Dr. Mary Anne White

Harry Shirreff Professor of Chemical Research (Emerita), Dalhousie University

Science Expert, with Specialty in Chemistry of Materials

Media

U Ottawa convocation address 2017

Mary Anne White presents the convocation address for Science graduates at the University of Ottawa, June 2017, after receiving an honorary doctorate.

Science and Snow and Ice

Global TV Morning News, December 12, 2014Television

Why do snow flakes have 6 points?

Is it too cold for road salt?)

CBC Radio - The Sunday Editon, October 20, 2013Radio/Podcast

What is the subject of materials science, and why is it important?

95.7 News Talk Radio, February 18, 2015Radio/Podcast

What is the coldest temperature to use road salt? Why can it not be used at lower temperatures?

CBC Radio - Quirks and Quarks, June 15, 2013Radio/Podcast

What ingredients and processes make good pie pastry and why?

CBC Radio - Day 6, January 9, 2016Radio/Podcast

URL: http://www.cbc.ca/1.3395627

Interview concerning the names of the newest elements, and singing of Tom Lehrer's "The Elements".

Milk jugs, cartons or plastic bags — which one is best for the environment?

Physical Properties of Materials

Published by CRC Press

July 18, 2012

textbook on physical properties of materials, used worldwide

URL: http://physicalpropertiesofmaterials.com

Biography

Mary Anne White is Harry Shirreff Professor of Chemical Research (Emerita) at Dalhousie University, Halifax. She is a specialist in the research area of energetics and thermal properties of materials. White is an author of more than 180 research papers and also a textbook, “Physical Properties of Materials,” now in its second edition. She is also the Editor for Materials Science for the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. White has been active throughout her career in bringing science to the general public: helping establish the hands-on Discovery Centre in Halifax; many presentations for schools, the general public and others (including a lecture for Members of Canada’s Parliament and Senate in the Bacon & Egghead series); booklets on science activities for children; more than 150 articles for educators or the general public; appearances on television; 14 years as a regular contributor on CBC Radio’s “Maritime Noon” fielding listeners’ science questions live on air. White was awarded the 2007 McNeil Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Doctor of Science (honoris causa) from both McMaster University and from UWO. She is also the recipient of the Noranda Award for contributions to physical chemistry and the Union Carbide Award for Chemical Education. In 2012, she received an American Chemical Society Award for Incorporation of Sustainability into Chemical Education. In 2013, she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and in 2016 she was installed as an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Recognition/Reconnaissance

Officer of the Order of Canada | Professional

for her contributions to chemistry, which have advanced our understanding of the thermal properties of materials, and for her leadership in science outreach initiatives

McNeil Medal of the Royal Society of Canada | Professional

for Public Awareness of Science

Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada | Professional

Mary Anne White is a world leader in experimental investigations of thermal properties of materials, at the overlap of chemistry, physics and materials science. Her contributions to the basic understanding of thermal conduction in solids and phase stability in complex systems have advanced science and led to new directions in applications such as more efficient thermoelectric materials and thermally erasable paper.

Doctor of Science (honoris causa) | Professional

from the University of Western Ontario

Doctor of Science (honoris causa) | Professional

from McMaster University

American Chemical Society Award for Incorporation of Sustainability into Chemical Education | Professional

American Chemical Society Award for Incorporation of Sustainability into Chemical Education

Past Talks

What's hot about cold?

public outreach

Ontario Science Centre, February 13, 2009

What's New About the Elements?

Royal Society of Canada public lecture

Halifax, June 22, 2015

Mixing and Unmixing

SuperNova Science Camp

Halifax, August 19, 2015

Chemistry Cafe

Chemistry Cafe

Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, September 28, 2016

Patents

Predation detection fish tracking tag

Patent number: 9,526,28 B2 | Date: December 16, 2016

Tag for tracking of fish that goes offline when that fish has been eaten.

Thermal Energy Storage Apparatus

Patent number: July15, 2016 | Date: February 27, 2017

Apparatus for solar thermal energy storage ("thermal battery").

Expertise

  • Thermoelectrics
  • Materials Science
  • Ice
  • Energy Storage
  • Chemistry (General)

Education/Éducation

  • UWO
    Chemistry
    BSc, 1975
  • McMaster University
    Chemistry
    PhD, 1979