Students and faculty at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Burnaby, B.C. continue to mourn the loss of associate professor Melanie Alexis O’Neill, 37, who was found dead in her home in late July.
“People are thinking, wow, I can’t believe this has happened,” he said about students he knows in the upper years of his program.“It was only a couple semesters ago that they had her as a professor.”
A member of the biochemistry student union, Cordoviz said the death of the biophysics and biological chemistry professor is a “big deal” for him and his faculty.
O’Neill’s body was found by the Vancouver Police Deparment in her home shortly after 10:30 p.m. July 26. Police spokesperson, Constable Lindsey Houghton, said they were alerted of the situation by a call from a friend who was concerned for O’Neill after not hearing from her for some time.
In the days following Vancouver’s ninth homicide of 2011, a man described as an “acquaintance” was taken into custody by Richmond RCMP and was questioned by police. Houghton said he was released without charges but continues to be a person of interest in the investigation, according to the CBC.
Police said they were treating the case as a homicide until autopsy results could prove otherwise, according to the CBC. No further information has been released.
Meanwhile, SFU’s acting president Jon Driver said the university’s community continues to feel “very sad and very shocked” after O’Neill’s untimely death. After six years in the department of chemistry, O’Neill has been described as “well-liked,” “passionate,” and “very honest” by her peers.
“She was one of only a few scientists internationally researching how humans use light to synchronize their metabolic and behavioural patterns with the outside world,” said Driver about the recently tenured professor. “She was considered a pioneer.”