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2026 Staff Award for Excellence in Service

Citation for Colette Wyllie

The recipient of the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture 2026 Staff Award for Excellence in Service is Colette Wyllie.

This award recognizes and celebrates Colette’s outstanding contributions to the Faculty of Agriculture. As Alumni Engagement Manager, Colette consistently exceeds expectations, demonstrating a deep commitment to her role and the community she serves.

Her passion for the campus, alumni, students, and faculty is evident in all that she does. Colette fosters an inclusive and welcoming environment, creating positive experiences for everyone she interacts with. She goes above and beyond her responsibilities to ensure that the campus community is supported with a high level of care, professionalism, and dedication.

Here are a few highlights from Colette’s nominators:

“Colette is kind, honest, hardworking, and professional. As Alumni Manager, she has a strong successful relationship with students. She is valued for her kindness, willingness to help, and her strong knowledge of our campus. Colette is a very dedicated, hardworking staff member, but most importantly, she loves her job and it shows her success.”

“I want to acknowledge the outstanding support Colette provides to alumni, particularly the members of honour year classes as they plan class reunions. I have had so many alumni from many class years compliment Colette on the “over the top” assistance she provided them with hosting their class reunions. The thing that stands out to me is the rapport Colette has with individual alumni - no matter the class year!”

“Relationship building is at the heart of Colette’s role, and she shines in this area. She understands how important strong alumni connections are for supporting students, faculty, and the wider agricultural community.”

In recognition of her wide ranging and impactful contributions to Dalhousie University, Faculty of Agriculture, we present the 2026 Staff Award for Excellence in Service to Colette Wyllie.

The recipient of the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture 2026 Outstanding Undergraduate Supervision Award is presented to Audrie-Jo McConkey.  Audrie-Jo is a University Teaching Fellow in the Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture, where she also serves as Academic Advisor to BSc Aquaculture students and Faculty Lead for the Aquaculture Student Society. This award recognizes and celebrates her many meaningful contributions to students within the Faculty of Agriculture.

Audrie-Jo’s commitment to building relationships and creating opportunities reflects her deep care for the students she serves. She is genuinely committed to ensuring that every student feels supported both academically and personally, always making the time to provide thoughtful guidance and meaningful connection. Her dedication to enhancing learning experiences is evident in her efforts to bring courses to life, including initiatives such as the development of the Wildlife Ecology course in the Philippines. Beyond her teaching responsibilities, Audrie-Jo is actively engaged with the Ocean Network for Education and plays a key role in linking the Aquaculture program and the Marine Biology program in Halifax. 

Here are a few highlights from Audrie-Jo’s nominators: 

“Audrie-Jo is a highly valued member of our department team. She performs her job with the utmost professionalism and takes attention to detail to extreme. Students feel valued when interacting with her as she treats each individual in a caring, helpful way. She is committed to ensuring when she takes on a task that the highest level of quality and proficiency are at top of mind knowing that her actions impact the success of many others.”

“It is rare to find a teacher so wholly capable of teaching everyone, from the most inattentive and hyperactive to spacious and unaware, she has found a method of drawing in even the most uninterested student into the beautiful inner-world of learning, something she did for me when I started coming to this university.”

“While I could go on and on about the many ways in which Audrie-Jo mentors and supports students, and how responsive she is to the diverse needs of student constituencies, it is truly difficult to capture someone's demeanor in words, especially hers. She is joyful when engaging in the work she loves, she is thoughtful and compassionate when situations require care, and she can be serious and steady when needed. Most importantly, everything she does is done with genuine care - not because she must, but because that is simply who she is.”

In recognition of her wide range and impactful contributions to Dalhousie University, Faculty of Agriculture, we present the 2026 Outstanding Undergraduate Supervision Award to Audrie-Jo McConkey

The recipient of the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture 2026 Experienced Career Research Excellence Award is Dr. Suresh Raja, Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture.

This award serves to recognize and celebrate Dr. Raja’s many contributions to research at the Faculty of Agriculture, and was selected based on the originality, independence of thought, overall quality, and impact of their research.

Dr. Suresh Raja joined the Faculty of Agriculture in September 2023 and has rapidly built an extensive and impactful research program. He has become an internationally recognized leader advancing AI, digital twins, and cyber-physical systems for data-driven, sustainable agriculture. By integrating computing, engineering, and animal science, his work delivers practical solutions that enhance productivity, resilience, animal welfare, and environmental performance through global, multidisciplinary collaborations.

In addition to his research, Dr. Raja has supervised more than 16 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, with 7 successfully completing their programs. Under his mentorship, students have contributed to over 9 conference proceedings, reflecting his strong commitment to training, collaboration, and excellence in research.

