Chantal Barriault, Ph. D.

Chantal Barriault is the director of the Science Communication Graduate Program offered jointly by Laurentian University and Science North in Sudbury, Ontario. She recently completed her PhD in Science Education at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. Her doctoral research focused on documenting and assessing the potential impact of live animal exhibits on visitor learning which resulted in the development of the Visitor-Based Learning Framework for Animal Exhibits. Chantal spent most of her early career working at Science North, engaging visitors with science exhibits, live animals and programs.  Throughout her 25-year career at Science North she led many science communication projects including teacher training, education programs, live theatre science shows and exhibit development. She also led visitor studies and learning impact research for Science North, its programs and its travelling exhibits.

Bob McDonald

Bob McDonald is one of Canada’s best known science journalists and has been the host of the CBC program Quirks and Quarks since 1992. His unique ability to bring cutting edge science, and the people behind it, to the general public have made this show a huge success with nearly 800,000 Canadians tuning in every week. Bob is also a regular science commentator on CBC News Network, and science correspondent for CBC TV’s The National. He is a renowned author, with his books having been shortlisted for the Canadian Science Writers Association Award. He has also received numerous science awards from NSERC, 9 honorary degrees, and is an officer of the Order of Canada.

Bob McDonald will deliver the keynote address at the Saturday night banquet at Science North in the Vale Cavern.

Greg Ross, Ph. D.

Dr. Gregory Ross, PhD, is a biomedical research scientist specializing in disorders of the nervous system. Prior to joining the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as Associate Dean, Research, Greg was on the faculty of Queen’s University in Kingston, and earlier trained at McMaster University in Hamilton. Dr. Ross’ research is focused on the influence of environmental factors on brain disease, and he has study sites throughout Ontario and in other regions of Canada. He holds several grants to support his research, including awards from the ALS Society of Canada, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. Greg is very active in the Canadian biotechnology sector, and serves on many advisory boards and review panels, at both provincial and national levels. He is the scientific founder of two successful biotechnology companies in Canada, and is the recipient of a national scholarship for research excellence.