Can biodegradable glass replace the real thing? Could a pest-killing nanocapsule target caterpillars without harming bees? What if the key to solving corrosion in offshore turbines lies in a one-micron-thick alloy film?
These were just a few of the questions tackled by the 2024–25 cohort of McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative (MSSI) Fellows, who presented their projects at the Thomson House ballroom in late April.
The showcase marked the culmination of a nine-month fellowship program run by the MSSI, an interfaculty research unit that continues to innovate in how sustainability research is conducted at universities.
“This fellowship is a bit of a departure from the norm,” said Evan Henry, Associate Director of the MSSI. “It gives students space to explore projects that cut across disciplines, ideas that might not otherwise get funding or support but could lead to something transformative.”
Five student-led teams presented research on subjects ranging from thin-film degradation in extreme environments to how Montreal’s street space is disproportionately allocated to cars, underserving cyclists and pedestrians. The fellowship proved a fruitful venture: every scholar submitted their research to a peer-reviewed journal or conference.
One team, made up of researchers in chemistry and engineering, developed a method to study the combined effects of corrosion and wear on ultra-thin metallic coatings – key knowledge for improving materials used in clean energy. Another team created a targeted insecticide that only activates in alkaline digestive systems, allowing it to kill destructive caterpillars while sparing pollinators.
Reimagining sustainability research
Since its founding in 2017, the MSSI has funded more than $6 million in sustainability research at McGill, helped launch four startups and supported more than 250 researchers. The fellowship program, now in its second year, is a hands-on experiment in interdisciplinary innovation. Most students worked outside their primary thesis areas, often with unfamiliar methods and collaborators from different Faculties.
“We learned a lot from each other,” said Lin Wu, a PhD candidate in Mining and Materials Engineering. “But it was also a logistical challenge: different lab protocols, equipment access issues… even basic things like sample compatibility took time to figure out.”
But that kind of friction is exactly what the MSSI aims to create.
“We’re not a department. We’re a system that connects researchers across nine Faculties. Our goal is to reimagine how the university can act as a catalyst for sustainability transitions – not just through research, but through the way that research is done,” said Henry.
That vision resonated with Diane Dechief, Director of McGill’s joint Bachelor of Arts and Science program, who attended the showcase and facilitated a science communication workshop for the Fellows in fall 2024.
“I was really impressed to see the creative, sustainable innovations that result from collaborating across disciplines at the graduate level,” said Dechief. “I found the MSSI Fellows’ projects to be very inspiring.”
She noted that the Fellows Showcase highlighted the powerful outcomes that emerge when graduate students combine their skills to tackle sustainability challenges, and said it prompted her to consider how the Bachelor of Arts and Science program also prepares students for interdisciplinary collaboration.
The MSSI Fellowship experience is also helping inform broader efforts at McGill to foster collaboration across disciplines.
“I was fortunate to lead a workshop with MSSI Fellows last fall, where we explored both the challenges and the possibilities of interdisciplinary teamwork,” said Sarah Heiberg, Senior Advisor, Change Management for McGill’s New Vic Project. “As we plan for new spaces and structures to support inter- and transdisciplinary research, we can learn a lot from how the MSSI supports collaboration across fields.”