TRU collected six Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada scholarships this year. From left to right: Samantha Keller, Marisa Azad, Alysa McCall, Scott Foubister, Kendra Robinson and Brittany Dever
Six graduating students from Thompson Rivers University’s Faculty of Science are among the winners of some of Canada’s most prestigious graduate student research awards.
Announced recently by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the awards are for high-calibre scholars at the master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral levels, as well as investments in a wide range of research projects in areas such as computer science, environmental sciences, life sciences and engineering. Eight TRU students applied for scholarships this semester, six were successful — an exceptionally high success rate of 75 per cent.
“I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to the scholarship recipients from Thompson Rivers University. This achievement is a testament to your hard work and dedication and the high calibre education you have received from TRU,” Cathy McLeod, MP for Kamloops – Thompson – Cariboo.
The criteria for selection given by NSERC is that the student must have a first-class standing in each of their last two years, and only the best will be selected. Once academic excellence is established, the other criteria are research potential/ability and communication, interpersonal and leadership abilities. This information is gleaned from the student’s application, and the letters of recommendation written by faculty who have first–hand knowledge of the student’s abilities. Without exception, the successful students have worked on research projects one-on-one with TRU faculty – one of the major benefits of the educational experience at TRU.
Marisa Azad
Marisa Azad, graduating in cellular and molecular biology, is the recipient of NSERC’s prestigious Julie Payette Research Scholarship of $25,000. Awarded to only 24 of the most outstanding graduate students in the country, her research projects at TRU have been supervised by Dr. Heidi Huttunen-Hennelly and Dr. Cindy Ross Friedman to discover a protein design that promises to deliver new drugs. Marisa is heading to McMaster University for a combined MD/PhD program where she’ll be working on practical research projects en route to becoming a physician.
Samantha Keller
Samantha Keller is one of five students who have won an Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships of $17,500. Supervised by Dr. Kingsley Donkor and Nela Mora-Diez, Sam has majored in organic chemistry and is heading to the University of Calgary to where she will study Physical Organic Chemistry (research related to solar energy materials).
Brittany Dever
Brittany Dever, a Brocklehurst Secondary grad in 2006, has been accepted to the University of Alberta. Her analytical chemistry research on lantibiotics with supervisor Dr. Kingsley Donkor, has secured her an $11,000 Queen Elizabeth ll entrance scholarship as one of the top four students applying to the Chemical Biology PhD program.
Alysa McCall
Alysa McCall, a biology student has spent a few summers studying the small mammals (deer mice, voles) in the grasslands. Her more current work has been researching spadefoot toads under the supervision of Karl Larsen. This fall at the University of Alberta, Alysa will turn her attention from small mammals to the largest carnivore on the continent, polar bears.
Kendra Robinson
Kendra Robinson, who majored in biology and conducted research supervised by Dr. Lyn Baldwin has been accepted into the master’s program at the Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation laboratory at UBC. Very much interested in salmonid ecology, the offers of additional scholarship incentives helped her along with the graduate school decision.
Scott Foubister
Scott Foubister is a physics major whose research projects have been supervised by Dr. Normand Fortier. He is heading to the University of Waterloo (UW) for a research position at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) for a Master of Physics degree in quantum information. At the IQC he will be part of a multi-disciplinary group researching quantum devices and their applications. He has been offered $21,000 plus a $10,000 entrance scholarship from the IQC. Plus the NSERC, that’s nearly $45,000 for his first year at UW!
