Mia Samardzic and Kenneth Conrad – January 6, 2023
For the first time since fall 2019, Dalhousie University’s Killam Scholars, Postdoctoral Fellows, Chairs, Professors and Prize Winners were able to gather at a luncheon to recognize their achievements and celebrate the longstanding contributions of the Killam Trusts to research at Dal.
Held in the McInnes Room of the Student Union Building in late November and organized by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the event brought together more than 100 attendees to celebrate 135 award recipients from across the university. With the pandemic delaying the event over the past two years, this year’s celebration was an opportunity to recognize awardees from 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The Killam Trusts began in 1967 when a $100-million bequest by Izaak and Dorothy Killam funded endowments at five leading Canadian universities, with Dalhousie receiving the largest share. Close to 60 years later, the Killams’ gift to Dalhousie has grown into an endowment of almost $180 million.
“It has provided critical support to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows whose research and scholarship is vital to Dalhousie, our region, our country, and indeed, the world,” said Dr. Deep Saini, former President and Vice-Chancellor of Dalhousie University.
The Killam Trusts have touched almost every one of the university’s faculties, providing funding to more than 1,800 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
“We are so grateful for the generosity and vision of Dorothy and Izaak Killam,” said Dr. Marty Leonard, dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. “The Trusts have opened a world of possibility for graduate students and researchers at Dal, who can focus on making a difference while pursuing their passions.”
Dr. Marty Leonard
During the event, Dr. Adam Donaldson, associate dean of scholarships and programs with the Faculty of Graduate Studies, presented the awards for continuing and new Killam Postdoctoral Fellows and Predoctoral Scholars. Killam Postdoctoral Fellowships are awarded to outstanding individuals who have recently completed a doctoral program, while Predoctoral Scholarships are offered to graduate students in thesis-based programs at a master’s or doctoral level.
Dr. Jennifer Bain, associate vice president of research, acknowledged the university’s current Killam Memorial Chairs. Killam Chairs are held for five years and are awarded to established research leaders and early career researchers of the highest distinction at Dalhousie.
Dean of Science Dr. Chuck Macdonald introduced the Faculty of Science’s current Killam Professors, seven faculty members who have been recognized for outstanding contributions to their fields. He also congratulated the past three recipients of the Faculty of Science Killam Prize, which is awarded annually to a professor within the Faculty of Science who has demonstrated exceptional research ability.
The event also celebrated the winners of the George Cooper Killam Graduate Prizes in honour of former Managing Killam Trustee Dr. George Cooper at the time of his retirement. These awards were presented to the highest ranked master’s and doctoral students in each year’s competition for the past three years.
Others recognized during the event included Killam Postgraduate Medical Scholars, alumni and International Research Awardees.
Recommended reading: Brain Trust — The story behind the Killam Trusts and how they’ve helped supercharge research at Dalhousie
As attendees enjoyed their meals, they were treated to music from a trio of Fountain School of Performing Arts students and five 3 Minute Thesis-style presentations from Killam Scholars and Postdoctoral Fellows on their research. Presentation topics ranged from Black women’s access to sexual and reproductive health care in Halifax during the pandemic to helping the world meet its emission targets by increasing the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries.
For many years, support from the Killam Trusts has reduced barriers and given Dal’s students and researchers the opportunity to focus on discoveries that help solve the world’s problems. See below for a complete list of the award winners who were recognized at November’s Killam celebration event:
Dr. Bamidele Bello, Health and Human Performance
Dr. Rahil Changotra, Agriculture
Dr. Xiaohang Chen, Mathematics
Dr. Claire Horn, Law
Dr. Jamie Jelinski, History
Dr. Tahnee Prior, Law
Dr. Jalal Uddin, Community Health and Epidemiology
Dr. Núria Bautista Puig, Information Management
Dr. Benedetta Luciana Sara Carnaghi, History
Dr. Davud Hebri, Physics and Atmospheric Science
Dr. James Johnson, English
Dr. Annemarie Laudanski, Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Emily Witt, Medical Neuroscience
Dr. Ahmad Zeuter, Civil and Resource Engineering
David Allsop, Psychology and Neuroscience
Peter Braithwaite, Interdisciplinary PhD Program
Alexandra Brown, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Kyle Bryenton, Physics and Atmospheric Science
Aleksandra Budarick, PhD in Health Program
