The experience of a lifetime for Dal's new Queen Elizabeth II Scholars

A group of outstanding students are getting ready for the experience of a lifetime. Dalhousie’s six newest Queen Elizabeth II Scholars will soon be travelling to Tanzania and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to spend the summer working on innovative research projects with local organizations.

Established in 2012, the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship Program (QES Program) is a national collaborative initiative that operates through the Rideau Hall Foundation, Community Foundations of Canada and Universities Canada. Its goal is to foster a dynamic community of young global leaders who share knowledge, exchange ideas and collaborate on meaningful initiatives through cross-cultural exchanges.

Dalhousie’s participation in the QES Program began in the summer of 2015, and will continue until the autumn of 2018. In addition to international opportunities offered to Dalhousie students, the university also welcomes graduate students from Commonwealth countries.

Meet the Scholars

Jennifer Greene

Jennifer Greene is an Advanced Care Paramedic at the QE II Health Sciences Centre Emergency Department, and also a first year master’s student in Dal’s Community Health and Epidemiology program.

“I am honoured and fortunate to have been given the prestigious opportunity to be a Queen Elizabeth Scholar,” says Jennifer. “I feel that this program will provide a valuable opportunity to broaden my skill set as a researcher and expand my worldview.”

Jennifer will be travelling to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania for her internship to study infectious disease transmission at Pastoral Activities and Services for people with AIDS Dar es Salaam Archdiocese (PASADA). She’s looking forward to working in a completely different environment, and investigating research questions that are far removed from her comfort zone of emergency/prehospital medicine.

Noah Eisner

A fascination with the natural world, particularly the ocean and its inhabitants, is what encouraged Noah Eisner to pursue a master’s degree in Marine Management.

“I have wanted to work in marine conservation for as long as I can remember,” says Noah. “The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship program is providing me with my first opportunity to actually work towards tackling many of the issues that I have spent years learning about.”

Noah will be completing his internship with Sustainable Grenadines Inc., a non-governmental organization (NGO) committed to the conservation of the coastal and marine environment and sustainable livelihoods for the people in the Grenadine Islands. Noah hopes that the research he’ll be doing while there will lead to tangible benefits for local inhabitants of the islands.

Justine Dol

Originally from a small town in Ontario, Justine Dol is a first year student in Dal’s PhD in Health program. She first heard about the Queen Elizabeth II scholarship program while she was working for an international project based in Uganda that submitted an application with Saint Mary’s University.

“I was impressed at what a fantastic opportunity this was for students through its focus on building capacity both in Canadian and international students,” says Justine. “As a new doctoral student at Dal, I was excited for the opportunity to partake in the program myself through the Global Health Office.”

Justine will have a research focused placement, and will travel to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to work at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in the School of Nursing on various maternal and newborn health programs. She has travelled to Uganda several times before to volunteer, work and complete her master’s research, but has not spent much time in Tanzania.

Genevieve Renaud-Byrne

A first-year student in Dal’s Masters of Marine Management program, Genevieve Renaud-Byrne is passionate about ocean conservation, sustainable development, travelling and diving. It was while she was looking for opportunities to go abroad for her internship that Genevieve came across information about the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship program.

“I wanted to ensure that the project I was working on was timely, meaningful and in line with my research interests,” says Genevieve. “This opportunity will allow me to work closely with communities to develop an action plan for climate change adaptation.”

Genevieve will be travelling to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and will be working at Sustainable Grenadines Inc. alongside Noah.

Beatrix Yuan

Already a graduate from Dal’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Beatrix Yuan is in the process of finishing her second degree from the university, a Bachelor of Science in Health promotion.

After a visit to her class by Said Msabaha from the Global Health Office, and Braden Kingdon, a 2015 Dalhousie Queen Elizabeth Scholar, Beatrix became very interested in the scholarship program.

“I have always been interested in learning about other cultures and other countries, and this opportunity provides me with the chance to learn about health practices in another country,” says Beatrix. “I also really enjoy doing research, as it is a lifelong learning process.”

Beatrix will be travelling to Ifakara, Tanzania for her internship. While there, she will be working at the Tanzanian Training Centre for International Health, and focusing her research on maternal and newborn health.

Kelly Lucas

Finding out that she was accepted into the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship program was an early 30th birthday present for Kelly Lucas.

“I received my letter of acceptance the day before my 30th birthday,” says Kelly. “I had just flown home from visiting a friend and turned my phone on on the tarmac when the email came in. I was ecstatic and shed a few tears of joy on the plane.”

Kelly is in her third year of Dalhousie’s nursing program, which will be her second degree from the university. She will complete her internship at the Tanzanian Training Center for International Health in Ifakara alongside Beatrix, and will focus on maternal and newborn health.

“I am a huge proponent of collaboration and am extremely interested in increasing cross-cultural communication as a means to work together to problem solve, and share results of various projects and studies,” says Kelly. “I feel there is so much that can be learned through cross-cultural collaboration in every field and I am very excited to be involved in increasing that communication in the healthcare field.”

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship program is made possible with financial support from the Government of Canada, provincial governments and the private sector.