iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 01/10/2026

I teach 400 1st-yr #HigherEd students Community at this scale doesn’t just happen: it needs resourcing Next year, I lose access to the tools I use to do this, unless I pay for them myself So these small acts of community building may be some of my last I present: collaborative drawing.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 01/09/2026

The new ZQ is here! This issue: Correspondents Program, engineering design through biology, myths about birds We’ve redesigned ZQ for easier reading on phones and an open-source bio-inspired font Faune Happy reading and please share! zqjournal.org #ZQJournal #ZygoteQuarterly #Biomimicry

Front cover of the 41st issue feature the sculpture of a heron-like bird

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 20/08/2026

The #ManufacturedEcosystems team agrees with @theguardian.com that the Leaf Sheep is pretty darn amazing. Check out Yulia Shtern's stunning work using upcycled materials and no extra pigment, so we can appreciate just how magical this tiny soul really is. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Photo of a large scale leaf sheep sculpted by Yulia Shtern in 2025

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 07/08/2026

Sci-fi writers imagine worlds that don't yet exist That makes them climate adaptation thinkers The #ManufacturedEcosystems Sci-Fi Climate Technology Database explores climate technologies Here's what they imagine about #GreenInfrastructure sfmanufacturedecosystems.hcommons.org/green-infras...

Screenshot of linked page with large title: Green Infrastructure

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 07/08/2026

Important convo! Here is a peek into what a #ManufacturedEcosystems wetland might be like. Art and Science led by my former MSc student, Hannah Hiemstra, in @integrativebiology.bsky.social www.manufacturedecosystems.com/wetland-ecos...

Screenshot of the page linked in text. There is a painting of a wetland that has been transformed by technological interventions.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 23/07/2026

My employer has a software package with the default avatar below 👇 When I inquired about how to change it, the answer was (basically): You can't. But don't worry about it. It doesn't affect anything. It's (perhaps) just a small sign that bias runs deep. #HigherEd

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 02/07/2026

Sci-fi writers imagine worlds that don't yet exist That makes them climate adaptation thinkers The #ManufacturedEcosystems Sci-Fi Climate Technology Database explores climate technologies Here's what writers have imagined about #WaterRegulation sfmanufacturedecosystems.hcommons.org/water-regula...

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 02/07/2026

I enjoyed these for different reasons 😊

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 24/06/2026

Sci-fi writers imagine worlds that don't yet exist That makes them climate adaptation thinkers The #ManufacturedEcosystems Sci-Fi Climate Technology Database explores climate technologies Here's what writers have imagined about #Manufacturing sfmanufacturedecosystems.hcommons.org/manufacturing/

Screen shot of landing page: Manufactured Ecosystems in Science Fiction, Manufacturing

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 19/06/2026

The tech we need for climate adaptation looks a lot like the technologies we'd need on Mars So #ManufacturedEcosystems teamed up with NASA’s Scientific Computing and Visualization Team to build a VR world to explore them Robo bees? Yep #Biomimetics www.manufacturedecosystems.com/habitat-on-m...

Screenshot of the web page linked in the text of this post. It says: Manufactured Ecosystems Habitat on Mars

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 17/06/2026

Sci-fi writers imagine worlds that don't yet exist That makes them climate adaptation thinkers The #ManufacturedEcosystems Sci-Fi Climate Technology Database explores climate technologies Here's what writers have imagined about #BioGas sfmanufacturedecosystems.hcommons.org/biogas/

Screenshot of landing page linked in text of post.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 08/06/2026

Congratulations to #GuelphGrad and winner of the Forster Medal - Magisterial for her thesis on Contextual #HigherEd #ProudAdvisor #NachasMachine

A photo of me and my student in formal Academic Regalia

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 04/06/2026

Sci-fi writers imagine worlds that don't yet exist That makes them climate adaptation thinkers The #ManufacturedEcosystems Sci-Fi Climate Technology Database explores climate technologies Here's what writers have imagined about #Hydroponics sfmanufacturedecosystems.hcommons.org/hydroponics/

