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Faculty of Science student Isaac Bahler named Dalhousie University’s 95th Rhodes Scholar

Wednesday, November 19, 2025 (Halifax, NS) - Dalhousie University congratulates fourth-year science student Isaac Bahler on being named a 2026 Rhodes Scholar. The Rhodes Scholarship is considered one of the world’s most coveted and prestigious academic awards. Eleven recipients are chosen from across Canada each year, joining a global contingent of more than 100 scholars annually who receive full funding to cover travel, study, and expenses for postgraduate studies at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Recipients are chosen based on academic achievement, moral character, leadership, and extracurricular activities. 

With his scholarship, Isaac becomes the 95th Rhodes Scholar to be selected from Dalhousie University since the awards were first created in 1902. 

“Isaac is a remarkable student, and this honour is a true reflection of his hard work, determination, and community commitment,” says Wanda Costen, Dal’s provost and vice-president academic. “It also reflects the care his instructors, mentors, and our entire academic community have put into delivering the best possible academic and student experience here at Dalhousie. We can’t wait to see where Isaac’s Rhodes Scholarship takes him.”

“I was essentially just shocked,” said Isaac, when asked how he felt upon learning he’d clinched the Rhodes. “It's an enormous opportunity that I'm very thankful to be afforded. I didn't expect to get it.”

A Red Deer, Alberta native, Isaac’s typical days are centred around a balance of classes, honours research, field and lab work for a Dal spinout company, building a startup, and time in the pool as a member of the Tigers varsity swim team.

Swimming has been a part of Isaac’s life since he was a child. At Dal, he built community in the pool. He also found structure in the time commitment — usually 20 hours minimum weekly — and a sense of perspective that helped him excel in other areas of his life. “Swimming convinced me that you can remake your limits,” he says. “If you keep working on a skill, even if you start off terrible, you get better. Knowing that made it easier to stay with school and academics, especially when things were hard.”

Isaac’s hard work and perseverance have been rewarded, both in the pool and out. He’s earned Academic All-Canadian status during each of his years at Dal, a designation for student-athletes who maintain an 80% academic average or higher while competing in varsity sport. Other honours he’s received include the David Barlow Memorial Award (for student leadership in Earth Sciences) and Venture for Canada Internship Funding (a national student internship grant).

Perhaps Isaac’s biggest accomplishments leading up to his Rhodes Scholarship have stemmed from his desire to turn his curiosity into action. In July of last year, he co-founded the student group that would go on to become Equlantic Aquatic Monitoring — an ocean-tech startup focused on creating a platform to improve geochemical monitoring solutions for carbon dioxide removal and aquaculture.

He led the five-person team to secure more than $40,000 in competitive funding from innovation programs at Dal and beyond as well as top prize ($15,000) at the 2025 Mission Innovation SMART CDR global competition in Norway earlier this year. He also won Student Entrepreneur of the Year at the Dalhousie IMPACT Awards for this work.

“Isaac has gotten involved in nearly every aspect of student life at Dal, from varsity sports and entrepreneurship to leadership, all while maintaining incredibly high academic standards,” says Dr. Charles Macdonald, dean of the Faculty of Science. “He’s a deserving Rhodes Scholar and a great example of what a dedicated student can achieve.”

Isaac’s drive to create more precise ways to measure the impact of carbon-removal solutions has been fuelled by his research work with CarbonRun, a Dal spinout company co-founded by Dal Earth Sciences Professor Dr. Shannon Sterling. The company restores river chemistry by adding alkaline minerals, delivering significant ecological benefits while safely and verifiably drawing down CO2.

Over the past year and a half, he has worked as a research technician as well as a scientific analyst for the firm — a unique chance to contribute to an emerging company that’s “the first of its kind in the world,” he says. He’s even helped the company develop patents for its technology, knowledge he gained doing the same for his student-based startup Equlantic.

"I really want to work actively on the research around implementing these solutions, which is kind of why I am drawn to the intersection of business and science,” he says. “How do we get these formative research ideas about decarbonization into practice?"

As he looks ahead to Oxford next year, Isaac says he’s enticed by the chance to cross paths with other scholars who are similarly interested in solving big problems. And with a Rhodes Scholarship in hand, he’s well positioned to build on his long-standing fascination with climate innovation and contribute to addressing one of the world’s most pressing challenges.

You can read more about Isaac and his impressive list of accomplishments on Dal News.

 Isaac follows fellow Dalhousie alumni Ashley Jackson, Sierra Sparks and Nayani Jensen, and Diana Adamo into the Rhodes Scholar ranks.

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Media Contact:
Lindsay Dowling-Savelle
Media Relations Manager
Dalhousie University
Cell: (902) 222-8810
lindsay.savelle@dal.ca