Tiffany Campbell, Sociology and Social Anthropology
Julia Cantelon, Civil and Resource Engineering
Morgan Colp, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Eva Cranch, English
Seth Daley, Health and Human Performance
Isobel DeMont, Civil and Resource Engineering
Nicole Doria, PhD in Health Program
Richard Drake, Psychology and Neuroscience
Ana Eguiguren, Biology
Ahmed Eldesoky, Chemistry
Michael Giacomantonio, Pathology
Patrick Giesbrecht, Chemistry
Katharine Gloade, PhD in Health Program
Kelsey Gsell, Biomedical Engineering
Morteza Hajati, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ines Hamam, Mechanical Engineering
Kayla Hamelin, Biology
Drew Hubley, Biomedical Engineering
Toren Hynes, Chemistry
Fatima Imran, Community Health and Epidemiology
Sarah-Jean Jones, History
Karinne Lantz, Law
Craig MacEachern, Agriculture
Lauren MacEachern, Process Engineering and Applied Science
Colin MacKay, Interdisciplinary PhD Program
Tracy MacKeracher, Biology
Brett MacNeil, Physics and Atmospheric Science
Danielle Maitland, Agriculture
Melanie Massey, Biology
Sabateeshan Mathavarajah, Pathology
Maureen Matthew, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Rachel McLay, Sociology and Social Anthropology
Kathleen Morrison, Chemistry
Jamil Muradov, Medical Neuroscience
Ahmed Elojo Musa, Medical Physics
Mustafa Nadi, Medical Neuroscience
Sarah Nersesian, Microbiology and Immunology
Simon Pawlowski, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Shannon Payne, English
Helen Pinsent, English
Scott Pollara, Biology
Lindsey Power, Biomedical Engineering
Katherine Purvis, Physiology and Biophysics
Saisha Rankaduwa, Psychology and Neuroscience
Divya Rathore, Physics and Atmospheric Science
Megan Rector, Interdisciplinary PhD Program
Gracielle Schwenck, Psychology and Neuroscience
Kaitlin Sibbald, PhD in Health Program
Toni Spinella, Psychology and Neuroscience
Gillian Stanton, Civil and Resource Engineering
Karen Tang, Psychology and Neuroscience
Kathleen Vergunst, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Sam Walmsley, Biology
Grace Wang, Psychology and Neuroscience
Andrey Zelenskiy, Physics and Atmospheric Science
Stephanie Zubriski, PhD in Health Program
New Killam Scholars
Ghada Abdelmageed, Process Engineering and Applied Science
Mehdi Adeli, Industrial Engineering
Justine Ammendolia, Interdisciplinary PhD Program
Broderick Badcock-Parks, Psychology and Neuroscience
Shubham Banga, Pharmacology
Fahmieh Bayeh, Mathematics
Fabian Bong, Computer Science
Debroa Boratto, Civil and Resource Engineering
Julia Cantelo, Biology
Allie Carew, Community Health and Epidemiology
Samantha Crowley, Biology
Alexa Davis, Community Health and Epidemiology
Dominique de Waard, Medical Research Program
Beatrice Devlin, Health and Human Performance
Shadi Dorosti, Biomedical Engineering
Adam Dorrance, Biomedical Engineering
Bryan Ellis, Mechanical Engineering
Gavin Foster, English
Luis Fernando Gomez de Alba, Civil and Resource Engineering
Emalie Hayes, Civil and Resource Engineering
Sajjan Heerah, Physics and Atmospheric Science
Lindsay Johnston, Civil and Resource Engineering
Nelofar Kureshi, Interdisciplinary PhD Program
Carson Kuzniar, Computer Science
Kristin Levy, Resource and Environmental Studies
Ruizhi Liu, Mathematics
Alison MacKellar, Resource and Environmental Studies
Leah MacLean, Pathology
Joshua MacMillan, Chemistry
Catrina MacPhee, Psychology and Neuroscience
Grace McNutt, History
Ndidiamaka Oseafiana, Process Engineering and Applied Science
Glen Pridham, Physics and Atmospheric Science
Jack Quach, PhD in Health Program
Ashley Robinson, Community Health and Epidemiology
Juliet Rowe, Physiotherapy
Dieudonné Toukam, French
Olivia Walker, Pathology
Brenden Wheeler, Biomedical Engineering
Shelby Williams, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Kelsey Williamson, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Dr. Mita Dasog, Early Career Killam Memorial Chair in Plasmonic Nanoparticles
Dr. Jenna Parsons Leigh, Early Career Killam Memorial Chair in Health Equity and Systems Resilience
Dr. Afua Cooper, Killam Memorial Chair in African Canadian History Education
Dr. Kevin Plucknett, Killam Memorial Chair in Advanced Manufacturing
Dr. James Brenan, Earth Sciences
Dr. Penny Corkum, Psychology and Neuroscience
Dr. Katja Fennel, Oceanography
Dr. Theodore Kolokolnikov, Mathematics and Statistics
Dr. Alastair Simpson, Biology
Dr. Laura Turculet, Chemistry
Dr. Peng Zhang, Chemistry
2020: Dr. Erin Bertrand, Biology
2021: Dr. Lam Ho, Mathematics and Statistics
2022: Dr. Eric Oliver, Oceanography
Master’s Level 2020: Joshua MacMillan, Chemistry
Doctoral Level 2020: Sabateeshan Mathavarajah, Pathology
Master’s Level 2021: Katherine Purvis, Physiology and Biophysics
Doctoral Level 2021: Sam Walmsley, Biology
Master’s Level 2022: Adam Dorrance, Biomedical Engineering
Doctoral Level 2022: Broderick Badcock-Parks, Psychology and Neuroscience
Joel Bierer
Jasmine Mah
Franziska Miller
Colleen O’Connor
Meg Pike
Sabateeshan Mathavarajah, Pathology
Jamil Muradov, Medical Neuroscience
Sam Walmsley, Biology
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