In this installment of 2015 CGU Award winners, we’re highlighting student winners of Union level awards
Stan Paterson Scholarship in Canadian Glaciology
Congratulations Jill Rajewicz!
The Stan Paterson Scholarship in Canadian Glaciology honours Dr. Stan Paterson, a preeminent Canadian glaciologist who worked extensively on glaciers in the Canadian High Arctic and Rocky Mountains. This award is made possible by an endowment from Stan Paterson.
Jill is an MSc student with Dr. Derek Mueller in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University. Jill studies sub-ice shelf hydrology on the Milne Ice Shelf, on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. The Milne is the only remaining intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic and, so, the last chance to study an intact ice shelf system.
Jill did her undergraduate degree in Geography at the University of Calgary, where she developed her interest in the Arctic cryosphere and the impacts of climate change on Arctic regions. She has been lucky to visit the Arctic several times, and will head north again in July 2015 for her Masters fieldwork..
Don Gray Scholarship in Canadian Hydrology
Congratulations Michael Lathuillière!
The Don Gray Scholarship in Canadian Hydrology honours the ‘Father of Canadian Hydrology’, the University of Saskatchewan’s DM Gray. It is intended for PhD students in the first 24 months of their program, and is made possible by a donation from the Gray family.
Michael is a PhD student with Dr. Mark Johnson in the EcoHydro Lab at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, where he is interested in the broad themes of food security, life cycle assessments and land use change dynamics in Southern Amazon.
Michael’s research aims to estimate land use change impacts on evapotranspiration processes in the Upper Xingu basin of Mato Grosso, Brazil, where soybean and pasture have progressively replaced natural ecosystems these past 30 years. He is interested in understanding green water scarcity as defined by the Water Footprint Network and how it may be used in product life cycle assessments for estimating potential impacts of land use change on the water cycle and terrestrial ecosystems.
Michael is currently working in collaboration with CIRAIG of Ecole Polytechnique, more information can be found at his blog
CGU Best Student Paper
Congratulations Colin McCarter!
The Best Student Paper Award is based on a 5-page extended abstract submitted prior to the annual meeting. A shortlist of candidates is then judged by committee based on their oral presentation at the meeting itself.
Colin is a PhD student with Dr. Jonathan Price in the Department of Geography & Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo.
Colin’s principal research interest focuses on water and contaminant transport in saturated and unsaturated peatlands and the ecohydrological implications of these processes. Specifically, determining the transport of wastewater contaminants in peatlands and the structural changes that occur within peat due to wastewater contaminants. Additionally, Colin is investigating the the effect of compression on the pore geometry and unsaturated water flow in Sphagnum mosses.
Shell Canada Best Student Poster
Congratulations Joshua Guerrero!
The Shell Canada Best Student Poster Award is awarded to the best student poster at the annual meeting (with the exception of Hydrology Section posters, which have their own award). It is made possible by funding support from Shell Canada.
Joshua is a physics PhD student with Dr. Julian Lowman in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He models mantle convection in terrestrial planets based on the relative size of the planet’s core and surface area, and the temperature-dependency of the mantle fluids.
Chevron Canada Outstanding Student Paper in Seismology
Congratulations Behzad Hassani!
The Chevron Canada Outstanding Student Paper in Seismology is based on a 5-page extended abstract submitted prior to the annual meeting. A shortlist of candidates is then judged by committee based on their oral presentation at the meeting itself. This award is made possible by funding from Chevron Canada.
Behzad is a geophysics PhD student with Dr. Gail Atkinson in the Department of Earth Sciences at Western University. He studies ways to map the intensity of earthquake shaking from small to medium magnitude quakes, for real-time hazard and risk management.