Ingrid Qemo, Charles MacdonaldIngrid Qemo accepts congratulations from associate dean of science Charles Macdonald for her Ambassador Award at the Science Graduate Student Success Reception.

Science acknowledges dedication of graduate students

About 120 faculty, staff and students gathered to cheer on winners of the inaugural Science Student Awards at the first-ever Science Graduate Student Success Reception, April 5 in Vanier Hall’s Winclare A.

“Since graduate students are major contributors to both the research and the teaching mission of this faculty, we felt that it was time to celebrate them at their own event,” said host Charles Macdonald, associate dean of science.

The science awards program was designed to formally recognize and celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of both the graduate and undergraduate science students. The undergraduate awards were presented at the Science Society charity ball in March.

Six graduate science awards were created this year but the fierce competition for the GA Excellence award led to two winners this year.

  • Ambassador Award: Ingrid Qemo, biological sciences;
  • GA Excellence Award: Kathleen Fontana, chemistry and biochemistry, and Don Karl Roberto, biological sciences;
  • Going Above and Beyond in Research Award: masters level Mitchell Nascimento, chemistry and biochemistry, PhD level Abed Alkhateeb, computer science;
  • Impact Award: Ines Moran, biological sciences;
  • Leadership Excellence Award: Zeinab Ahmed, chemistry and biochemistry.

In addition to the newly created science awards, students were acknowledged for receiving external scholarships and awards from national and international conferences.

Find more photos in the album on the Faculty of Science Facebook page.

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