Community has been one of the most important supports I have had in my four years of graduate school. The University of Waterloo is a special place, and I see that in the strong communities that students carry forwards from their undergraduate degrees when they continue graduate studies here. For students like me though, an international student and someone without prior UW degrees, I found that it can be hard to assimilate into existing cohorts. Further, my scientific discipline spans the demarcations of departments, like many in the interdisciplinary water community. SWIGS has been my and many others’ community here.
I’ve seen great progress towards SWIGS’ goal of being a community for graduate students in my two years served with the group. Aided by the efforts of the Collaborative Water Program, we’ve seen distances shrink between far-flung buildings on campus: from EV3 to MC to E2. Students from all disciplines have attended Water Talks by the Water Institute, Blue Drinks discussions at the Grad House, and informative workshops put on by SWIGS in collaboration with the Waterloo Ecology Network and Global Water Futures Young Professionals. SWIGS has become a connecting node for many smaller communities on campus.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, our role is more important than ever. We need to extend our compassion and support for our peers past the limits of physical distancing, and we need to innovate new ways to gather our community and learn and feel supported together. I know we can achieve this. Many of our peers’ research has been impacted, and none of us are working as efficiently as before, and that is OK. Nonetheless, SWIGS will continue to provide opportunities to learn new skills, discuss new research, share experiences from the field and industries related to water, and discuss the challenges of academic studies at this time.
If you can spare the time, please consider serving with SWIGS to push us towards our goal of building an interdisciplinary water community. As I leave my role as Chair, I want to especially thank the 2019-2020 SWIGS Executive Team – Samina, Kirti, Kirsten, Hillary, Laura, Sondus, Erika, Shefaza, and Erika – for their fantastic work this year. I also want to thank the staff of the Water Institute for their continued support, and their hard work enabling SWIGS to hold high-quality events at no cost to students.
I wish everyone well, whether they are graduating this year or continuing their studies.
Tyler
B.
Hampton
SWIGS
Chair
2019-2020
PhD
Candidate,
Department
of
Earth
and
Environmental
Sciences
2019-2020 SWIGS Executive Team
Left to right: Kirsten Nikel, Tyler Hampton, Samina Hayat, Hillary Quinn-Austin, Laura Neary, Kirti Nemani, Sondus Jamal, Erika Burton.
Shoreline Cleanup at Columbia Lake (July 15).
(L) SWIGS members participate in the Global Climate Strike in September 2019.
(R) Sandra Cooke speaks to SWIGS Members on Nov 19th at a BlueDrinks event.