Doctoral students Bénédicte Fontaine-Bisson (left) and Jacqueline Kennelly have both been awarded CAUT’s 2007-2008 J.H. Stewart Reid Fellowship. The fellowship, given by CAUT to honour the life and work of the association’s first executive secretary, provides financial assistance of $5,000 to a student with high academic standing registered in a doctoral program at a Canadian university. In cases where the recipient has obtained funding from other sources, the fellowship trustees will limit the grant to cap the total assistance at $25,000.

Bénédicte Fontaine-Bisson, a PhD student with the University of Toronto’s department of nutritional sciences, is investigating how nutritional factors interact with the genome to affect health and why some individuals react differently. Her work in nutrigenomics, a relatively new area of study, has potential for the prevention and management of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease as both dietary and genetic factors are involved in their development. After receiving a BSc in nutritional sciences from Laval University she went on to study for her master’s at the UofT and within one year reclassified into the PhD program. Since beginning her post-secondary education, she has received 11 scholarships, including master’s and doctoral awards from NSERC, three poster and two oral competition awards, seven travel grants and one excellence award. Fontaine-Bisson, who is planning a career as a university researcher and teacher, has published one book chapter and seven scientific articles and presented her work at various international conferences. She will receive $4,000 of fellowship support from CAUT.

Jacqueline Kennelly, a PhD student in educational studies at the University of British Columbia, is researching young people's involvement in diverse political processes. Her work will ethnographically document how and why young people become engaged through participation in youth activist communities. Kennelly holds a masters in environmental studies from York University, and a bachelors of arts and science from McMaster University. Alongside her doctoral work, she has been involved in various youth-driven organizations in Vancouver and has focused time and energy to helping young people become more critically educated and democratically engaged within their communities. Her academic project has been recognized by an award for best publication by the Canadian Association of Foundations of Education, for a 2006 article published in the Canadian Journal of Education. As runner-up to Fontaine-Bisson, Kennelly will receive $1,000 of fellowship support from CAUT.