Graduate Students' Association recognizes excellence at annual awards gala

On April 5, the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) hosted their annual year-end awards gala to celebrate contributions of graduate students and their supporters. In addition to the Excellence Awards offered for teaching, administration, supervision, and research, the GSA presented a number of other awards including the Champion Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Mentorship Award.

The GSA Champion Award demonstrates an appreciation to those who have gone above and beyond to advance the GSA mission and vision of serving graduate students at the University of Calgary.

A graduate student who has made an outstanding contribution to the GSA as a volunteer throughout their graduate academic career is awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Mentorship Award honours a mentor in the Mentorship GSA program who has excelled at providing guidance for their mentees.

Other significant awards given this night include the Emerging Leader Award and the Leadership Award. The Emerging Leader Award recognizes newly admitted graduate students who have demonstrated outstanding academic and leadership potential, and involvement in the university community within the first year of their studies. This award has a $2,000 prize.

The GSA Leadership Award is a $5,000 prize and identifies a graduate student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the University of Calgary’s graduate student community, and whose work has impacted the broader UCalgary community.

Here are the award winners:

GSA Champion Award

• Gareth McVicar, Manager - Leadership Program, Student Services

GSA Lifetime Achievement Award 

• Aida Nciri, Department of Geography

Mentorship Award 

• Dr. Barry Bennett

GSA Sustainability Award

• Patrick Duke, Department of Geography – Students on Sustainability
• Dylan McLernon, Department of Art – Creating Sustainable Habitats for Bees

Volunteer Excellence

• Myra Chen, Department of Medical Sciences
• Alejandra Enriquez Garcia, Department of Chemistry
• Runze Yang, Department of Medicine, Neuroscience
• Haley Vecchiarelli, Department of Graduate Sciences Education
• Leanne Dawson, Department of Electrical Engineering

GRC Distinguished Service Award

• Kyle McCallum, Faculty of Kinesiology

Leadership Award

• Tushar Sharma, Department of Electrical Engineering

Emerging Leader Award

• Sophie Hu, Department of Biomedical Sciences

Excellence in Administrative Support (Support Staff)

• Federica Gowen, School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures
• Suha Abusalim, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering (honourable mention)

Excellence in Administrative Support (Senior Administrator)

• Elizabeth Paolucci, Department of Community Health Sciences

Excellence in Supervision

• Jennifer Lock,  Division of Learning Sciences
• Dave Hansen, Department of Biological Sciences (honourable mention)

Excellence in Teaching (Graduate Students)         

• Zahra Shakeri, Department of Computer Science
• Allison Bajt, School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures
• Sibapriya Chaudhuri, Department of Biological Sciences (honourable mention)
• Lauretta Pearse, Department of Civil Engineering (honourable mention)

Research Assistants Excellence Awards (Graduate Students)      

• Richard Slipp, School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures

Research Assistants Excellence Awards (Senior Assistants)

• Ajitha Thanabalasuriar, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
• Scott Paulson,  Department of Chemistry (honourable mention)
• Brandy Pilapil, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering (honourable mention)

Graduate Representative Council Initiative Awards

Communication Workshop - Acting Your Science:

• Rachel Kratofil, Department of Medicine, Immunology
• Ania Zuba, Department of Medicine, Immunology
• Somshukla Chaudhuri, Department of Medicine, Immunology
• Alya Heirali, Department of Medicine, Immunology
• Nicole Mancini, Department of Medicine, Gastrointestinal Sciences

Innovation 4 Health:

• Danielle Whittier, Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program
• Kathryn Simone, Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program
• Abdullah Al-Ani, Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program
• Andres Kroker, Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program
• Jacob George, Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program
• Riley Booth, Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program
• Douglas Kondro, Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program

Health and Wellness Initiatives – Environmental Design Students’ Association:

• Erica Hansen, Faculty of Environmental Design
• Janessa Lasaleta, Faculty of Environmental Design

Methods Day – Foothills Campus:

• Rhiannon Campden, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Christina Sandall, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Rujuta Deshpande, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Nancy Adam, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Catherine Greene, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology