
ABOUT ME
HI! I'm Rebecca Yardley! I am a chemist and science communicator. My Ph.D. is from the University of Western Ontario, where I developed sel-immolative polymers, which are a new class of degradable polymers. I also have a Masters of Science Communication from Laurentian University!
Outside of research, I have developed a passion for both teaching and science communication (#SciComm) throughout my schooling. Below is a summary of my accomplishments to date, but if you are looking for more information, please feel free to contact me!
EDUCATION
B.SC. IN CHEMISTRY
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY
WATERLOO, ON, CANADA
September 2010 - April 2014
I graduated from WLU at the top of my class, earning an honours degree in chemistry. During my 4 years there I held many scholarships and completed 2 NSERC USRA research projects under Prof. Kenneth Maly.
PH.D. IN CHEMISTRY
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO
LONDON, ON, CANADA
September 2014 - December 2019
I completed my Ph.D. on the Synthesis and Properties of Self-Immolative Polymers, under the supervision of Prof. Elizabeth Gillies. I was an NSERC CGS-M and NSERC CGS-D funded scholar.
M.S.COMM.
LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY
SUDBURY, ON, CANADA
September 2019-August 2020
I completed my Masters in Science Communication, the only program of its kind in North America. I ran the social media for the program while there.
WORK EXPERIENCE
SCIENCE COMMUNICATOR
PEST MANAGEMENT REGULATORY AGENCY - HEALTH CANADA
June 2022 - present
I use my science communication skills and chemistry background to help improve transparency in PMRA.
I meet with internal and external stakeholders, write web content, design multimedia pieces and conduct user testing.
CONTRIBUTING CORRESPONDENT
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
July 2020 - present
I write short highlights on the importance of high-impact research recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society for a non-specialist audience.
I have written 12 spotlights for the Journal of the American Chemical Society to date.
EDUCATIONAL PROJECT MANAGER (CHEMISTRY)
TOP HAT
July 2020 - June 2022
I managed the Chemistry Portfolio at Top Hat, which includes the National General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Textbooks.
I conducted market research to determine what professors need in their textbooks and implemented projects to improve them by managing a team of Authors and freelancers.
SESSIONAL INSTRUCTOR - SCIENCE COMMUNICATION IN LIFE SCIENCES (LIFE SCI 3P03)
MCMASTER UNIVERSITY
January - May 2021
Remotely, I taught 150 undergraduate students an introductory level science communication course - Science Communication in Life Sciences (LIFE SCI 3P03).
This course covered the fundamentals of science communication, as well as basic production techniques and strategies to communicate in various mediums.
A focus of the course was training students to tailor their messages for different audiences.
DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGIST
ROYAL CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE (RCISCIENCE)
May - July 2020
I worked as part of a team to transition in-person programming online during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to create long-term online programing.
Developed new initiatives to foster an online community, including their #SidewalkScience Campaign.
Worked as part of a team to produce original digital content across all social platforms.
Developed a long-term communications plan that integrates with the charity’s strategic plan.
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR FOR LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY'S MASTERS IN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION PROGRAM
October 2019 - August 2020
As part of my Masters in Science Communication, I ran the social media for the program at Laurentian University. I aided in the development of a digital media strategy and ran the Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages. I also aided in the redevelopment of the website of the program.
PRELIMINARY YEAR PROGRAM INSTRUCTOR (CHEMISTRY)
BRESCIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON, ON, CANADA
May 2019 - August 2019
The preliminary year program is a foundational program for students new to Canada that can help them acclimate to campus life, university courses, and lectures before entering a full-time undergraduate program. I taught the chemistry program (Chem0011 and Chem0012) over the Summer 2019 term.
Planned the course content and modified the exercise book
Designed and delivered two 3-hour lectures a week
Created examinations.
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO, LONDON, ON, CANADA
September 2014 - August 2019
Developed new synthetic strategies for self-immolative polymers and evaluated their aqueous self-assembly and depolymerization properties.
Supervised and trained undergraduate and graduate students.
Published 4 papers to date.
