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Doctoral degree award recipients

Garima Lakhanpal, PhD in Earth Sciences

Garima Lakhanpal will be travelling to Ireland for five months from March 2024 to August 2024 to partake in a collaborative project between Teagasc Research Centre and the University of Waterloo. This project will focus on fieldwork at two main sites located in Teagasc Research Centre and include conducting field experiments, collecting data, and performing lab analysis at the proposed study sites. Garima will be working closely with her advisor Dr. Owen Fenton, who is based in Johnstown Castle, in Teagasc Research Centre, and his team based out of Ireland.

Katie Pita, PhD in Environment, Resources and Sustainability

Katie is a PhD Candidate in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability in the Faculty of Environment. She is currently researching historical ecology; more specifically, how traditional woodland management strategies can sustainably benefit people today. Supervised by Professor Andrew Trant, Katie researches the ancient woodlands of Herstmonceux Castle Estate, UK, and how historic regimes of coppicing increases biodiversity and carbon storage.

April Pereira, PhD in Psychology

For the Winter of 2024, April Pereira will be travelling to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign to collaborate with Dr. Wendy Rogers on a project that closely aligns with her research program at the University of Waterloo. April’s research focuses on cognitive aging and distributed memory across humans and external agents. She will be advancing their research skills and knowledge by studying how older adults distribute their memory with an external agent, more specifically, a domestic robot. Owing to Dr.

Cynthia Musah, PhD in Geography

Cynthia Musah will be travelling to Uganda and Kenya to kickstart her international research project on women’s empowerment and health in low- and middle-income countries, in both rural and urban communities. This research project, part of the larger Women’s Rise program, prompts Cynthia to work towards developing a culturally sensitive understanding of, and thus advocacy of, women’s health-related needs in low- and middle-income countries.

Menatalla Ellag, Master’s in Systems Design Engineering

As a Visiting Graduate Student at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, Menatalla Ellag is pursuing a MASc in Biomedical Engineering. Driven by her passion for the intersection of medicine and engineering, she chose to join the Wyss Institute and work under the guidance of Dr. Donald Ingber and Dr. Mike Super on the Sugar-to-Fiber project, which is part of a collaboration with Kraft-Heinz.

Nilushika Gamage, Master's in Sustainability Management

Nilushika will be conducting an in-depth field analysis of one of the marine protected areas in Sri Lanka to support her master’s thesis. Her research focuses on enabling a transition from vulnerability to viability of small-scale fisheries within marine protected areas. Obtaining firsthand field experience will allow Nilushika to gain practical knowledge, develop essential skills, and establish a solid foundation for professional growth towards a career as a researcher. 

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Magdalena Kaczmarczyk, master's in Architecture

As a recipient of the Graduate Studies International Experience Award, Magdalena (she/her) was given the opportunity to travel to Rome, Italy, during her Master’s of Architecture degree. Thanks to the scholarship, she was able to join the current undergraduate cohort as part of the Rome program, an otherwise integral experience that was lost during her undergrad degree due to Covid-19. In addition to this foundational experience, Magdalena was able to further develop her thesis and engage with her research material in a personal way. 

Amy Tai, MASc student in Systems Design Engineering

Amy will be travelling to Paris, France to expand her knowledge and skills in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) for clinical data in the medical space and engage with researchers from diverse backgrounds. NLP has emerged as a powerful tool in the medical field, enabling the extraction of valuable insights from vast amounts of clinical data, and Amy is eager to deepen her knowledge and contribute to the evolving field and make a meaningful impact on patient care.

Sophie Hillcoat, master's student in Mechanical Engineering

In her three-month research visit at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Gottingen, Germany, Sophie is investigating the use of pore-network models to represent porous materials used in the development of thermal protection systems. She will be exposed to realistic materials used in the implementation of such systems which will enhance the value and applicability of Sophie’s own research at the University of Waterloo.

Ruyel Miah, PhD student in Sustainable Management

Travelling to India and Bangladesh, Ruyel will research complex small-scale fisheries' social-ecological systems. He will interact with the fisheries there and observe the situation of their communities to better understand the vulnerabilities that they face and assess the ways to address these vulnerabilities. His research focuses on why small-scale fishers experience a lack of human rights, justice, and dignity and why they are left unprotected against external influences.

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