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Dennis, an NSERC and McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biology, will join California State University in January. He was among the first group of postdoctoral fellows to participate in the McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows in Teaching and Leadership Program that launched last fall.

“It was an amazing immersive experience,” Dennis says about the program. “I truly believe that my participation in this program can at least in part be credited with helping me land interviews and a tenure-track faculty position at California State University.”

The first-of-its-kind program, funded by John and Marcy McCall MacBain, helps postdoctoral fellows hone their skills as future educators and academic leaders.  The program was developed by Program Faculty Advisor Joe Kim and Program Manager and Research Coordinator Connie Imbault from the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior. 

“Our inaugural group of Postdoctoral Fellows have already achieved amazing accomplishments, from publishing op-eds in national media outlets to securing tenure-track faculty positions,” says Connie. “We can’t wait to meet our second cohort and see the remarkable things they can do. Their success makes us so thankful to the McCall MacBain Foundation for their generous support in funding this program.”

Up to 10 Postdoctoral Fellows will participate in professional development workshops and journal club meetings, complete a discipline-based education research project and publish an op-ed about their research. Dennis was among the first-year Fellows to have an op-ed published in The Conversation Canada.

Open to all postdoctoral students in the Faculty of Science, the deadline to apply for the 2020-2021 program is Aug. 12. An online information session will be held on Aug. 5 at 11 am. The Faculty of Science will reimburse postdoctoral supervisors 20 percent of their postdoctoral fellows’ stipends during the fall and winter terms.

Here’s what other postdoctoral fellows had to say about the McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows in Teaching and Leadership Program:

“Without the support of this program, I would not have had the confidence to write an op-ed, let alone submit it to The Conversation Canada and have it published. I you are interested in a career in academia, where teaching is a requirement, this program is an excellent opportunity to learn critical teaching, learning and science communication skills.”

Emily Dunford
Department of Kinesiology

 

“I would strongly recommend the McCall MacBain program to any postdoc at McMaster who has an interest in teaching or educational research. It was a fantastic experience and a great introduction to the teaching and learning community here at Mac. I’ve started a new teaching-focused position in the Department of Physics & Astronomy and hope to be involved in the program again.”

Pat Clancy
Department of Physics & Astronomy

 

 

“I had the opportunity to connect with post-doctoral fellows from other Departments, talk with them about teaching and their research and form a community that otherwise would not have been possible without the fellowship. The McCall MacBain program provided additional teaching tools that I will always carry with me. When I think about designing my lectures, I now have different perspectives of looking at the content and its delivery, at the assessments and at student engagement.”

Oana Birceanu
Department of Biology