President's Graduate Student Teaching Award Recipients
- Awards and Grants
- University-Wide Teaching Awards
- Academic Innovation Award
- Award for Excellence in Education for Equity
- Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
- Award for Excellence in Online/Blended Course Development, Design, and Delivery
- Contract and Limited-term Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Dalhousie Alumni Association Faculty Award of Excellence for Teaching
- Early Career Faculty Award of Excellence for Teaching
- Educational Leadership Award for Collaborative Teaching
- President’s Graduate/Undergraduate Student Teaching Award
- Sessional and Part-time Instructor Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Teaching and Learning Grants
- Regional and National Awards
Congratulations to the 2025 recipients!
 Clarke Brown is a PhD candidate in the Department of Civil Engineering. His research focuses on making accessible tools for the monitoring of water for harmful toxins produced by blue-green algae. He has been an educator with Dalhousie since 2017, where he started as a teaching assistant with the first-year chemistry team. His philosophy for teaching focusses on meeting students where they are in their education and providing the resources that work to their ability. He has displayed this attitude in all his roles, including helping instructors to improve courses for students, teaching content both in-person and online, serving as a mentor to other teaching assistants and students, and providing students with studying skill assistance through the Studying for Success program. His work has been highly praised by students and peers alike. He is ecstatic about continuing teaching as a key role in his career after he graduates. |
 Jessica (Jess) Latimer (she/her) is a graduate student in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with an interest in teaching and learning. In particular, she seeks to situate her own research in microbial genomics within a biology education research framework. Jess has participated in science communication initiatives such as Biodiversity Day with the Institute for Comparative Genomics and the Discovery Centre. This year, she completed the Dalhousie Certificate for University Teaching and Learning, and helped expand the Microbial Observatory Science Outreach Modules (MOSOM) Program to promote citizen science developed by, with and for youth from underrepresented communities. |
2024
Lara MillmanDepartment of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts and Social SciencesLara Millman is a Philosophy PhD student at Dalhousie. Her research focuses on the ways social networks influence the acquisition and persistence of problematic beliefs. Being passionate about teaching and public education, she has invested considerable time and effort into pedagogical development and sharing research beyond academic institutions. Lara was a member of Dalhousie's 2022 OpenThink cohort where she focused on developing skills for public education, which feature in her instruction. Lara is a current participant in the Centre for Learning and Teaching's certificate program and consistently takes part in CUTL workshops aimed at accessibility and inclusion. Besides this, Lara has a host of teaching experience: she has worked as a teaching assistant, philosophy tutor, & academic writing tutor at multiple institutions and has taught philosophy courses at both Dalhousie & Saint Mary's University. Lara looks forward to teaching another course in the philosophy department in the fall of next year, as she works on completing her dissertation! |
Leila MohammadiDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of ScienceLeila Mohammadi is a Ph.D. Candidate in Mathematics at Dalhousie University. Her academic journey began at K. N. Toosi University of Technology in Tehran, Iran where she completed her undergraduate and master’s studies in Applied Mathematics. Her research focuses on studying mathematical models for self-emergent biological phenomena. As an educator, Leila has taught various mathematics courses at multiple levels, both in-person and online. In 2020 and 2021, Leila played a significant role in assisting faculty with transitioning to online teaching formats and developing online lecture videos. Her teaching experiences extend beyond the classroom, actively seeking diverse teaching experiences. She has been involved in Math Circles, provided support at the Mathematics and Statistics Learning Centre, and assisted students in the BIPOC community through the Inclusive Pathways to Medical Professions program and at the Indigenous Student Centre. Leila is looking forward to finishing her Ph.D. She is committed to continuing her innovative teaching and research efforts, contributing to the academic community, and inspiring the next generation of mathematicians. |
Clarisse ParonFaculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of PhilosophyClarisse (she/they) is a PhD student in the Department of Philosophy. Her research considers how science, medical practice, and social policy intersect to perpetuate unjust treatment of equity-deserving populations in the healthcare system. Her academic journey began at the University of Alberta where she completed a BSc before pursuing a MA and PhD in Philosophy. She attributes her success in her graduate programs to professors that helped her discover her passion for philosophy and develop self-confidence, which she hopes to pay forward in her own teaching. She has taught in many capacities — for example, as a coach, fitness instructor, teaching assistant, and part-time instructor. Her interest in pedagogy led her to undertake the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning, co-author an open educational resource (OER) on applied ethics, develop courses for the Department of Philosophy at Dalhousie and Faculty of Health Sciences at Athabasca University, evaluate EDI improvements made to Dal’s UGME case-based tutorials, and aid the Bioethics Department creation of an online tool for healthcare professionals and students to develop their ethical consultation skills. Moreover, she loves sharing her research publicly, and has given various public talks and webinars on her research, including a workshop teaching other fitness instructors to consider inclusivity in group fitness classes. |
2023
Dr. Adrienne Allison, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, is this year’s recipient of the President’s Graduate Student Teaching Award. Her strong academic and teaching profile were well-developed for a graduate student. Her dedication to professional development is evident in the many ways she has enhanced her teaching and communication skills, from completing the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning to engaging in external workshops and courses related to teaching and learning activities. Her students appreciate her hard work, which can be seen in the excellent student evaluation reports she received.
