Summer Students at the CSTHA
September has come and gone, which is surprising; during this pandemic, days seem not to pass so much as repeat, Groundhog-Day style. Thankfully our summer students, Denisa Popa and Raphaël Pelletier, remind us that indeed time does pass and that projects, work, and hope continue on.
Denisa and Raphaël were hired in late May this year—the first summer students that CSTHA has hired in recent memory. (Read their profiles here.) They began work in mid-June and completed their contracts this past month. Both have now resumed their studies.
Denisa, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, and Raphaël, a doctoral candidate at the Université de Quebec à Montréal, have completed important work for the CSTHA and for its journal, Scientia Canadensis. They both recruited reviewers for the journal’s book-review section, while Denisa proofread articles that appear in the special issue on Atlantic Canada. Raphaël proofed abstracts and reviews written in French for this same issue.
They also tackled individual projects. Denisa bootstrapped our new blog, scheduling content and working with David Orenstein, a long-standing CSTHA member, who has contributed numerous posts. (David’s enthusiasm and ideas have also been a highlight of this summer.) Raphaël focused on creating a database of recent theses and dissertations in the history of science and technology in Canada. He and Denisa have also contributed fascinating blog posts drawn from their doctoral research.
Matt Wiseman, CSTHA’s communications director, and myself have valued their work and enthusiasm, and their contribution to revitalizing our mission and membership. On behalf of the CSTHA, Matt and I thank them for supporting us in this critical moment.
We will also continue benefitting from their work in the future: Denisa is now Scientia’s English book-review editor, with Raphaël expected soon to assume this position for French book reviews. Their involvement reflects CSTHA’s tradition of fostering student involvement and supporting professional development in both English and French.
We want to thank Martha Jarrell, whose unwavering support and kind donation helped us hire Denisa and Raphaël. We also thank Ingenium, which also contributed funds for hiring these two fantastic students.
William Knight, CSTHA President