2025 Award recipients
The awards were given during the 2025 ZGSA-Debbie and Justin Wragg-Schmidt Spring Symposium, that took place on May 1, 2025
Graduate Student Excellence Award:
MSc: Carley Winter: We are truly honoured to present this year's Master's Zoology Graduate Student Excellence Award to an outstanding student in our department who truly encompassed what this award means. Academically, they have presented their Master's work at multiple conferences including the Canadian Society of Zoologists, at the government level for the Department of Fisheries, and even at our own Zoology Symposium, receiving the People's Choice Award for their talk. They have engaged in various research press releases and have a manuscript under review as we speak!
On top of their academic work, they have also contributed greatly to the community here in this department and beyond. They developed a website to easily share and access their scientific contribution to the community, volunteered at Stream Stewardship Groups for salmon, mentoring directed studies and honour undergraduate students, and so much more. It's due to their incredible academic and community contributions to our department that I am pleased to announce this year's recipient for the Master's Zoology Graduate Student Excellence Award is Carley Winter!
PhD: Jessica Li: We all agreed that the applicants for this year’s PhD Zoology Graduate Student Excellence Awards were all outstanding candidates. The decision this year was difficult but after much deliberation, it is my pleasure to present this year’s award to an incredible student that truly highlights the brilliance of the Zoology graduate community.
They have presented their PhD work at UBC internal seminars, conferences within Canada including the Canadian Society of Zoologists, and internationally. They currently have a first-author paper under review and have received several competitive awards, a notable one being the UBC Zoology Graduate fellowship Award. In addition to their academic work, they show great dedication to their work as a TA and mentor, acting as a TADA facilitator and having upwards of 8 undergraduate students for directed studies and honour theses. They have also acted as a graduate student representative on two hiring committees where they have advocated for EDI considerations and the interests of graduate students.
In recognition of their outstanding academic and research achievements and dedication to our department and community, it is my honour to present this year’s PhD Zoology Graduate Student Excellence Award to Jessica Li!
People's choice Awards:
Full-lenght Talk Award: Jacqueline Da Silva
Blitz Talk Award: Yuying Lin
Honorable mention: Claire Kremen/Tatiana Chamorro
Cluster competition winner: Evolution with 554 points
More details: 2025 Debbie and Justin Wragg-Schmidt Zoology Spring Symposium
2024 Award recipients
The awards were given during the 100 year celebration banquet, This event was part of the three day 3rd ZGSA-Debbie and Justin Wragg-Schmidt Spring Symposium and the Zoology's 100 year celebration symposium, that took place on April 30, 2024
Biology Teaching Assistant Award – Jessica Li
Biology Teaching Assistant Honorable Mention – Zandra Santa Rita
Graduate Student Excellence Award - MSc: Lauren Gill & PhD: Lydia Fong
Lifetime Achievement Award - Bruce Gillespie
Leadership Awad - Olga Tosin
Workplace Excelllence Award - Jacelyn Shu
More details: Debbie and Justin Wragg-Schmidt Zoology Spring Symposium and Zoology's 100 year celebration
2022 Awards recipients
Originally posted May 12, 2022
The awards were given during the Graduate student appreciation and awards night. This event was part of the Inaugural Debbie and Justin Wragg-Schmidt Zoology Spring Symposium, that took place on April 25, 2022.
Biology Teaching Assistant Award – Jessica Kowalski
Biology Teaching Assistant Honorable Mention – Tessa Blanchard
Teaching Assistants (TAs) are vital to the success of undergraduates in the Biology Program. They play a key role in effective instruction and the smooth operation of all courses. To recognize the important role that they play in the Biology Program, the Departments of Botany and Zoology are proud to offer an annual award for Teaching Assistants for excellence in Teaching. This award consists of a cash prize for the Winner, and certificates of recognition for the Winner and Honourable Mentions. In the past, there have usually been two Honourable Mentions, in addition to the prize Winner.
Zoology Mentorship Award – Dr. Molly Stanley
New award for Mentoring will be awarded to a Postdoctoral Fellow or a Research Associate in the Department of Zoology. This award is in memory of Dr. Jacob Hodgson, a long time Zoology Research Associate. This award has been created to honour his outstanding contributions to mentoring. Jacob was a mentor to so many members of the department but his legacy and impact will be remembered for his mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students.
Graduate Student Excellence Award - Melody Salehzadeh
This award aims to celebrate the accomplishment of graduate students (MSc or PhD) within the Department of Zoology. This award will be given during the to a student who displays strong academic achievements during their degree as well as strong service within the department and their community.