Biography
Adrienne Allison recently completed her PhD in Chemistry at Dalhousie, exploring how we can improve the performance of supercapacitive energy storage systems. Adrienne spent almost a decade as a student at Dalhousie, having completed her BSc (Hons) at Dalhousie in 2016. After a brief stint working in industry, she returned to Dalhousie to pursue graduate studies. Adrienne was a member of the Dalhousie first-year chemistry teaching team during both her degrees, totaling 15 academic terms of teaching experience. Throughout her tenure, she held the positions of teaching assistant, senior teaching assistant, and part-time instructor. She also helped develop online content for the course during the pandemic-induced transition to virtual learning. In addition to her teaching experience, Adrienne completed the teaching theory, practice, and professional development necessary to earn the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning. Outside of research and teaching during graduate school, Adrienne also found time to act as Co-President for Dalhousie Working for Inclusion in Chemical Sciences (Dal WIC). All of this experience has been valuable in her recent transition to Natural Resources Canada, where she works as a policy analyst in their Electricity Systems Sector, supporting the decarbonization of Canada's electricity systems.
2022
Congratulations to the 2022 recipients!
| Luana Almeida (Ph.D. Candidate) Graduate Student Representative, Maritime Risk and Safety Research Group (MARS), Department of Industrial Engineering.Luana Almeida is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Department of Industrial Engineering. She completed her undergraduate studies at Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, and joined the Master of Applied Science program at Dalhousie University in 2018. In 2019, Luana received a MITACS Globalink Research Award and had the opportunity to visit the ANT/OR research group for three months at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Considering the complexity of her research and her excellent progress and achievements, Luana was granted permission to transfer to the doctoral program in 2020. Her research interests are centred on humanitarian logistics with a focus on metaheuristic models designed to optimize the multi-modal distribution of relief supplies to affected communities following a natural disaster. She develops network optimization methods building on Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure and Ant Colony Optimization approaches. Applications focus on humanitarian logistics in earthquake scenarios on Canada’s West Coast. In addition to her research, Luana also takes a leadership role as Graduate Student Representative for the Department of Industrial Engineering. Luana worked as a Teaching Assistant for Operations Research: Linear Models (IENG 3344) and Engineering Risk Management (IENG4567). Among her students, she has a reputation for being always well prepared for her duties, for her patience, for creating a safe environment to address complex problems, and for being committed to share her knowledge during one-on-one and tutorial sessions. |
Reem Karaballi (Ph.D. Student) Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science. Reem Karaballi completed her BSc. (Honors) and M.Sc. at Saint Mary’s University. Reem is currently finishing her PhD studies in chemistry at Dalhousie University, which is supported by NSERC funding. Her research focuses on exploring new plasmonic transition metal nitride nanomaterials which can be potentially used in catalysis, photothermal therapy, and solar-driven water evaporation. Along with her research work, Reem is heavily involved in teaching and extracurricular activities at Dalhousie University. She has been involved in many teaching positions in the department of chemistry including laboratory teaching assistant, laboratory senior teaching assistant, and part-time lecture instructor. Reem has been part of the first-year team which was recently awarded the National D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning. Along with that, she was part of the Dalhousie Studying for Success program where she provided workshops and worked with students one-on-one. Additionally, she has been an active member of different societies including the Chemistry Graduate Student Society, Green Chemistry Initiative, and the Clean Technologies Research Institute. Reem has also co-founded the first WIC “Working for Inclusivity in Chemical Sciences” Chapter in the Maritimes. She has attended the teaching and learning conferences at Dalhousie University, and successfully fulfilled the requirements of the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning. Reem is looking forward to finishing her PhD studies and starting a new chapter in her life. |
