News

The Legacy Awards event, first launched in 2018 during Dal’s bicentennial year, provides a chance for members of the Dal community to come together to celebrate the dozens of individuals and groups who’ve won university-based awards for their achievements over the past year.

Each recipient took home a N.S. hand-crafted glass and wood award. A reception in the sculpture court of the Dal Arts Center followed the awards ceremony.

The following receipients were honoured from the Truro Campus:

President’s Research Excellence Award, Early Investigator - Dr. Brandon Heung Brandon's research is in pedometrics, a branch of soil science focused on the development of high-resolution digital soil maps and predictive models that provide knowledge of soil variability over space and time. This supports the Faculty of Agriculture’s efforts to build capacity in soil sciences and digital agriculture to mitigate climate change and food security risks.

Arthur B. McDonald Chair in Research Excellence- Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe is professor of functional foods and nutraceuticals, his research over the last 20 years has targeted the understanding of the health-promoting properties of ancient food and applying this knowledge to innovate value added health foods and dietary supplements.

His fundamental investigations and development of modern techniques in these areas have had international influence while reinforcing the principles of “Food as Medicine”. Vasantha also applies his discoveries to support local industries in innovation of value-added processes and products such as healthy foods, ingredients, and natural health products using Atlantic bioresources, their byproducts, and food waste.

Rosemary Gill Award – Carolyn Bartlett came out of retirement after decades of being a registered nurse to join Health Services at Dal's Truro Campus in 2014. When COVID-19 hit Carolyn added an additional role to her portfolio as Dal’s health liaison with the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness, Nova Scotia Public Health, and the Department of Labour and Advanced Education. Her support during the pandemic was critical to ensuring Dal’s students were able to cope and navigate changing regulations and protocols. Carolyn settled into the role of primary care manager for Health Services in Truro in 2021, while continuing in her role as health liaison for the university. Her dedication to student health is truly exceptional.

DPMG Career Award – Stephanie MacKenzie played an integral role in the rebuilding of Cox Institute on the Truro campus after its fire. Her exceptional project management skills and unwavering dedication to minimizing disruptions during the project highlight her extraordinary leadership. Stephanie exhibited an extraordinary ability to adapt to constant change. She worked with internal clients and external contractors to complete the project with the least disruption possible to operations.

Staff Award for Excellence in Service - Gillian Hatch began her career in the Faculty of Agriculture working in recruitment in the Registrar’s Office, and in 2018, Gillian began her role as the Student Success Advisor. She has a firm commitment to a student-centred approach in all she does, and she brings her knowledge and experience to advising for course selection, and career pathways, as well as incorporating leadership opportunities for students through programming.

A champion for services for equity-deserving and marginalized students, Gillian advocated for the creation of a brave space on campus this year. She also ensures that the Student Success Centre has a strong digital presence, which led to the Student Success Instagram page gaining an audience of over 700 followers over the last three years.

The Wayne Paquet Award for Indispensable Service recognizes employees of the Registrar's Office who have positively influenced life at Dalhousie from behind the scenes. This award is presented to Brittany Sutherland who is Systems Specialist in Student Information and Operations in the Registrar's Office. She has made significant contributions to technical process development and transformation in the Registrar’s Office and played an instrumental role in critical projects, including the integration of the ‘Colleague’ student data system for the former NSAC; move to a paperless application and admissions process; electronic transmission of Nova Scotia applicant grades, and data integration and reporting for the MyNSFuture project; to name just a few.

Brittany was originally hired for these qualities by Wayne Paquet, the namesake of this award, making the recognition feel even more appropriate and well-deserved.

Congratulations to all our award winners!