Welcome and welcome back new and returning Acadia students! It is my sincere hope that everyone is settling comfortably into Wolfville and enjoying our beautiful campus before the snow sets in. As classes have gotten up and running, so too have many clubs and organizations, one of them being The Athenaeum student newspaper. Here, the Science Section is your go-to place for information on exciting new discoveries in science, what your professors have been up to with their research, and events of interest on campus. This year, we will be running a series of articles on tidal energy in the Bay of Fundy. An incredible amount of planning and new technology is going into this attempt to harness the immense power of the world’s highest tides. Sea trials are just beginning to get underway, and there are several Acadia professors involved in this arduous project, many with varying viewpoints and opinions on the topic. Our task will be to showcase Acadia’s involvement and talk about the possible risks and rewards of this undertaking. The impact of this project cannot be estimated by a single person, no matter how skilled they are in their respective discipline, and as such, one person could not have designed and executed a project such as this. Many people, from economists and policy specialists, to numerous scientists have had to work together to get this project this far. Environmental scientists, biologists, engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, maybe even chemists and physicists. Interdisciplinary work is what is most often encountered in real-world projects such as this. At Acadia, the departments within the Faculty of Science consist of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Earth and Environmental Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Nutrition and Dietetics, Physics, and Psychology. Science is an incredibly broad umbrella term that covers rigorous study of all physical and natural phenomena, observable or otherwise. An interest in any area of the sciences can cross departmental boundaries, and this is a wonderful thing. Don’t be afraid to dabble in things outside of your area of study; you may be surprised at how many of the sciences interrelate. In reading articles here and talking to your peers, you may be exposed to interesting things that you don’t know much about. I wholeheartedly encourage you to pursue those interests- ask friends, ask professors, get on your computer and search it! Extracurricular discussions contribute so much to your education, and can be enjoyable to boot.
“Being a nerd is not about what you love but about how you love.” – Wil Wheaton
New writers are enthusiastically welcomed to the Athenaeum staff- if you have an article of interest, an idea for a column, or are working on a project you’d like to share, please feel free to contact myself or any other staff member. We’d love your input.
