While studying in Churchill, Manitoba this summer, Kenneth Mills, a second year Biology student impressed his colleague, Dr. Erica Nol, a Biology professor at Trent University, and others with his research skills and professionalism. Not only did he gain the experience of a lifetime, Mr. Mills’s summer research experience also awarded him the prestigious Peter Gzowski Northern Scholarship.

Working alongside Dr. Nol, a leader in the field of avian ecology, Mr. Mills contributed to an almost three decade long study on the Semipalmated Plover, a small shorebird, along the shores of Hudson Bay in Churchill. The goal of the study is to establish an understanding of the bird population in the face of climate change.

“I am extremely grateful to Erica for her continued support,” says Mr. Mills, who received the award at the Biology Department awards ceremony in November. Mr. Mills plans to continue the study of Biology at Trent, and further his research with shorebirds in their breeding habitat throughout the north.

Established by the law firm Heenan Blaikie and friends across Canada, the Peter Gzowski Northern Scholarship honours the late Peter Gzowski, eighth Chancellor of Trent University. Awarded annually, the scholarship is given to an academically outstanding undergraduate, who has engaged in northern research as part of their undergraduate studies.  To learn more about the Peter Gzowski Northern Scholarship and Trent’s School of Northern Studies visit https://www.trentu.ca/northernstudies/.