Nicole Wong
Nicole Wong is graduating with an Honours Bachelors of Science degree in Chemical Biology. She is a recipient of the 2017 Schulich Leader Scholarship. As part of the co-op program, her research has taken her as far as Vancouver, BC, where she worked at STEMCELL Technologies, developing novel molecular biology products. Most recently, she worked at the Hospital for Sick Children under the supervision of Dr. Lynne Howell, where her research focused on elucidating biofilm mechanisms of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Dedicated to helping science students enhance their undergraduate experience, she has been involved with the McMaster Science Society for four years, most recently as President. Beyond the science society, she volunteered as a Residence Orientation Representative, with MSU Spark and MSU Horizons, as well as with the Ontario Science Students’ Association. Nicole would like to thank her parents, brother, family, and friends for their endless support throughout her journey at McMaster.
President’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning
Sarah Symons
Dr Symons has an Hons. BSc in Mathematics and Astronomy and a PhD in History of Science. On arriving at McMaster in 2009, she became a key member of the Honours Integrated Science Program development team and helped ensure its success as one of the most prestigious undergraduate science programs in Canada. As program coordinator, Dr. Symons now leads a team of instructors from across the Faculty of Science. In the classroom she champions science literacy, which includes information skills, experimental design, data analysis, and communication of science to diverse audiences.
She has advised on curriculum design in countries across the world. Closer to home, she supports Indigenous ways of knowing, for example collaborating with Six Nations Polytechnic, McMaster Indigenous Studies Program, and the McCallion Planetarium to develop the “Bear and Brother” planetarium show. In all her work, she values and builds on student perspectives as foundational to educational excellence.
| Award | Recipient |
|---|---|
| The Burke Memorial Ring | Umaima Abbas |
| The Cameron D. Allen Book Prize | Payton Truyens |
| The Catherine MacNeill Prize | Nadia Mohammed |
| The CSEP/SCPE Undergraduate Student Award | Mackenzie Patterson |
| The Dawson Prize in Chemistry | Joseph Dejaegher |
| The E. S. Moore Prize | Jonathan Spence |
| The Esther McCandless Memorial Prize | Ariana Mitchell |
| The Kinesiology Prizes | Sameena Karsan |
| The Kinesiology Prizes | Jenna Stone |
| The Leone Betty Blackwell Memorial Book Prize | Fergus O’Connor |
| The McMaster University Futures Fund Graduand Scholarship | Jonathan Giordano |
| The Middleton/Walker Prize in Sedimentary Geology | Kristen Hop Hing |
| The P. L. Newbigging Prize | Philopateer Ataalla |
| The P. L. Newbigging Prize | Alaanah Bhanji |
| The P. L. Newbigging Prize | Arshia Sabetahdjahromi |
| The P. L. Newbigging Prize | Kokoro Tsuzuki |