Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Jerry Tomberlin and Associate Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) David Hornsby, along with the Faculty Deans, presented 10 undergraduate Carleton students with Provost Scholar Awards during a virtual event on Wednesday, May 4.
Funded by the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) and administered by Teaching and Learning Services, the Provost Scholar Award is valued at $1,000 and is given to undergraduate students who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in research, community engagement, immersive learning and/or international activities.
The Peter J. Ricketts Outstanding Provost Scholar Award was established in 2019 and is given to an outstanding recipient of the Provost Scholar Award. The award is named for Peter J. Ricketts, who served as the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at Carleton for eight years. This year’s award, worth an additional $1,700, was presented to Gabrielle Kolotinsky.
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2022 Provost Scholar Awards:
Hassan Khan is a psychology and sociology student who is described as insightful, engaging and committed to solving social problems. Last summer, Hassan worked with Prof. Michael Follert through Carleton’s Students as Partners Program where they collaborated to contributed to curriculum development in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Hassan has also contributed to research projects at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute with Dr. David Moher and at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. He participated in Carleton’s Alternative Spring Break Program, after which he received the President’s Alternative Spring Break Award for his demonstration of leadership and commitment to community service. This past term, Hassan participated in the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project. In addition, Hassan has volunteered as a note-taker with the Paul Menton Centre and has worked as a mentor in programs like FACTS, assisting first-year students with disabilities as they transition to the post-secondary education environment.
Justin Shimizu is a psychology student with a concentration in social/personality psychology and a minor in sexuality studies who has contributed to research and community engagement in exceptional ways. They work part-time as a paramedic, serve on the City of Cornwall’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Advisory Committee, and lead the Stigma Ends at CU campaign as President. They are a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, serve as the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences student ambassador, and volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa. In addition to working with Prof. Cheryl Harasymchuk as an honours thesis student in the Positive Activities in Intimate Relationships lab, Justin works as a Research Assistant with Prof. Chad Danyluck in the Social-Psycho-Physiology Lab and Prof. Johanna Peetz in the Life Tools Lab. Justin presented co-authored research at the Canadian Psychological Association conference, which has since been published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
David Clarabut is a civil engineering student who is described as a top student with excellent analytical capability. David worked with Prof. Abhijit Sarkar on a co-op term where they worked on an initiative related to renewable energy harvesting using wind turbines. David’s work is contributing to promoting efficient sustainable energy harvesting to address a pressing climate change issue. Throughout this research experience, he demonstrated his ability to conduct collaborative research with international colleagues in Canada and United States by effectively communicating the scope and applications of his research. He also regularly participated in research meetings with graduate students and Prof. Victorita Dolean (applied mathematics, jointly appointed at Strathclyde University, Scotland and Université Côte d’Azur, France) which gave him the opportunity to witness international and interdisciplinary collaboration in advanced research at this early stage of his career.
Natalia Fomenko is an electrical engineering student who is described as exceptionally inquisitive. Her faculty nominator describes her as the top ranked student among all the students they have taught, mentored, supervised and advised in more than two decades in terms of her research potential, research preparedness and research aptitude. She has a number of previous degrees, including a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, which contribute to her outstanding training and skills. She excels academically and is one of the top students in her cohort in the Faculty of Engineering and Design. Last year, she joined Prof. Halim Yanikomeroglu’s Wireless Communications and Networks research group—one of Canada’s largest research groups in this field—as a regular and active member where she has contributed in significant ways.
Pascale Malenfant is a journalism student who has exceptional personal presence, outstanding academic performance and a notable social conscience. She is the Chair of the Charlatan and President of the Carleton University Journalism Society, where she introduced philanthropic programming to the society’s activities, which included an equipment fund that provided over $1,000 to students in need and a Mental Wellness Week. Two of her journalism research projects won national recognition and/or were published by major outlets. Last year, she also received a Medal of Excellence from former Veterans Affairs Deputy Minister Walter Natynczyk for her research on underrepresented Canadian soldiers of the First World War. Outside of Carleton, she volunteers to tutor underprivileged primary and elementary students, taking a special interest in refugee children’s literacy and math-related studies and their adjustment to new lives in Canada.
Najla Mohamed is a global and international studies student with a specialization in global politics who is described as an exceptionally strong undergraduate student with a deep commitment to community engagement. Last year, under the supervision of Prof. Peter Andree, she participated in a CUROP-funded research project entitled “Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability in Canada: Discourses of Post-COVID 19 Recovery.” She produced an outstanding honours research essay on Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy with Prof. Fiona Robinson. In the last two years, she has worked as a research assistant at the Canadian Arab Institute and with Prof. Aaron Ettinger. She has volunteered with the BGInS student society and the Somali Education Fund, helping with community events and fundraising campaigns aimed at financially supporting the education of youth in Somalia.
Candice Harris is a neuroscience and mental health student who is described as engaged, creative, and inspirational. In 2018, she collaborated with faculty and staff to create a neuroscientific animation explaining the neurobiological correlates underlying addiction. Last year, she worked with Prof. Rowan Thomson to lead the development of the “Science is for Everyone: Integrating Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Teaching Science” toolkit. Candice also created all of the engaging visuals in the toolkit and produced a video overview of the toolkit, which gained international recognition and was presented at the 2021 Inclusion Week ACE EDI event. Since completion of the toolkit, Candice has been working with Prof. Kahente Horn-Miller and her team on the development of a Collaborative Indigenous Learning Bundle for the Sciences, as well as assisting in the creation of additional tools to further expand EDI in science.
Nikita Koziel Ly is a neuroscience and mental health student who is described as bright, innovative and adaptable. She has participated in Carleton’s I-CUREUS program and was the recipient of a Faculty of Science Research Training Award and an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award. At the beginning of the pandemic, Nikita worked alongside three faculty members in Neuroscience on a research project that focused on assessing lifestyle changes that could influence psychological state in a community population. Based on her diverse research experiences ranging from basic science to human survey research, Nikita’s faculty nominators describe her as someone who has incredible capacity for immersive, independent learning and that her outstanding productivity has helped bridge at least two international collaborations. She has engaged with community outreach by providing lectures to primary and high school students, and she is also an award-winning ballet and contemporary dancer who has performed on the national stage.
Ellena Damini is a commerce student concentrating in finance who shows great commitment to Sprott and the local community through her passions for sustainability and social impact. In her role as Portfolio Manager for the Sprott Student Investment Fund, she led the adoption of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) and the UN Principles for Responsible Investment into the SSIF's security selection process and internal operations. She is also developing community outreach on the SSIF, including instructing financial literacy to high school students to give back to the community. Members will participate under her guidance as part of their community responsibility and will strive to deliver critical life skills. Ellena is further conducting an empirical study with Prof. Howard Nemiroff in directly testing ESG principles and their effect on portfolio returns. She is driven to produce meaningful results that will change how people view sustainability in the global investable universe.
Gabrielle Kolotinsky is a commerce student with a concentration in finance who is described as passionate, generous, intelligent and multi-talented. She served as the Enriched Support Program Facilitator for calculus and marketing and as the Vice-President of the Carleton University Students’ Association’s Gender and Sexuality Resource Centre. She is currently the President of the Sprott Social Impact Club, where she led Indigenous history and cultures awareness events and launched the inaugural IMPACT conference. She is the Fund Manager at the Social Value Fund, where she coordinates investments to local community businesses with a social purpose. During one of her courses, she collaborated with organizations working in Indigenous communities to help them craft a Theory of Change, stakeholder engagement plan and strategic plan. She also worked as a Research Assistant with Prof. Katherine Ruff and represented Carleton at the ROCA International Case Competition.
