Dean of Environment Scholarship for Excellence winners announced

Each year, the Dean of Environment’s Scholarship for Excellence is awarded to up to five incoming undergraduate Environment students. Recipients are selected based on academic excellence, demonstrated leadership, and a passion for the environment. Meet the Fall 2019 winners.

Pictured left to right: Associate Dean Undergraduate Students, Brendon Larson; Ben Woodward; Miranda Rueckert; Andrew Ding; Environment Dean Jean Andrey 

Andrew Ding

Andrew is a first-year Geomatics student. With a strong interest in geography and a passion for statistics, pursuing Geomatics at the University of Waterloo was a natural fit. Andrew hopes to pursue a career path that involves a combination of data visualization, mapping, geography and statistics. “I believe in our fast-paced world today, the best way to convey information is through visuals such as infographics. I would like to work in a job that deals with geographic data.”

Andrew’s first year has consisted of multiple geography courses have broadened his knowledge and interest in that discipline. “I particularly enjoyed GEOG 181 where we made our own maps, which included a final project about presenting an aspect of the 2019 Federal Election using maps. I am excited for the years to come, after seeing the multitude of geography courses available to me.”

Miranda Rueckert

Miranda is an Environment, Resources and Sustainability (ERS) student, who chose the program because of the career development opportunities available through co-op. “Both of my parents went to Waterloo and did co-op, and they told me how important co-op can be to get a job after university.” With experiential learning through field courses and co-op, Miranda is hoping to pursue a career in environmental leadership after her studies, working with businesses to make them more environmentally responsible.

While living at St. Paul’s Residence, Miranda joined the Environment Living Learning Community and St. Paul’s Green Team. So far, she has created relationships with like-minded friends and made sustainability-focused change within the residence and community.

Ben Woodward

Ben is a Geography and Environmental Management (GEM) student. Ben chose Waterloo for the opportunity to build a close relationship with likeminded classmates and professors. “Smaller class sizes have allowed me to get to know many of my professors and take my learning beyond my courses.”

Ben is now actively involved with the Environment community, and volunteers for the Environment Student Society (ESS) Coffee Shop. “It was great to extend my former summer job as a barista into the fall term, and I made lots of new friends during my shifts.” 

Scholarship applications for incoming Environment students for Fall 2020 are until April 10, 2020. Learn more about the Dean of Environment Scholarship for Excellence and other undergraduate scholarships opportunities.  

Story by Emily Synnott