Nick Roberts (Undergraduate TA) Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science. Nick is currently a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Science with an honours in Chemistry and a minor in Neuroscience at Dalhousie University. Nick has been active in research since his first year of university, focusing primarily on main group inorganic synthetic chemistry and density functional theory. His efforts have led to two publications, one in Chemistry: A European Journal and the other more recently in Angewandte. Outside of his interest in inorganic chemistry, Nick has taken much pride in his teaching at Dalhousie. Nick joined the First Year Chemistry Laboratory Teaching Team in Fall 2019, where his ongoing commitment to improving his teaching and the student experience led to his recruitment to the Online Laboratory Development Team in Summer 2020. Within this team, Nick spoke fully of his ideas to improve course content whilst initiating and championing design ideas that ensured the preservation of in-person laboratory hallmarks, such as choice in experimental path, opportunities to make/learn from experimental mistakes, and establishing chemistry community, despite the 2020/2021 fully online laboratory delivery. As a Senior Teaching Assistant, he independently implemented new tutorials into the laboratory program to support students on tricky topics. Nick is currently a co-investigator/grant holder on several teaching research projects, including a colour vision deficiency (CVD) accessibility support project, an investigative project into online learning and discussion forums and a project investigating the effectiveness of new tutorial series in the First Year Chemistry Laboratory. As acting President of the Dalhousie University Undergraduate Chemistry Society (DUUCS), Nick is committed to creating community among undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty. As well, he provides honest/critical feedback about his experiences as a chemistry student, and ensures his fellow students are informed of and connected to opportunities to get more involved in chemistry, science and campus life. |
Tareq Yousef (Ph.D. Candidate) Medical Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine
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Tareq Yousef completed his BSc at Dalhousie University. As of the summer of 2022, he is completing his PhD in Medical Neuroscience at Dalhousie University under the supervision of Dr. William Baldridge, investigating the role of nitric oxide as a signalling molecule in adjusting the retina to changing levels of light. Tareq has been a TA at Dalhousie since his undergraduate degree where he received his Certificate in Science Leadership and Communication. In Dalhousie’s psychology department, he worked as a Teaching Assistant for first-year laboratories and upper year psychology courses such as the Behavioural Neuroscience Laboratory and Advanced General Psychology. During his graduate degree he has focussed his contributions on to Human Neuroanatomy, acting as a lecturer, TA, and Lab Instructor for the undergraduate, graduate, medical, dentistry, and health professions students. Recently, Tareq successfully received Dalhousie’s Certificate in University Teaching and Learning and was hired as a Lecturer in Psychology, moving west for the job later this season.2021
Katherine M. Marczenko (PhD in Inorganic Chemistry Student) Faculty of Science
Katherine Marczenko completed a B.Sc. at the University of Guelph and an M.Sc. at McMaster University in Ontario. She is nearing completion of her Ph.D. in chemistry at Dalhousie University, which is supported by Vanier and Killam funding. Her research focuses on developing new molecules that display unusual reactivity and have the potential to replace precious metals in catalysis. Katherine has a strong reputation among both students and faculty as an effective and enthusiastic teacher across all environments. She has made significant contributions to ongoing curriculum development for second- and third-year chemistry courses. As part of her role as President of the Chemistry Graduate Student Society, Katherine led a team that redesigned Dalhousie’s Chemistry Outreach program to align with provincial learning themes and outcomes. In September 2021, she will start her new role as Crystallographer and Course Instructor at the University of Guelph. She hopes to share her enthusiasm for chemistry by teaching an upper year course on chemical crystallography that she developed as part of the requirements for CNLT 5000.
Ralph (RJ) Redden (PhD in Psychology) Faculty of Science
During his time at Dalhousie University, Ralph Redden completed his BA (Honours), MSc, and is nearing completion of his PhD (all in Psychology). His research has been supported by NSERC and Killam funding, and the supervision and mentorship of Dr. Ray Klein. He is preparing to defend his dissertation exploring how low-level automatic processes in our attentional systems interact with our immediate goals in order to create our conscious perception of our surrounding environment. Ralph has held numerous teaching positions here at Dalhousie, having served as a teaching assistant or course instructor in every year of his graduate tenure — in addition to completing the requirements of the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning. Ralph served as a teaching assistant in two core courses in the Psychology undergraduate program: Research Methods in Experimental Psychology, and Statistical Methods. He has instructed Intro to Psychology and Neuroscience, Research Methods in Attention (after TAing it for his supervisor on two occasions), and Experimental Social Psychology. Ralph espouses the practices and philosophies of the Open Science movement in his teaching, and believes that by creating a scientific culture where our materials, data, and outputs are openly available, we can break down systemic barriers that have served to marginalize many from participating in, and contributing to, scientific inquiry. Ralph is excited to represent the Black and Gold as he carries forth the exceptional training and the incredible network of colleagues he's developed at Dalhousie as he begins an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta this Fall.
