CFUW Dr. Margaret McWilliams Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
2020 – 2021
Value: $11,000
This fellowship, established in 1952, honours Margaret McWilliams, first CFUW President (1919-1923), who dedicated her life to furthering the status of women through improved access to higher education and the active involvement of women in public life. It is awarded to a woman who has completed at least one calendar year in a full-time doctoral program and is enrolled in full-time studies in Canada or abroad at the time of application.
2020-2021 Winner:
Jessica Ewald
Jessica Ewald
B.Sc. Engineering Sciences & Applied Mathematical Sciences (Minor), 2017, Harvard University
Ph.D. Natural Resource Sciences, 2017-2021, McGill University
Recent advances in biotechnology allow scientists to measure the concentration of every gene, metabolite, and protein in a tissue. Jessica is interested finding ways to use this kind of data to predict whether a chemical is likely to be harmful to humans or wildlife.
The overall objective of her research is to develop new mathematical methods and software to help people interpret and communicate this complex molecular data within the context of regulatory environmental toxicology.