A Carleton University PhD student has been awarded the Canadian Northern Studies Trust Scholarship worth $10,000 from the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) Program.
Madelaine Bourdages, a PhD candidate in Geography at Carleton, won the award for her project Sources, Transport and Fate of Microplastic Pollution Along the Mackenzie River from Great Slave Lake to the Southern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories.
In announcing the award, ACUNS said: “Bourdages demonstrated how her innovative project is relevant to northern challenges or issues. There are very few freshwater and microplastics studies to date globally, and even fewer in the Arctic. Her project fills a huge data gap on microplastics concentration and type, identified by several community and regional groups as a research priority. The outcome of her research will provide novel insights into the concentrations, potential sources, transport pathways and fate of microplastics throughout the largest Canadian Arctic freshwater system.”
Bourdages is working directly and collaboratively with several communities in the Northwest Territories and her study will be co-produced with the community.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the ACUNS Awards Program, originally known as the Canadian Northern Studies Trust. Over 100 students from across Canada applied to the competition, correlating to the growing interest in post-secondary northern-focused programs and the demand for funding.
ACUNS President, Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, Scientific Director of Hotii ts’eeda said: “In 40 years, ACUNS has helped over 700 students and early-career northern researchers reach their academic goals. Our awards alumni have gone on to successful careers in northern research, academia, politics, law and the arts. Judging by the calibre of this year’s recipients, they too will have a bright future.”
Wednesday, June 22, 2022 in Awards, Awards of Distinction, Grad Student Research, News
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