CFUW Dr. Alice E. Wilson Awards
CFUW Dr. Alice E. Wilson Awards 2025-2026
Total Value: $20,000
Two awards at the masters level and two for doctoral level study. The value of each award is $5,000.
Dr. Alice E. Wilson, CFUW member, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the first woman to hold a professional position at the Geological Survey of Canada won the 1926 CFUW Travelling Fellowship.
Awarded to mature students returning to graduate studies in any field after at least three years.
2025-2026 Winners:
Bailey Bingham
Robin Willcocks Musselman
Jucy Sin Hang Chan
Solange Nkulikiyinka
BAILEY BINGHAM
School: University of British Columbia
I am an ecologist and science educator originally from Ontario. For my PhD at the University of British Columbia, I am investigating how Arctic heat waves impact plant growth, seasonal life stages, and the resilience of tundra vegetation to climate change.
My research combines growth chamber laboratory experiments with long-term field data. While in the field, I work mostly on Qikiqtaruk – Herschel Island, which is a territorial park located off the north coast of the Yukon within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Qikiqtaruk is an active, meaningful part of the Inuvialuit homeland and it is uniquely threatened by climate change. I am grateful to the Inuvialuit for the opportunity to work in such a special place. I completed my MSc in Biology at the University of Guelph in 2021, where I focused on science education and built a love for sharing research beyond academia. This passion for science outreach brought me to Nunavut, as a lecturer and hiking guide, where I fell in love with the landscapes and communities of Arctic Canada. I enjoy working across disciplines and with different communities to better understand how ecosystems are changing. When I’m not in the office, you can usually find me on a trail somewhere– I’ve hiked over 6,000 km in the past 3 years, including a thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2023!
ROBIN MUSSELMAN
School: Dalhousie University
Robin is an environmental researcher and educator with 20 years of experience working with environmental non-profit organizations in Atlantic Canada.
She returned to Dalhousie to undertake her PhD after a long break raising her daughter as a single parent. Her research in on the relocation of people and infrastructure due to climate risks. Climate change is increasing the number of places that are becoming too risky to live in due to among others; flooding, wildfires, and sea level rise. However, there are complex economic, cultural, and social-psychological factors that create significant challenges to relocation. The social-psychological factors related to how individuals think about and respond to relocation are understudied and is the focus of Robin’s research. In particular, the cognitive, emotional and social connections people have to the places where they live, and how they respond during relocation. These connections, known as place attachments, are important because they contribute to the development of a sense of belonging, identity, and social connectedness, and can provide a sense of stability and security. When place attachments are disrupted or broken however, they can negatively impact mental health and well-being. Robin’s research will contribute to the understanding of climate-induced relocations by deepening our comprehension of the place attachment process during relocation, both descriptively and in terms of mechanisms. This may help decision makers design and implement managed retreat programs in ways that reduce negative impacts on the well-being of those relocated and provide informed guidance for intervention in managed retreat policy and planning initiatives.
JUDY SIN HANG CHAN
School: Royal Roads University
I am a Chinese Canadian immigrant woman, a full-time sailor in the Royal Canadian Navy, and a graduate student in Royal Roads University’s Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management program.
Balancing military service and graduate research has shaped how I understand resilience, public service, and the practical demands placed on people who work in high-pressure environments. Before joining the Navy, I worked with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, where I supported provincial emergency operations during major events, including wildfire, flood, and pandemic response. My later military experience, including support to emergency operations in the North, strengthened my interest in how governments, communities, and response organizations work together during crises. My thesis studies the governance gap between capacity that exists and capacity that can actually be used during emergencies. It examines how governance structures, planning assumptions, and coordination processes shape whether available capacity becomes operationally useful in time. In northern and remote contexts, this gap matters because response often depends on small systems, long distances, limited infrastructure, and relationships between communities, governments, and supporting organizations. Rather than asking only whether enough resources are available, my work asks how emergency systems recognize, authorize, coordinate, and use the capacity they already have. My goal is to contribute research that is practical, policy-relevant, and grounded in the realities of emergency response.
SOLANGE NKULIKIYINKA
School: Université de Sherbrooke
De préposée aux bénéficiaires à professionnelle de recherche : un engagement au service des aînés Je m’appelle Solange Nkulikiyinka, je suis native du Rwanda.
Je suis une personne profondément engagée envers le bien-être des personnes aînées et la reconnaissance de celles et ceux qui en prennent soin. Mon parcours est particulier : avant d’entreprendre des études universitaires en gérontologie et de travailler en recherche, j’ai été préposée aux bénéficiaires pendant 18 ans. Cette expérience de terrain continue d’influencer ma façon de voir le vieillissement, les soins et les réalités vécues par les personnes vulnérables. Mes travaux de recherche portent principalement sur le vieillissement, le soutien aux proches aidants et l’amélioration des milieux de vie et de soins. Dans le cadre de ma maîtrise, je me suis intéressée aux décisions difficiles entourant le choix du milieu de vie des personnes aînées. J’ai ensuite contribué à plusieurs projets portant sur le vieillissement à domicile, les troubles neurocognitifs, le soutien aux proches aidants et la qualité de vie des personnes vivant avec des problèmes de santé chroniques. Depuis quelques années, je mène également un projet visant à mieux comprendre comment valoriser le rôle des préposés aux bénéficiaires afin de favoriser leur mobilisation et leur rétention dans les milieux d’hébergement. Je crois que la recherche doit servir à améliorer concrètement la vie des gens. C’est pourquoi j’accorde beaucoup d’importance au partage des connaissances, autant auprès des gestionnaires et des intervenants qu’auprès du grand public.
