On November 18, students, faculty and staff gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of their peers at the annual Biology awards ceremony. At the event, awards were presented to outstanding students in the department.

A complete list of the 2014-2015 Biology awards and their recipients is as follows:

McKerracher Scholarship

Awarded to one or two outstanding student(s) in their fourth year of the honours program in Biology or Biochemistry with the aim of encouraging promise and interest in a career of health services. Recipients are:

Mustafa Alsaad – Mr. Alsaad is a fourth year Biology honours major with a Chemistry minor. He is currently preparing his medical school application in hopes of becoming a surgeon. After a personal tragic experience as a child in war-torn Iraq, Mr. Alsaad made the decision to become a doctor and came to Canada to pursue his education.

Sinan Ahmed – Mr. Ahmed is a fourth year Biochemistry and Biology major. He hopes to attend dental school at Western University or University of Toronto. For the last two years, he has volunteered with dental offices gaining hands-on experience in the profession.

Roy L. Edwards Scholarship

Established in honour of Roy L. Edwards, one of the founding faculty members of Trent University and the first Chair of the Biology Department, this scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student entering their fourth year of the honours program in Biology, with the aim of encouraging promise and interest in the study of freshwater ecology. Recipient is: 

Joseph Tonin – Mr. Tonin is currently doing an honours thesis with Dr. Maggie Xenopolous. He is examining the effect of nanosilver on organic matter decomposition at the Experimental Lakes Area. His work this summer on the effects of nanosilver on macrophyte production and growth won the Schindler Prize which is given annually to the best undergraduate research project.

Charles Omole Medical Scholarship

This scholarship was awarded by Dr. Charles Omole, an alumnus of the original class of 1964 upon his death in 2012. Dr. Omole never forgot how important Trent was on his path to becoming a general surgeon in Wingham, Ontario. This scholarship is awarded to a full-time upper-year undergraduate student pursuing Trent internship or placement courses with the intention to become a doctor or to a student enrolled in current or future Trent University medically related courses or programs. Recipients are:

Julianne Hoekstra – Ms. Hoekstra is a Biology major currently competing her undergraduate thesis in Dr. Janet Yee’s laboratory. She hopes to pursue a career in law in the field of biomedical ethics. She was awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) scholarship this past summer and has been on the Dean’s Honour Roll throughout her academic career here at Trent.

Eliza McColl – Ms. McColl is a third year Biochemistry major currently looking to pursue a career in Pharmacology following research she’s completing on drug development. She hopes to obtain a Master’s degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology or Pharmaceutical Sciences upon graduating from Trent.  

Biology Department Scholarship

This scholarship is awarded to a student of high academic achievement and promise entering the third or fourth year of the Biology program.  Recipients are:

Nicole Harris – Ms. Harris completed the first couple of years of her degree at Loyalist College before transferring to Trent University last year.  She is completing an honours thesis with Dr. Gary Burness where she is studying the effect of incubation temperature on embryo development in birds. 

Morgan Hawkins - Ms. Hawkins is currently conducting small mammal research in the Jeff Bowman lab as her Conservation Placement. She is collecting data to help test the theory of fisher morphological evolution in eastern Ontario as well as the theory of echolocation used by flying squirrels while gliding. Last year Morgan was the president of the student chapter of the wildlife society.  

Katherine Clover – Ms. Clover is currently completing a semester abroad in Australia so wasn’t able to be in attendance of the award ceremony but she was described by one of her professors as one of the most studious students she’d ever taught and someone that she truly cares about understanding the concepts, not just about getting a good grade.