Screenshot of the hydroponics page in linked text.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 03/06/2026

Years ago, I read about the benefits of #Bilingualism in reducing the onset and symptoms of Alzheimer's When I had children, I raised them in a French household to ensure that they developed bilingual brains Languages are gifts, for so many reasons www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Screenshot of the title of the article: Bilingualism predicts executive function resilience after COVID-19 in aging.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 02/06/2026

Another student being awesome! This brings so much joy #HigherEd

Forrester metal recipient Nida Ansari is graduating with an MSC and integrated biology examining the degree of social and community context, teaching and learning engineering curriculum

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 23/05/2026

Weekends on the farm reunite us with all our family members 💜

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 01/05/2026

Doug Ford: How do we make health care more inequitable and poorer people even sicker? OHIP: oh, oh, oh, I know! #OHIP #Ontario #HealthCare

As of April 1, 2026, Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) has clarified that prescription renewals completed without an appointment are considered an uninsured service and are not covered under OHIP.

Beginning June 1, 2026, a fee of $26 will apply to prescription renewal requests made without an appointment, including requests sent by your pharmacy.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 20/04/2026

End-of-semester grading, and these lines from a student stopped me:👇 I teach time management because I assess time management. It’s the skill students ask for most and also the one they need most. #HigherEd #TimeManagement

To be completely honest, at the beginning of the course I was unsure as to why such a detailed plan of my entire semester might be important for a biology class, and the whole task felt daunting. As the semester progressed, I
was able to see the true purpose of this assignment, and it became a very helpful tool for my academic success. Since this was not something that I chose to do, and had to complete for quite a large portion of my grade, procrastinating the plan of my semester was not an option. Although this
seemed quite frankly annoying to me initially, I ended up really benefiting from it, with a few tweeks along the way.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 07/04/2026

📣Volume 40 of Zygote Quarterly is live! zqjournal.org/editions/zq4... Check out our Looking Back to Look Forward features and learn all about #BioInspiredDesign #Biomimetics #Biomimicry

The cover of the volume featuring a zoomed in image of a springtail.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 24/03/2026

📣NEW PAPER: Biology Graduate School Pathways for Inuit Students and Lessons Learned by Southern Academics Read Bryan's story about his education and MSc at #Guelph journals.library.brocku.ca/brocked We are so grateful to the @brocku.ca journal team for editorial support #HigherEd #InclusiveEd

Screenshot of title and abstract: Biology Graduate School
Pathways for Inuit Students
and Lessons Learned by
Southern Academics

Bryan Vandenbrink
1
*, Thomas McIlwraith
2
, Shoshanah Jacobs
3
1
Polar Knowledge Canada
2
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Guelph
3
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph

Abstract
The minimum requirement for admission to a master's program is normally the successful
completion of an undergraduate or baccalaureate degree in an honours program or the
equivalent from a recognized university. Inuk student Bryan Vandenbrink is an exception to
these expectations. Here, in a loosely autobiographical format, Bryan tells his education story
from early high school in Iqaluktuuttiaq through to completing an MSc at the University of
Guelph. Co-authors Thomas McIlwraith and Shoshanah Jacobs add short reflections on the
journey and identify barriers to postsecondary education for Indigenous students and how
those barriers can be reduced.
Keywords: Indigenous students, graduate school, barriers to education, alternative entry,
colonialism, Inuit

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 10/03/2026

The pathway to a #PhDLife might include a Master's degree. But, it might not. Whichever you follow, there are costs and benefits. And your context really matters. Learn more about our study: www.sciedupress.com/journal/inde... #HigherEd #PhD #AcademicLife #AcademicChatter

Figure 7 of the article referenced in the post.
Those PhD graduates with Master's degrees had more scholarship money, took less time to complete, but were older at the time of graduation.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 06/03/2026

As bio-inspired design grows, questions about IP emerge, particularly about the line between nature-inspired and tech innovation Brook Kennedy & Anna Marion explore these complexities in their article As co-editor of ZQ, I’m excited to share this piece pg 100: zqjournal.org/pdfs/ZQ_issu...

