December Message from Matina

Dear CNAS community,

It’s hard to believe 2026 is on our doorstep. As the year ends, I want to thank you and highlight what we have achieved together through meaningful collaboration across ALES, engineering and science. Highlights include the launch of the online Graduate Certificate in Sustainability — an exciting milestone for interdisciplinary education at the university. CNAS was grateful to work closely with the founding faculties of science and ALES and the Sustainability Council to bring this graduate certificate to fruition. We also wrapped up a cluster hire in AI across multiple disciplines, with Amii as a key partner, and were successful because of collaboration across multiple faculties. Planning and design of the LIFT Centre, is well underway and represents another interdisciplinary collaboration which gained momentum with the Government of Alberta committing $100 million to support the project. The collaborations have been exceptional and I thank you for your contributions and engagement.

It is an honour to lead CNAS and I have the good fortune of seeing the continued impacts of the work done in each of the faculties, almost daily. As we end the year I want to celebrate the students, staff and faculty members across the three faculties for their achievements. There are too many to list and you can read more here, but a few I’d like to highlight: 

• ALES launched its 2025-28 Faculty Strategic Plan – a thoughtful northstar based on significant consultation with faculty, staff, students, alumni, government and research partners. The plan focuses on ALES vision and opportunities.
• Engineering completed a highly successful accreditation visit this fall. Preparing for these visits is no small feat and the faculty and staff took great effort and care to prepare materials, ready facilities and meet with the accreditors. We can look forward to the results.
• Science launched the new SESA program (Science Experiential Skills program) – expanding accessible and funded experiential learning options for students in the faculty through a philanthropic initiative to provide internship opportunities under faculty mentorship. 

Thank you for working with us to achieve these successes as One University this past year. Most importantly, I hope you find warmth and rest with those who matter most to you over the coming holidays. See you in 2026!

As always, if you would like to share any thoughts or ask questions, please reach out to me at deancnas@ualberta.ca.

Sincerely, 

Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell
Dean and Vice-Provost, College of Natural and Applied Sciences