UBC Reports | Vol. 50 | No. 11 | Dec. 2, 2004

Kudos

By Michelle Cook

U.S. National Parks Service Awards

Emily Gonzales, a PhD candidate in UBC’s Biodiversity Research Centre, is one of eight students in North America to be named a Canon National Parks Science Scholar by the U.S. National Parks Service. The US$78,000 scholarship is designed to support the next generation of scientists working in the fields of conservation, environmental science and national park management, and provide them with the resources to conduct research critical to conserving national parks in the Americas.

Gonzales, from Victoria, B.C., is studying the relative influence of exotic grass competition in Garry oak ecosystems. For her research project, she will be developing baseline data for Canada’s newest park, the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, located on Mayne, Saturna, the Pender Islands and others in the Strait of Georgia, to help preserve and restore Garry oak ecosystems in the park.

Another UBC student, Joleen Timko, a PhD candidate in the Resource Management and Environmental Studies Graduate Program, received an honourable mention award of $1,000 from the National Parks Service.