LEAD TUTOR
BRESCIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON, ON, CANADA
October 2018 - May 2019
First-year chemistry is a required course for students in the Food and Nutrition Science Students. Many students typical underperform in the course, and as such can not continue in the Food and Nutrition program. I was approached by Brescia University College to create a tutoring program to help their students.
Ran 2 large group tutoring sessions a week, plus additional sessions before midterms and final exams. These were a mix of styles between short lecture and drop-in questions.
Supervised an Associated Tutor that helped facilitate the tutoring sessions.
Managerial role included tracking attendance, filing a biweekly report to the Dean of Food and Nutrition at Brescia, developing and maintain an OWL site, and booking tutoring sessions to accommodate students.
I developed an evaluation system for the program.
Student testimonials can be found under 'Teaching'.
TEACHING ASSISTANT,
THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO, LONDON, ON, CANADA
September 2014 - April 2016
Responsibilities included supervising the lab component of the course, providing pre-lab talks, marking and proctoring of examinations.
Chem 2003b – Organic Chemistry for Food Science (Winter 2016)
Chem 1302b ‒ Discovering Chemical Energetics (Winter 2015)
Chem 2213a ‒ Organic Chemistry for Life Sciences (Fall 2014 and Fall 2015)
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY, WATERLOO, ON, CANADA
May 2011-July 2014
During my undergraduate, I synthesized new discotic liquid crystals in the research lab of Prof. Ken Maly.
Developed novel discotic liquid crystals and evaluated their phase change behaviours.
Supervised and trained 3 undergraduate volunteers
Research presented at multiple national and international conferences.
Held 2 NSERC USRA grants
Published 2 paper to date.
SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTOR (CH390 - CHEMICAL LITERATURE)
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY, WATERLOO, ON, CANADA
January 2014 - April 2014
Developed 4 online modules to teach and compliment the course content of CH390 Chemical Literature, where the students were taught effective science communication practices through various media (e.g., journal articles, posters, presentations, etc.)
Marked the students’ responses and provided feedback.
INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANT
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY, WATERLOO, ON, CANADA
September 2012 - April 2014
Responsibilities included supervising the lab component of the course, providing pre-lab talks, marking and proctoring of examinations.
CH301 - Organic Chemistry III (Fall 2013)
CH203 - Organic Chemistry II (Winter 2013 and Winter 2014)
CH202 - Organic Chemistry I (Fall 2012)
CH111 - Fundamentals of Chemistry II (Winter 2012)
CH110 - Fundamentals of Chemistry I (Fall 2011)
PUBLICATIONS
To date, I have published 7 peer-reviewed journal articles. For the most up-to-date information, find me on Google Scholar
Yardley, R. E.; Rabiee Kenaree, A.; Gillies, E. R.* Transesterification of Poly(ethyl glyoxylate): A Route To Structurally Diverse Polyglyoxylates. Macromolecules, 2020, 53, 8600–8609.
Yardley, R. E.; Paquette, J. A.; Taing, H.; Gaebler, H. M.; Eichhorn, S. H.; Hamilton, I. P.; Maly, K. E.* Stabilization of Columnar Liquid Crystal Phases via Arene-Perfluoroarene Interactions. Org. Lett. 2019, 21, 10102-10105.
Yardley, R. E., Rabiee Kenaree, A.; Gillies, E. R.* Triggering Depolymerization: Progress and Opportunities for Self-Immolative Polymers. Macromolecules, 2019, 52, 6342-6360
Yardley, R. E., Gillies, E. R.* Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Self-Immolative Polymer Assemblies. Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 2018, 16, 1868-1877.
Fan, B., Yardley, R. E., Trant, J. F., Borecki, A., Gillies, E. R.* Tuning the hydrophobic cores of self-immolative polyglyoxylates assemblies. Polymer Chemistry, 2018, 9, 2601-2610.
Fan, B., Trant, J. F., Yardley, R. E., Pickering, A. J., Lagugne-Labarthet, F., Gillies, E. R.* Photocontrolled Degradation of Stimuli-Responsive Poly(ethyl glyoxylate): Differentiating Features and Traceless Ambient Depolymerization. Macromolecules, 2016, 49, 7196-7203.
