and she plays the harp