New Professors Lecture: Insights and Innovations in Research
New Professors Lecture: Insights and Innovations in Research
Apr 30, 2025 — 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Join us for an engaging lecture where new voices in science share their groundbreaking research. From developing next-generation materials to exploring how life began, and uncovering how changes in our environment affect everything from mountaintops to our dinner tables—these talks offer a fascinating glimpse into the discoveries that are shaping our future.
Whether you're curious about the building blocks of life, the future of technology, or the health of our planet, there's something here to spark your interest. All are welcome!
Description
Celebrate three distinguished new professors' most recent research pursuits. Presenting our esteemed speakers for this occasion:
- Hang Chi, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics
- Joseph Moran, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Science
- Kyra St Pierre, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Hang Chi
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics
Novel Magnetic Chalcogenides and Interfaces
Summary
Recent efforts in condensed matter research have increasingly focused on the role of geometry and topology in material properties. My work explores the intersection of topology and magnetism, particularly at interfaces where distinct quantum features interact, as a promising path toward developing next-generation memory, logic gates and information technologies that are both novel and energy-efficient.
Specifically, my research introduces the use of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to grow magnetic transition metal chalcogenide Cr2Te3 as an emerging platform for investigating spin-orbit driven Berry phase phenomena. We have discovered a unique temperature- and strain-modulated sign reversal of the anomalous Hall effect of this material, which we attribute to nontrivial Berry curvature physics.
By integrating Cr2Te3 with topological insulators, we gain tunable interfaces that can be engineered for new topological device architectures. In parallel, our studies of magnetic insulator/superconductor bilayers reveal nonreciprocal supercurrent transport and demonstrate strong superconducting diode effect, even without an applied magnetic field. These heterostructures enable ultra-low-energy computing, reducing energy loss through dissipationless supercurrents and offering a compelling solution energy-intensive data center applications.
Overall, the discovery-rich nature of magnetic surfaces and interfaces hold great potential for advancing the fields of topological and superconducting spintronics, and for expanding the frontier of quantum materials research.
Biography
Dr. Chi is the Canada Research Chair in Quantum Electronic Devices and Circuits at the University of Ottawa. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, cross-appointed to the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. After obtaining a B.Sc. in Physics from Peking University in 2009, he earned a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2014. He subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and MIT, before joining uOttawa in 2023. The Chi Lab studies (i) magnetic topological interfaces for novel memory and logic, and (ii) proximity superconducting devices and circuits towards practical quantum information processing. To investigate extraordinary surfaces and interfaces, the Chi Lab synergistically combines ab initio simulations, crystal growth, thin film deposition, device fabrication, magneto-thermo-electrical transport, as well as neutron, muon, scanning tunneling probes at major user facilities.
Joseph Moran
Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences
The Metabolic Origin of Life
Summary
Recreating the origin of life in a laboratory setting will allow us to deeply understand biology. Researchers in my lab are trying to discover the conditions that could allow simple chemical reactions to come together and form networks that resemble metabolism. Metabolism is the set of processes by which living organisms build themselves from their environment, harness energy, and break themselves down. Understanding this is key to understanding life itself. To achieve this, we’ve found that certain elements, especially transition metals like iron, and strong electric fields are crucial. These components help organize chemical reactions in a way that mimics how life might have started. Additionally, we are investigating how early forms of metabolism, which didn’t rely on enzymes (the proteins that speed up chemical reactions), could have developed over time. We believe that these primitive networks could grow and become more complex through a process called catalytic feedback, a form of positive feedback where the products of one reaction help to speed up existing reactions and enable new reactions. Our experiments indicate that small molecules now known as coenzymes (vitamins) were likely the first to take part in these early processes, playing a key role in the evolution of metabolism and creating the chemical complexity of life that we know today
Biography
Prof. Moran was born and raised in the Montréal area. After completing his B.Sc. in chemistry in 2004 and a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry in 2009, both at the University of Ottawa, he moved to the University of Texas at Austin for postdoctoral work, supported by NSERC at each stage. In 2012, he moved to France to join the Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS) at the University of Strasbourg as an assistant professor and was promoted directly to full professor in 2018. He was recently recruited back to the University of Ottawa as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair. He has won many international and national awards and his work has been featured in popular science magazines and books for the general public.
Kyra St Pierre
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
From Peak to Table: Biogeochemical Approaches to Understanding Environmental Change and Supporting Stewardship and Decision Making
Summary
Ecosystem health and wellbeing are intimately connected to water: how much there is, where it comes from, what it transports and who (human or otherwise) has access. Rivers, streams and lakes integrate changes happening across the watersheds that they drain, ultimately exporting matter, energy, and organisms to the coastal ocean. Recognizing that the cycles of carbon, nutrients and contaminants are highly intertwined, we adopt a holistic approach to questions around environmental change, applying techniques from geochemistry, aquatic ecology and hydrology across whole watersheds and into downstream ecosystems. This approach allows us to understand the drivers and implications of climate and other anthropogenic changes on aquatic ecosystem health and services from headwaters to the coastal ocean with the goal of supporting local stewardship and decision making at all levels.
Biography
Professor St Pierre completed her BSc in Environmental Science at the University of Ottawa in 2012, before moving to the University of Alberta, where she pursued a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences using a whole watershed approach to understand the impacts of glacial melt on freshwater biogeochemistry and aquatic ecology in the Canadian High Arctic. From there, she completed first Hakai and then Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, where she used biogeochemical techniques to trace freshwater carbon and nutrient contributions to the coastal Pacific Ocean. In July 2023, she returned to the University of Ottawa’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences as an Assistant Professor and started the Land-to-Ocean (L2O) Biogeochemistry Lab. Research in the L2O lab aims to understand the linkages between land and sea, while remaining grounded in local priorities and informing the stewardship and governance of rapidly changing watersheds.