Close-up photograph of a dried burdock burr with many curved hook-like spines against a black background. A translucent grey banner overlays the image with the text: “Article: Turning Bio-Inspired Ideas Into Patents. Brook Kennedy with Anna Bieri.” Footer text reads: “Zygote Quarterly 39 | vol 3 | 2025 | ISSN 1927-8314 | Pg 101 of 124.”

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 16/02/2026

We had a meeting scheduled for today Our chosen-family intervened Happy #FamilyDay 💜💜💜

Screenshot of a text message that says I’ve sent you both an invite for family day reoccurring forever

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 10/02/2026

Tall Grass Prairie Plant Community The Boreal Trees By Amanda White Explore the communities that regulate climate in #ManufacturedEcosystems #GigaPan technology allows us to see the fibres of these works www.manufacturedecosystems.com/virtual-exhi... Funding by @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca

screenshot of the virtual exhibition for this artist. Her tapestries are circular, with representations of grass and tree species.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 04/02/2026

Sqmoqniejk | I’ll find you in every lifetime (2025) by Artist Amanda Amour-Lynx with #ManufacturedEcosystems Imagining a world in climate collapse Join us, asynchronously, at the virtual exhibit: www.manufacturedecosystems.com/virtual-exhi... Funded by @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca #NewFrontiers

Screenshot of the digital animation window, a snail glistening in neon colour, and a quotation by the artist: The subject purports that much of nature is dimorphic, both biologically and genomically expansive, resisting the current moment in history that actively challenges free gender expression. Amanda Amour-Lynz

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 30/01/2026

Your path to #PhDLife depends on many things Check out our NEW study on the influences of pathway and outcomes of a PhD education in #Canada TLDR: disparities lead to significant differences in labour market entry #GraduateStudent #HigherEd #PhD #MSc #MA www.sciedupress.com/journal/inde...

screenshot of article title and abstract

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 28/01/2026

Ever visit an art gallery using #GigaPan technology? Missed the #ManufacturedEcosystem Exhibition? Learn about ecosystem services in the context of a failing climate: gigapan.com/galleries/13... Guide: www.manufacturedecosystems.com/virtual-exhi... Funded by @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca #NewFrontiers

Program guide cover: Forecasting climate futures.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 21/01/2026

Me: #HigherEd needs a new framework for evaluating success. Current methods are biased. #Equity #Excellence Them: 'Okay, Jacobs, what do you propose then?' Me: start here 👇 then modify as needed

check out the DORA framework website: https://sfdora.org/resource/rethinking-research-assessment-building-blocks-for-impact/

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 17/12/2025

📣Developing transferable skills. Does disciplinary topic matter? We asked. Our students answered. @uofguelph.bsky.social #HigherEd Many congrats to MSc Simone Boivin! Check out our transdisciplinary research team and the full article: doi.org/10.5430/ijhe... @danielgillis.ca

screenshot of the title and authors: Developing Transferable Skills: Does Disciplinary Topic Matter?
Simone Boivin
1
, Daniel Gillis
2
, Soha Eid Moussa
3
, Steve Mattucci
3
, Sara M. Fulmer
4
& Shoshanah Jacobs
1

1
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Canada
2
School of Computer Science, University of Guelph, Canada
3
School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Canada
4
Office of Teaching and Learning, University of Guelph, Canada
Correspondence: Shoshanah Jacobs, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Canada. E-mail:
sjacob04@uoguelph.ca

Screenshot of the first graph in the article: Figure 1. Percentage of correct responses to two knowledge-testing questions following a scientific inquiry workshop
delivered in two different contexts: general (teal) and biology (purple)

The graph shows that students in the more general skills workshop performed better on the knowledge testing questions related to scientific methods.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 15/12/2025

Actual immigration policy 👇🇨🇦 #GladYoureHere www.canada.ca/en/immigrati...

