2019 Jennifer Mactavish Graduate Student Leadership Award recipients honoured
The Yeates School of Graduate Studies (YSGS) honoured the recipients of the 2019 Jennifer Mactavish Graduate Student Leadership Awards at a special ceremony prior to GRADTalks on November 4, 2019.
Newly named in honour of Dr. Jennifer Mactavish, vice-provost and dean, who led YSGS from 2011 to 2019, the awards embody her spirit of leadership, collaboration, community engagement and longstanding commitment to supporting graduate student success.
The awards recognize individuals or teams of students who have distinguished themselves as leaders in the following categories:
- Student Engagement and Experience
- Community Engagement and City Building
- SRC Innovation and Impact
Recipients received certificates, glass trophies and monetary awards of $1,000.
Recipient profiles
Student Engagement and Experience
Arvin Jagayat, Psychology PhD
Beyond Arvin Jagayat’s academic achievements, including published papers, presenting at national and international conferences and holding prestigious awards, he has demonstrated exceptional commitment to the Ryerson community. Arvin has represented fellow graduate students on numerous committees including GRADShowcase, Senate and Senate subcommittees, the Graduate Student Advisory Board and the Psychology Graduate Students Association. He has supported his peers through mentorship programs, moderating workshops and organizing conferences. Arvin is particularly dedicated to ensuring all members of the graduate student body are heard, represented and supported.
Community Engagement and City Building
Adisa Julien, Molecular Science PhD
Adisa Julien is driven by a desire to encourage people from various socio-economic, ethnic and educational backgrounds to become scientifically literate. This drive motivates his PhD research on biodiversity in the city, his community outreach activities with organizations such as Ryerson Urban Water and his role as Let’s Talk Science Coordinator at Ryerson. Adisa is an essential leader and mentor of youth, both as a science outreach guide for elementary and high school students and as a jiu-jitsu instructor in Toronto neighbourhoods.
SRC Innovation and Impact
Kira Brown,
Film and Photography Preservation Collection Management MA
Kira Brown’s SRC work on the use of virtual reality as a preservation tool is an important contribution to Canada’s initiative to support Indigenous voices. The recipient of a Ryerson Gold Medal, Kira successfully demonstrates how new technology can be used to preserve Indigenous artwork that would otherwise be lost forever. In addition, Kira’s work with ImagineNATIVE, the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous screen content, is equally impressive. Finally, her contribution to the World Indigenous Cinema Catalogue database resulted in the acceptance of previously excluded Indigenous terms and languages.
Brittany Jamieson, Psychology PhD
Brittany Jamieson studies the influence of parenting on the co-ordination of multiple stress physiology, neural, and behavioural systems in infancy and childhood. The work is important because stress physiology is programmed early in life, and is involved in almost every human disease process, across the lifespan and generations. With broad interdisciplinary impact, Brittany’s work has been cited in clinical, biological, pediatric and child maltreatment journals. The recipient of multiple research and leadership awards, Brittany plays leadership roles in multiple communities and challenges expectations of what can be accomplished by a graduate student.