Carley-Jane Stanton, a fourth-year ALES student majoring in agricultural and resource economics, is one of three U of A students to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, widely considered the most prestigious scholarship in the world.
It is the first time three University of Alberta students have received Rhodes Scholarships in the same year.
"This is outstanding news for the University of Alberta," said U of A President David Turpin. "The aspirations of these three students demonstrate that we attract not only some of the brightest students in the country, but also those who are dedicated to service-to using their education to improve the lives of their fellow citizens. We could not be more proud."
Along with Arts student Billy-Ray Belcourt and medical student Zia Saleh, Stanton and eight other students from across Canada will pursue post-graduate studies at the University of Oxford next September.
Stanton started in linguistics at the U of A and took an elective in ALES' Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology entitled "The Plate, the Planet and Society" about food systems and food economics.
Having experienced food insecurity as a teenager living on her own, the issues discussed in the course resonated with her so much, she changed her program.
She completed a placement with Sustainable Food Edmonton, and then one of her instructor, Brent Swallow, asked her to serve as a research assistant on the food-security-related project ALES conducted in India. She worked closely with social policy expert Rhonda Breitkreuz from the Department of Human Ecology on the project, an experience she called "transformative."
"Ever since then it's been a snowballing effect."
She's since taken up leadership roles at the South West Edmonton Market and the Edmonton Food Council, and is the founder of the Alder Food Security Society.
Her plan for Oxford is to complete a master of philosophy in economic and social history-a slight departure from her current research, she admits, but training she hopes one day to apply to problems of food security here at home.
"I've been working a lot with qualitative data and seeing how lived experience can be very rich knowledge, and doesn't necessarily play out in the economic models I've been learning," she says.
"So what I want to do is become a little more literate in dealing with qualitative data, narratives and lived experience, and incorporating that into economic analysis."
Billy-Ray Belcourt, who studies comparative literature has been a strong advocate for LGBTQ and Aboriginal communities, serving as president of the U of A's Aboriginal Students' Association and as youth facilitator for the Native Youth Sexual Health Network.
It is that health-related work that has inspired his planned course of study at Oxford-either master of science or master of philosophy focusing on the effects of colonialism on the health of Indigenous peoples in Canada, specifically on disproportionately high rates of HIV infection in Saskatchewan.
"I've been able to witness first-hand the health disparities that are troubling First Nations reserves, such as the lack of information around culturally safe sexual health, education and practices for Indigenous peoples," Belcourt says.
He plans to continue working towards improved health for Indigenous people when he returns to Canada, helping develop culturally specific HIV prevention models.
Zia Saleh Zia Saleh is a medical student who has aspired to become an agent of change since he was a child. He and his brother were raised by a single mother in Edmonton's Ismaili Muslim community, where service is seen as a "duty and a critical part of one's purpose in life," says Saleh.
Saleh won a Loran Award, given to 30 youth across Canada who demonstrate character, service and leadership. It provided him with internships in education provision in rural Uganda, public health and UN policy in Switzerland and management consulting in Canada.
"I was able to see how different fields could impact the human condition and help improve people's quality of life."
That desire on have a direct impact on human lives led Saleh to the U of A's medical program, but in his mind that path doesn't end with a medical degree or even a successful clinical practice. And so he plans to take a break from his medical training to work on two master's degrees at Oxford, one in science and global health and another in public policy.
The three Rhodes Scholarships in a single year is a first for the U of A, which sent two students to Oxford in 1977 and 1994. When Belcourt, Saleh and Stanton begin their studies abroad in the fall, they will bring the university's total number of Rhodes Scholars to 71, dating back to 1913.
It is the first time three University of Alberta students have received Rhodes Scholarships in the same year.
"This is outstanding news for the University of Alberta," said U of A President David Turpin. "The aspirations of these three students demonstrate that we attract not only some of the brightest students in the country, but also those who are dedicated to service-to using their education to improve the lives of their fellow citizens. We could not be more proud."
Along with Arts student Billy-Ray Belcourt and medical student Zia Saleh, Stanton and eight other students from across Canada will pursue post-graduate studies at the University of Oxford next September.
Stanton started in linguistics at the U of A and took an elective in ALES' Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology entitled "The Plate, the Planet and Society" about food systems and food economics.
Having experienced food insecurity as a teenager living on her own, the issues discussed in the course resonated with her so much, she changed her program.
She completed a placement with Sustainable Food Edmonton, and then one of her instructor, Brent Swallow, asked her to serve as a research assistant on the food-security-related project ALES conducted in India. She worked closely with social policy expert Rhonda Breitkreuz from the Department of Human Ecology on the project, an experience she called "transformative."
"Ever since then it's been a snowballing effect."
She's since taken up leadership roles at the South West Edmonton Market and the Edmonton Food Council, and is the founder of the Alder Food Security Society.
Her plan for Oxford is to complete a master of philosophy in economic and social history-a slight departure from her current research, she admits, but training she hopes one day to apply to problems of food security here at home.
"I've been working a lot with qualitative data and seeing how lived experience can be very rich knowledge, and doesn't necessarily play out in the economic models I've been learning," she says.
"So what I want to do is become a little more literate in dealing with qualitative data, narratives and lived experience, and incorporating that into economic analysis."
Billy-Ray Belcourt, who studies comparative literature has been a strong advocate for LGBTQ and Aboriginal communities, serving as president of the U of A's Aboriginal Students' Association and as youth facilitator for the Native Youth Sexual Health Network.
It is that health-related work that has inspired his planned course of study at Oxford-either master of science or master of philosophy focusing on the effects of colonialism on the health of Indigenous peoples in Canada, specifically on disproportionately high rates of HIV infection in Saskatchewan.
"I've been able to witness first-hand the health disparities that are troubling First Nations reserves, such as the lack of information around culturally safe sexual health, education and practices for Indigenous peoples," Belcourt says.
He plans to continue working towards improved health for Indigenous people when he returns to Canada, helping develop culturally specific HIV prevention models.
Zia Saleh Zia Saleh is a medical student who has aspired to become an agent of change since he was a child. He and his brother were raised by a single mother in Edmonton's Ismaili Muslim community, where service is seen as a "duty and a critical part of one's purpose in life," says Saleh.
Saleh won a Loran Award, given to 30 youth across Canada who demonstrate character, service and leadership. It provided him with internships in education provision in rural Uganda, public health and UN policy in Switzerland and management consulting in Canada.
"I was able to see how different fields could impact the human condition and help improve people's quality of life."
That desire on have a direct impact on human lives led Saleh to the U of A's medical program, but in his mind that path doesn't end with a medical degree or even a successful clinical practice. And so he plans to take a break from his medical training to work on two master's degrees at Oxford, one in science and global health and another in public policy.
The three Rhodes Scholarships in a single year is a first for the U of A, which sent two students to Oxford in 1977 and 1994. When Belcourt, Saleh and Stanton begin their studies abroad in the fall, they will bring the university's total number of Rhodes Scholars to 71, dating back to 1913.