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 10/12/2025

The research is on different pathways to a PhD. So we'll break it all down. Here's a sneak peek. 2 degree = Bachelors + PhD 3 degree = Bachelors + Masters + PhD What strikes me most is that though the average to completion is not consistent with gov support for #HigherEd

A figure showing that 2 degree takes 6 years and 3 degree takes 5.5 years

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 08/12/2025

My PhD student is about to Qualify and their exam table is set! There are pipe cleaners!!! #HigherEd #QualifyingExam

Photo of exam room with place mats and pipe cleaners and play doh

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 06/12/2025

May their memories continue to be for a blessing of change and hope #December6 #Montreal

The memorial plaque of the Montreal massacre

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 04/12/2025

#HigherEd isn’t even close to ready for what’s coming with #AI in assessments Our policies and practices can’t reliably prove AI use—and students can (and do) insist that yes, they genuinely believed the rat anatomy looked like that (Example anonymized, obviously) We need a serious rethink

the viral image of that lab rat with giant genitalia

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 03/12/2025

This year, I'll be adding a Metadata Policy to my course. All submitted documents must include the file metadata. Students have been experiencing technological issues, some of them totally legit. And the metadata helps me support them. Here's what it looks like. Help me make it better #HigherEd

File Integrity and Metadata Policy
To support academic integrity and ensure that submitted work reflects your own authorship, all assignment files must retain their original metadata (including creation date, modification date, and author information). You are responsible for submitting the original digital file you worked on, not a copy, export, or screenshot that may erase or alter metadata.

Please follow the general file-handling expectations below:

Create your assignment file directly on your device, or in an approved cloud platform.

Name your file once at the beginning of your work and continue using the same file throughout.

Avoid “Save As,” copying content into a new document, or exporting multiple times, as these actions may reset metadata.

Submit your assignment as the same file you have been working with.

Importantly: if you do not submit your documents with the metadata, we will still grade the document but we will not be able to provide any accommodations should there be a technological issue or accident. 

Microsoft Word (.docx)

Create the document on your device (File → New).

Do not duplicate or “Save As” a new file near the deadline.

Keep using the same file from start to finish.

Submit the original .docx file unless the assignment explicitly asks for a PDF.

Google Docs → Downloaded Submission

If working in Google Docs:

Work in a single document from start to finish.

Do not copy text into a new document before downloading.

When ready to submit, download once, using:
File → Download → PDF (.pdf) or Microsoft Word (.docx)

Upload the downloaded file directly to CourseLink.

PDF Files

Export to PDF only once at the end of your work.

Do not re-export repeatedly, print-to-PDF, or convert via online tools — these actions may strip metadata.

Avoid uploading scanned PDFs unless scanning is part of the assignment.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 01/12/2025

Are #HigherEd students experiencing burnout? Yes We learned about the lives of over 1,000 undergraduates Check out how we answered the question with transdisciplinary approaches to research Stay tuned for more details about the student experience in subsequent research

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 19/11/2025

I'm so done with detailed rubrics. It's disingenuous to have students think that instructors will be able to anticipate all potential elements and variance of an assessment. But then, students hold instructors to them as though they are contracts. #HigherEd From now on, here's what I'll be using:

0 - No answer or missed point of the question
1 (novice) - Some, but not all, necessary information; and/or information is not well communicated; and/or inclusion of incorrect or irrelevant information
2 (progressing) - All information is there, but not well communicated; or most, but not all information is there, and, for the most part, well-communicated.
3 (progressing +) - All information is there and is well communicated.
4 (expert) - All information is present and in a coherent and logical form, there is evidence of having gone 'beyond' either in information, context, analysis, or creativity.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 19/11/2025

Can Ecosystem Services be replaced by Technology, yet? "Our conclusion is both cautionary and constructive: some can be mimicked; very few can be entirely replaced; none should be rendered optional" The #ManufacturedEcosystems Team takes a transdisciplinary approach 🧪 doi.org/10.3390/biom...