Paquette, J. A., Yardley, R. E., Yu, J., Eichhorn, S. H., Maly, K. E.* Anthra- and Pentacenequinone Derivatives: Influence of Structure on the Formation of Columnar Liquid Crystal Phases. New Journal of Chemistry, 2016, 40, 5985-5988.
RECOGNITIONS
Over the years, I’ve had the honor of receiving over 15 recognitions and awards for my hard work. Below is a selection of the recognitions I have received. If you wish to see a full list, please contact me.
Natural Science and Engineering Research Council CGS-D (2016 - 2019)
Awarded annually to excellent students in doctoral studies in the natural sciences or engineering across Canada. Criteria: Academic excellence, research achievement, and extracurricular involvement.
Doctoral Excellence Research Award for Tri-Agency Scholarship Recipients (2016 - 2019)
Given out during the term of the doctoral Tri-Agency Scholarship (NSERC CGS-D) to University of Western Ontario doctoral students. Criteria: Academic excellence, research achievement, extracurricular involvement and holding a Tri-Agency Doctoral Scholarship.
Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2015)
Awarded annually to excellent graduate students across Ontario. Criteria: Academic excellence, research achievement, and potential, extracurricular involvement, and communication, interpersonal and leadership skills.
Natural Science and Engineering Research Council CGS-M (2014)
Awarded annually to excellent students entering graduate studies in the natural sciences or engineering across Canada. Criteria: Academic excellence, research achievement, and extracurricular involvement.
The Marjorie H. Brown Scholarship (2014)
Awarded annually to a full-time graduating student with the highest cumulative GPA in all chemistry courses in an Honours Chemistry program. Criteria: Academic excellence.
Alumni Gold Medal (2014)
Medal awarded to the top 1% of students, based on cumulative GPA, graduating from an Honours Program at Wilfrid Laurier University. Criteria: Academic excellence.
The Joan Heimbecker Memorial Scholarship (2013)
Awarded annually to one student at Wilfrid Laurier University entering their final year of full-time academic undergraduate studies who has maintained a high level of academic performance and involvement in extra-curricular activities at the university. Criteria: Academic excellence and extracurricular involvement.
Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Undergraduate Student Research Award (2013 and 2014)
Awarded annually to an undergraduate student completing a summer research project. Criteria: Academic excellence.
President’s Gold Scholarship (2010)
Awarded annually to full-time undergraduate students entering first year who have never previously attended a postsecondary institution with an incoming average of 95% or higher based on their best six 4U/M final grades. Students are awarded $5000 each year if they maintain a GPA above 10.5 (out of 12). Criteria: Academic excellence.
VOLUNTEER WORK

PINT OF SCIENCE
September 2018-May 2020
I am the City Coordinator for Pint of Science 2020 in Sudbury, ON and previously was the city coordinator in London, ON. Pint of Science is an international organization that beings scientist out of the labs and into the pubs to discuss their research with people outside of academia. For more information check out the website!

OLIPHANT CAMPERS ASSOCIATION
September 2010-September 2022
The OCA is a non-political group that aims to advance the cultural, social and property interests of the members, to promote improvements to the community, and to promote an annual regatta and other activities of the people of the community.I am currently the Social Media Coordinator for the OCA but previously served as Secretary for 7 years.
CHEMISTRY OUTREACH
September 2014-August 2019
I have always been passionate about science outreach and encouraging women in STEM. I worked for a few years doing Teacher Partnerships through Let's Talk Science, and help out regularly with outreach activities within the Chemistry Department at Western University.

LAURIER CHEMISTRY ASSOCIATION
Sept. 2010 - May 2014
The LCA is the undergraduate Chemistry organization as western. It runs various social and academic events for its members throughout the year. I was a member all four years while attending Wilfrid Laurier University. I served as a First-Year Represenative, Second-Year Represenative, Secretary and finally President in my last year.
INTERESTS AND HOBBIES
Chemistry may be my day job, but it certainly isn't the only thing I have going on!