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 Trent Graduate Student Receives Prestigious $70,000 Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate ScholarshipFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ph.D. Candidate Henry Wilson One of First Recipients of Newly Designated Government of Canada Scholarship Thursday, February 28, 2008, Peterborough Henry Wilson, a doctoral candidate in the Watershed Ecosystems Graduate Program (WEGP) at Trent University, has been awarded a prestigious Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), valued at $70,000 over two years. “I’m very happy,” Mr. Wilson said when asked his reaction to winning the award. “This means I don’t have to worry about financing my education. I can focus on my research.” Mr. Wilson received notice of the award in January after the Government of Canada announced they were renaming the Canada Graduate Scholarships in honour of renowned pioneers of Canadian technology, medicine and entrepreneurship. The Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship is awarded to top-ranked postgraduate scholarship applicants in the field of natural sciences and engineering who show outstanding research and leadership skills and demonstrate exceptional academic ability. The significant prize will help to fund Mr. Wilson’s research, under the supervision of Dr. Maggie Xenopoulos, on the impact of human land use on dissolved organic carbon in streams. His research provides insight into the dynamics of dissolved organic carbon, an important, but not well understood, part of the aquatic system. He is also studying the role fish communities play in stream nutrient recycling, and how human actions can impact this role. “If we hope to maintain normal ecosystem function along with human activity, it is important that we understand what impacts our actions will have,” Mr. Wilson explains. Originally from Kenton, Manitoba, Mr. Wilson studied geography and zoology at Brandon University prior to coming to Trent University for his graduate work in the Watershed Ecosystems Graduate Program. The unique interdisciplinary nature of the WEGP attracted him to Trent and it is here that he has found the tools, experience and education he needs to make a difference. “I guess you could say my work is starting to come to fruition at Trent,” he said. “I feel like I’m doing something here that is of value to the scientific community.” -30- For more information, please contact: |
