Dr. Shira Joudan grew up in Winnipeg and was raised by a family that did not contain scientists, but who encouraged her to be curious and spend lots of time outdoors in nature.
Joudan earned their BSc in chemistry from Carleton University, spent a year as a research assistant at the University of Winnipeg, and then attended U of T for a PhD in chemistry, specializing in environmental chemistry in Professor Scott Mabury’s group. After defending during the COVID-19 pandemic, they stayed in Toronto but moved institutions to York University for postdoctoral research working with Dr. Cora Young. 
As an assistant professor at the University of Alberta for the past two and a half years, Joudan researches and teaches environmental and analytical chemistry. Outside of work, she likes spending time with friends locally and around North America, enjoying Edmonton’s urban nature on foot, bike and canoe, and attending live music shows.
For this profile, Chemistry Stories connected with Dr. Joudan to delve into the early sparks that ignited that passion for chemistry—and how the path eventually led to the University of Toronto.
I liked science and initially thought I wanted a BSc in environmental science. But after my second year analytical chemistry course, I held an NSERC USRA summer position in Jeff Smith’s lab performing lipidomics research, and switched to chemistry.
I knew I still was interested in environmental research, so I used the analytical skills gained working with Jeff and got a position at the University of Winnipeg working with environmental chemist Charles Wong. I loved the research topic and knew that I wanted to use analytical tools to study organic chemicals in the environment for grad school. So, I came to Toronto specifically to work with Professor Scott Mabury.
U of T is one of the few departments in North America to have a strong environmental chemistry focus within a chemistry department, and not other integrated departments or engineering, which was very appealing to me.
What was your time in Toronto like? What was your area of study?
I loved my time in Toronto, both within UofT and living in the city. For my PhD with Scott Mabury, I studied environmental reactions of legacy and replacement fluorosurfactants, which are useful chemical with some harmful properties. My research aimed to understand how reactions in different spheres of the environment could naturally transform these chemicals which are generally assumed to be persistent, and how smarter design could facilitate those reactions.
I was also involved in ChemClub and the Green Chemistry Initiative during my time at UofT, and had the opportunity to develop and implement new pedagogy through the Chemistry Teaching Fellowships under the mentorship of Prof. Jessica D’eon (this work was later published in the Journal of Chemical Education).
You are an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta as of January 2023, and judging from your lab’s website, it looks like that time has been really full! You’ve written extensively about the journey you’ve taken, in Nature Chemistry, as you embarked on your academic career. What has inspired you to share the details of that journey as a tenure track professor in such a generous and high-profile way?
I received an opportunity to write thesis columns for Nature Chemistry, and immediately thought it was a great opportunity to talk about some of the topics that can feel like commonsense but are often only discussed quietly. I continue to benefit from mentors and frank conversations, but many people don’t have the same circle of people surrounding them.
I’ve decided to continue writing about my journey, while balancing the privacy of myself and especially my students. This experience has also helped me to be ok with what is true in the moment. I'm sure I can look back to see how naive I was, but it was true to me at the time.
I’m sure some people disagree with me. In fact, I do sometimes get emails from people who disagree with me. But that is far overweighed by the positive feedback I get, mostly from early career researchers who find the columns useful.
Barriers and setbacks are normal when pursuing a PhD… what kind of challenges did you have to surmount on your educational and career journey? How does that affect the way you guide your students through challenges now?
They are definitely normal! During my PhD there were a few extended instrumental down times plus building renovations, times of self-doubt and dead ends in research, and of course the impacts of the pandemic during the end of my PhD, into my postdoc, and during my job interviews.
As a supervisor, I try to keep an eye on my students’ progress to determine if they need a different, or an additional and more straight-forward project while working on a more challenging project. I also think a lot about what to do with significant instrument or infrastructure delays that are no fault of the student, by having backup plans like collaborating or paying for external analysis if things are really stuck (luckily I haven’t had to do this yet, but I often think about back up options!
You were chosen as one of the C&EN’s 2025 Talented Twelve. Can you tell us what it is it like to be celebrated as one of Chemistry’s rising stars? Does it create pressure? Opportunities? Both?
It’s really nice to be recognized! This job can be isolating, so it’s been nice to receive congratulatory comments, emails, and messages. I think some pressure comes along with it, but for now, I’m happy with the progress of my career. There might be a research collaboration brewing from this, and we will see if there are more after I present at the special symposium at the ACS meeting in Washington in August!
I think having an opportunity to share a big picture perspective of how I think as a scientist is really a privilege and an honour that I don’t take lightly.
Related Links
C&EN 2025 Talented 12 - Shira Joudan