Screenshot of title, authors, and some of the affiliations: Are Ecosystem Services Replaceable by Technology Yet?
Bio-Inspired Technologies for Ecosystem Services: Challenges
and Opportunities
Shoshanah Jacobs 1,* , Jindong Zhang 2,3 , Emily Wolf 2, Elizabeth Porter 1 , Shelby J. Bohn 4,
Adam Maxwell Sparks 1, Marjan Eggermont 5 , Mindi Summers 4 , Claudia I. Rivera Cárdenas 6 ,
Heather Clitheroe 7 , Daniel Gillis 8 , M. Alex Smith 1 , Karina Benessaiah 9, Andria Jones 10 , Adam Davies 11 ,
Michael Helms 12, Dawn Bazely 13, Mark Lipton 14 , David Dowhaniuk 14 , Nyssa van Vierssen Trip 13 ,
Nikoleta Zampaki 15 , Peggy Karpouzou 15 and Kristina Wanieck

Figure 4. Distribution of bio-inspired research articles by technological trajectory and ecosystem
service focus. The inner pie chart shows the proportion of the 31,593 ecosystem-service-linked
publications that aim to replace (orange), enhance (green), or support the corresponding services
(blue). Radial branches list the individual ES, and bar length represents the number of papers within
that trajectory devoted to the service.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 18/11/2025

My favourite AI-resistant assignment in #HigherEd: In my human biology course, students synthesize all content by redesigning the Pioneer Plaque to depict humanity for extraterrestrials 👽 ChatGPT’s version? Predictable👇 Its justification? “Full human diversity.” Cue the collective womp womp

Chat GPT's miserable attempt at redesigning the pioneer plaque. There is a naked man with a hand-penis, a nuclear family, all white people, a disaster.

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 31/10/2025

I'm reading the transcript of a House of Commons committee hearing about #EDI in Research Full text: www.ourcommons.ca/documentview... #HigherEd 🧪 Representative Vincent Ho, Richmond Hill South, is asking the USAgov-questions out loud:

There was a study that was done, which was submitted as part of this study, and it states that 88% of all Canadian faculty in universities are left-leaning and that 12% are right-leaning. Do you see an issue with that?

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 31/10/2025

This is unhinged and violent: The layers of hate in these statements need to be addressed directly and continuously EDI initiatives are a critical ingredient to ensuring a happier and healthier future #HigherEd 🧪 @uwaterloo.ca @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca @create-les.bsky.social

Brief submitted to the House Committee on Science and Research; Impact of
the Criteria for Awarding Federal Funding on Research Excellence in Canada
Delete DEI. Invest in AI.
Mikko Packalen
CDASH Director, Associate Professor
Department of Economics
University of Waterloo
15 October 2025
Background: For two decades my research has focused on science policy. For over
a decade, this work has been regularly mentioned in leading international news
outlets (including in the New York Times last month). I’m a member of the National
Institutes of Health Council of Councils Working Group on Science of Science, which
gives advice to the world’s largest funder of scientific research. For nearly a decade,
I have taught AI. My course is the most popular fourth year elective course.
Fact 1. There is no high-quality evidence to support the idea that EDI policies
advance scientific progress or benefit university students.
Fact 2. Canada’s funding agencies’ and universities’ preoccupation with EDI has a
significant opportunity cost. Canada is losing out on the AI economy.
Fact 3. Leading U.S. universities now strongly reject social change goals and non-
merit-based funding.
Recommendation 1. Prohibit SSHRC, NSERC and CIHR from implementing EDI
policies.
Recommendation 2. Force SSHRC, NSERC, and CIHR to publish data on hiring
practices, applicant pools, and outcomes in Canada Research Chairs program.
Recommendation 3. Give universities incentives to delete EDI from their activities
and strategic plans, and to re-focus on education and discovery.
Recommendation 4. Invest in AI instead of EDI

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Dr Sho Jacobs 🍁 @shoshanahjacobs.ca · 15/10/2025

Educators! Here's one idea to disrupt the narrative and recognize contribution over attribution. Try telling the stories of discovery in a different order eg. instead of starting with Watson and Crick, start with Franklin #HigherEd #AdaLovelace #WomenInSTEM 🧪

screenshot of my slides, where the slide about Franklin is before the slide about watson and crick

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