BEST HUMANS OF BIOLOGY AWARD

2020 - SEW WHAT Group

At the beginning of the summer, when research re-opened, a group of students - all ages, and staff decided to get together, virtually of course, and to make masks for all Biology that needed one.

Madeleine Oman, MSc student, Ness Lab:

"I was inspired to make the UTM Sew What group after I received an email from the downtown campus saying that the EEB department was doing the same. I thought it was a brilliant idea to harness the talent of our community, and so with the help of the UTM Biology head Dr Joel Levine I sent out a UTM call-to-arms. I was so amazed to see the responsiveness: within 24h I had nine other volunteers who were willing to start right away to get masks out to our campus.

One of the volunteers, Rose MastinWood, even offered to help coordinate the surprising number of logistics that come with running an initiative like this; I don't know what I would have done without her help. Within the first week we had over 40 masks ready and thanks to our amazing team we've been able to keep the mask supply that healthy ever since."

To date, the Sew What group made more than 500 masks! For their hard work, recognizing their significant contribution to the health and safety of all of us in the Department of Biology at University of Toronto, Sew What group was awarded the 2020 BEST HUMANS OF BIOLOGY Award!

Also, members of the SEW WHAT Group: