Edmonton-Nicole Oro, a University of Alberta doctoral graduate, was honoured last month at Fall Convocation where she received the Governor General's Gold Medal. The award, presented only three times each year, recognizes academic excellence at the graduate level.
Oro's doctoral research focused on the analysis of nitrogen species in gas oils using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Oro, who defended her PhD thesis earlier this spring, was co-supervised by Drs. Charles "Chuck" Lucy and Randy Whittal, in collaboration with Syncrude Canada.
"I'm very honoured and pleased to have my graduate work recognized," says Oro. "I could not have achieved this without the support of Drs. Lucy, Whittal and Richard Paproski. Guidance was available when I needed it, and I also had the freedom to explore ideas and direct my own research, for which I am very grateful."
Oro has also received the President's Doctoral Prize of Distinction, the Jean Cooley Graduate Scholarship in Analytical Chemistry, and the Faculty of Science Dissertation Award. She is currently an NSERC Visiting Fellow with Canmet Energy Labs in Devon, Alberta.