Christie Stilwell (PhD in Health Student) Faculty of Health
Christie Stilwell is a graduate student in the PhD in Health Program and completed her MA and BSc (Hons) in Health Promotion at Dalhousie University. Her research interests relate to Indigenous health and wellbeing, aging and older adults, and health services. She has been an enthusiastic teaching assistant for the Introduction to Research Methods course in the School of Health and Human Performance and for the Women and Aging course in the School of Nursing, as well as other courses within the Faculty of Health over the past five years. Through the Heathy Populations Institute, she has worked to create unique learning and skill building opportunities for fellow graduate students with seminars, workshops, and the Healthy Populations Journal.
2020
Joseph Tassone, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Joseph Tassone completed his HBSc and MSc at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He recently completed his PhD in Chemistry as a Vanier Scholar and Killam Scholar at Dalhousie University under the supervision of Dr. Mark Stradiotto, developing new chemical tools for the synthesis of compounds relevant to the pharmaceutical industry. Joseph was actively involved in many teaching experiences at Dalhousie. Joseph tutored undergraduate students in organic chemistry and acted as a Teaching Assistant in first year chemistry. His work as a Teaching Assistant saw his promotion to Senior Teaching Assistant, a role with greater supervisory and teaching responsibilities. More recently, Joseph was hired as a Part-Time Academic in first year chemistry, conducting review sessions before midterms and the final exam in the lecture portion of the course, and acting as an instructor in the laboratory portion of the course. He also participated in various outreach activities in the Chemistry department, and successfully fulfilled the requirements of the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning. Building on his successes at Dalhousie, Joseph will be beginning a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University later this year.
2019
Asmita Sodhi, Mathematics and Statistics
Asmita Sodhi has demonstrated all-around engagement in her teaching and has taken an active role in building her teaching credentials. She has been heavily involved in outreach activities with her department through her work with NS Math Circles and the Math Challenge Club. Her students think highly of her organization and the impact she has had on their learning.
Landon Getz, Microbiology and Immunology
Landon Getz has engaged in innovative and inclusive teaching practices while pursuing his PhD. Having served as a TA in both Microbiology and Chemistry, he has also supervised honours students, helped to develop learning materials, made contributions to professional development training for Resource Centre Assistants and served as a mentor to other graduate and undergraduate students.
Michael Beh, Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Michael Beh has served as a lab instructor for several years, not only engaging in the Certificate for University Teaching and Learning but also contributing to Centre for Learning and Teaching workshops. His contributions include teaching activities that have had an impact on undergraduate and graduate students, fellow TAs, high school students, and the general public. He also contributed to community teaching in an innovative way through a Dal 200 event, presenting a chemistry lecture as it would have been 150 years ago.
2017
David Beitelman, Department of Political Science
Sarah Greening, Department of Chemistry
2015
Travis Lundrigan, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Danen Poley, Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Becky Spencer, Interdisciplinary PhD, Faculty of Health Professions
1995-2014
2014
- Josh Goreham, Department of Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Performance
- Grace Murphy, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
- Alana Westwood, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
2013
- Laura Albrecht, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
- Christina Lord, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
- Marcel Peloquin, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science
2012
- Kurt Stover, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science
2011
- Cheryl Watts, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Rachel Dingle, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine
- Victoria Walker, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
2010
- Sarah Crawford, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
2009
- Yuen-ying Carpenter, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
- Jonathan Fawcett, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science
- Cheryl Saunders, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
2008
- Leona Chu, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
- Timothy O'Leary, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science
- Meagan Timney, Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
2007
- Warren Heiti, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Jason Pearson, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
- Heather Phillips, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
2006
- Mr. Layman Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science
- Mr. Curran, School of Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Planning
2004
- Mr. Al-Darbi, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
- Randy Lynn Newman, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science
- Adam Timmons, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science
2003
- Amy Keirstead, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
- Karen Parker, Faculty of Computer Science
- Mike Rygel, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science
2002
- Sandra Dawe, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine
- Kayhan Ghatavi, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine
- Fiona Harper, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
- Douglas MacLaren, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
2001
- Jennifer Corcoran, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine
- Brian Johnson, Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Sandy Lancelot, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
2000
- Evelyn Bennett, Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Amanda Dickinson, Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine
- Murat Koksal, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
- Melanie O'Neill, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
1999
- Wendy Oritz-Ojeda, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
- Jennifer Russel, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science
- Maya Shmulevitz, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine
1998
- Frank Ham, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
- Tanya Holt, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
- Mark Silverberg, Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Stacey Wetmore, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
1997
- Alexandra Arnott, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science
- Roberta Barker, Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Catherine Forestell, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science
- Marc Mansour, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
1996
- Fiona Bellerive, Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Mary Chan, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
- Alexio Muise, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science
1995
- Jason Clyburn, Chemistry Science