This is what his colleagues and students had to say about his work:

“Dr. Raja exemplifies research excellence through the originality of his ideas, the ambition and coherence of his research program, and his sustained commitment to building a worldclass research and training environment in digital agriculture and animal science”

“Dr. Raja has demonstrated exceptional commitment to research translation and visibility. He has led the development of applied research tools, including the MooLogue mobile application, which is currently being used by dairy farmers in multiple Canadian provinces. As a member of his research group, I actively participated in the design and development of this application, an experience through which I learned a great deal and thoroughly enjoyed working at the interface of research, technology development, and real-world agricultural application. This work exemplifies how Dr. Raja’s research extends beyond scholarly publication to deliver practical benefits to the agricultural sector.”

In recognition of extensive contributions to research at Dalhousie University, Faculty of Agriculture, we present the 2026 Experienced Career Research Excellence Award to Dr. Suresh Raja.

The recipient of the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture 2026 Part Time Academic Teaching Excellence Award is Ms. Mandi Wilson in the Department of Engineering.

Mandi has been an integral member of the Part-Time Academic Teaching community in the Faculty of Agriculture since 2016. She consistently prioritizes student mentorship, engagement and active participation, recognizing that students are more likely to retain and apply knowledge when they are meaningfully involved in the learning process. Mandi has a unique ability to translate non-technical concepts into forms that resonate with students in technical disciplines, effectively bridging gaps in understanding and enhancing their learning experience.

Beyond her PTA responsibilities, Mandi has made significant contributions to the teaching environment through leadership, collaboration, and a strong commitment to student support. As co-founder and organizer of The Engineering Championship (TECh) Gauntlet, she helped develop an applied, student-centered engineering design experience that promotes engagement, peer learning, and practical problem-solving. Mandi maintains an exceptional breadth of knowledge and is a natural choice when developing learning materials across a range of courses.

"Ms. Wilson's teaching style openly encourages thoughtful discourse in her classes. Most notably, she has an eye in her sociology courses for choosing difficult topics in order to push students into examining their own beliefs and developing their critical thinking skills."

"This student-centered approach is one of Mandi's greatest strengths. Her teaching is marked by genuine care for student success, both inside and outside the classroom. Students repeatedly mention her responsiveness, her availability to answer questions, and her willingness to provide help through tutorials, class discussion, and individual communication"

"If I did not have Mandi as my instructor, I would not have been as confident when presenting in front of judges for the Canadian Engineering Competition, or a room full of strangers."

"Beyond the classroom, Mandi has proven to be an invaluable mentor to many students. She regularly makes herself available to provide guidance, encouragement, and support. Many students will testify that a conversation with Mandi helped them navigate their next steps within any kind of task. Her willingness to invest time in student development reflects a genuine dedication to student success."

In recognition of her enthusiastic commitment to teaching and student success at the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture, we present the 2026 Part Time Academic Teaching Excellence Award to Ms. Mandi Wilson.

The recipient of the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture 2026 Early Career Teaching Excellence Award is Dr. Mason MacDonald, Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Science.

This award recognizes and celebrates Dr. MacDonald’s many contributions to teaching at the Faculty. Mason was selected based on the originality, collaboration, overall quality, and impact of his teaching at the Faculty of Agriculture. Dr. MacDonald joined Dalhousie’s Faculty of Agriculture as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor in July of 2023. Prior to this appointment, he was an LTI in the department of Plant, Food and Environmental Sciences.

Dr. MacDonald has continuously demonstrated outstanding dedication to teaching excellence and student achievement. From the outset, he assumed a full teaching load and consistently exceeded expectations. Dr. MacDonald has further distinguished himself through pedagogical innovation and a strong commitment to experiential learning. He has redesigned laboratory components into hypothesis-driven experiments, ensuring that students engage with real-world methodologies in meaningful, hands-on ways. His diverse instructional approaches accommodate a range of learning styles and foster deeper student engagement.

Dr. MacDonald is known for his organization, caring nature for the student experience, encouraging students to use critical thinking and his love for teaching.

Here are a few highlights from Dr. MacDonald’s Nominators:

“Dr. MacDonald generously shares his recipes for teaching success! I and many other colleagues make regular use of Dr MacDonalds’ friendly, helpful, and non-judgmental advice as a peer. No topic is off the table.”

“His most admirable trait as an educator, in my opinion, is his ability to connect with students. Despite the size of our first-year course, he always made the effort to get to his know his students and recognize their efforts. Courses that require a lot of memorizations, like Biology I, are more challenging for me. Despite this, I never felt judged or discouraged in MacDonald's class for having difficulty with some of the content.”

“For his contributions to delivering exceptionally high-quality lessons, and for contributing often to wider student success, Dr. MacDonald is worth his weight in gold. He deserves to be recognized to let him know that his efforts do not go unnoticed, but that his efforts are incredibly meaningful to the educational experience of students.”

In recognition of her extensive contributions to research at the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture, we present the 2026 Early Career Teaching Excellence Award to Dr. Mason MacDonald.