University of Saskatchewan PhD students Fidelia Anulika Orji, Jocelyn Peltier-Huntley, and Gabrielle Iakotennikonhrare Doreen have been awarded the prestigious 2021 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. The annual award recognizes researchers who demonstrate academic excellence, research potential, and leadership ability.

Osiris González Romero is a recent PhD graduate from Mexico who completed his doctoral work in the Netherlands. He has been awarded the Misiwêskamik International Post-doctoral Fellowship. It’s a competitive program mandated to bring international post-doctoral fellows to USask.

At USask, Romero will be supervised by historian Dr. Erika Dyck, Canada Research Chair in the History of Medicine, pursuing research titled “Cognitive freedom and psychedelic humanities.”

Orji is part of the team at USask’s Multi-User Adaptive Distributed Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing (MADMUC) Lab and is exploring ways to use machine learning to make personalized eLearning systems that keep users engaged while achieving the desired learning outcome. Orji works under the directorship of USask researcher Julita Vassileva.

Peltier-Huntley is part of the interdisciplinary studies program and is finding ways to change workplace culture in the mining industry to make it more inclusive for under-represented groups, such as women and Indigenous people. Jeanie Wills and John Moffat are co-supervising her project.

Doreen, Turtle Clan from Tyendinaga Territory but currently living in Kahnawake, near Montreal, will study how Indigenous theories on living and self-governance can be incorporated into Indigenous-led, land-based education, and contribute to Indigenous research methodologies. USask education researcher Alex Wilson is her supervisor.

Orji, Peltier-Huntley, and Doreen will each receive $150,000 over three years to support their work.