Trudeau Foundation Awards $2.25 Million to 15 Canadian Scholars

Montreal, QC, June 19, 2007

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation today expanded its growing community of thought leaders by awarding fifteen Trudeau Scholar prizes worth up to $150,000 each to a new group of outstanding Canadian doctoral students. Above and beyond the prize money, Trudeau Foundation Scholars receive individual mentoring from highly accomplished professionals in their field of study and become part of a strong network of policy researchers and practitioners.

“Trudeau Scholars consistently break new ground by tackling issues of public policy, human rights and citizenship that impact us all,” said Roy L. Heenan, Chairman of the Board of the Trudeau Foundation. “The 2007 Trudeau Scholars have the creativity, ideas and scholarly track record to affect change locally, nationally and even globally.”

With research foci ranging from the environmental health risks for waste collectors to the relationships between parents who adopt foster children to ways to create and encourage female leaders in the community, the Trudeau Scholars will develop their ideas into deep scholarly work with the goal of enhancing society’s understanding, practices and policies.

The 2007 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholars:

Alexander Aylett (Geography, University of British Columbia) is examining municipal environmental policy to find synergies between environmental, social and economic goals.

Sherri Brown (Political Science, Simon Fraser University) is researching the model of global private-public partnerships aimed at increasing access to HIV/AIDS-related pharmaceuticals.

Elaine Craig (Law, Dalhousie University) will study the principle of “universal” human rights, and why different cultures have not, to date, found significant commonality in their interpretations.

Laura Crawford (English & Film, University of Alberta), through British and American fiction, will explore how transgender people fit into a public space previously reserved for conventional men and women.

Jessica Dempsey (Geography, University of British Columbia) questions the viability of market-based environmental conservation; can societies “trade” conservation to neutralize one species loss by saving another?

Sarah Kamal (Communication & Media Studies, The London School of Economics) will investigate post-Taliban Afghanistan and the local media’s role in negotiating gender equality.

Kristi Kenyon (Political Science, University of British Columbia) is exploring persecution on the basis of HIV status, including the intersection between health, human rights and forced migration.

Joshua Lambier (English Literature, University of Western Ontario) will explore the genesis of modern human rights discourse by focusing on the Romantic era in literature.

Jennifer Langlais (Law, Harvard University) is studying cultural diversity and equality, and will examine methods of satisfying the different needs of both the vulnerable and the stronger members of certain ethnic and religious minorities.

Myles Leslie (Criminology, University of Toronto) is studying the public and institutional risk factors that influence how coroners and investigators determine which deaths require investigation, public inquest or remedial legislation.

Leah Levac (Interdisciplinary, University of New Brunswick) is researching how adolescent women can become community leaders against negative social conditions, such as income inequality and illiteracy, which can negatively impact their health.

Jason Morris-Jung (Environmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley) is currently researching the social and political struggles over natural resources and environmental conservation in Southeast Asia.

Emily Paddon (International Relations, University of Oxford) studies UN-authorized intervention around the world and how UN forces can both thwart belligerents and protect civilians.

Geneviève Pagé (Social Work, Université de Montréal) focuses on the relationship between parents who adopt children in youth protection and foster care situations.

Kate Parizeau (Geography, Environment & Health, University of Toronto) investigates the environmental and health risks directed at waste collection workers in Buenos Aires during such tasks as curbside waste gathering and recycling.

(Full biographical information and photos are available upon request.)

“The 2007 Trudeau Scholars have already amassed an impressive level of academic success, and our hope is that these prizes will help them realize their potential to become leading national and international figures in their areas of expertise,” said P.-G. Forest, President of the Trudeau Foundation.

Created in 2003, the Trudeau Foundation Scholarship programme awards doctoral scholarships in the social sciences and humanities to Canadian citizens and landed immigrants pursuing full-time doctoral studies in Canada, and exceptionally to Canadians pursuing full-time doctoral studies at foreign institutions. The Foundation annually awards up to 15 exceptional students $35,000 per year for three years, plus up to an additional $15,000 annually each to support research-related travel. Trudeau Scholars are each paired with a Trudeau Mentor, an outstanding professional who pursues policy analysis and implementation in his or her daily work.