The dynamic work of 40 Brock graduate students and postdoctoral fellows has drawn the attention of the federal government, which recently awarded the rising researchers more than $2 million in Canadian Graduate Scholarships (CGS).

The awards were announced as part of a funding bundle Wednesday, March 13 by Minister of Transport Pablo Rodriguez on behalf of Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne.

As part of the same announcement, Brock researchers were granted $477,654 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for early research projects; $206,450 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council to investigate how viruses that infect an insect can be manipulated to avoid infection and disease in humans; and a new Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Child Health Equity and Inclusion.

Among Brock’s 40 CGS recipients is Applied Health Sciences PhD student Caroline Hummell, whose research will explore how mentorship impacts the participation of women and girls in sport.

Hummell’s personal and academic journey has informed her research. The lifelong basketball player has seen alarming trends along the way from national reports of girls and women dropping out of sport — many expressing a reluctance to return to the field or court following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In Canada alone, one-third of girls drop out of sport by age 16 and one in four girls currently engaged in sport are not committed to returning. In comparison, only one in 10 boys drop out of sport during the same period,” she says.

Hummell’s dissertation aims to provide clarity around mentorship as well as best practices for developing, implementing and evaluating sport-based mentorship programs and initiatives so sport organizations can work towards increasing participation rates of girls in sport.

“Mentorship is flagged by major sporting bodies as a potential strategy for keeping girls in sport,” she says. “However, little research has explored mentorship for girls in sport to understand how it can address these trends.”

Hummell’s extensive background in mentorship both on and off the court has given her a grassroots advantage to her research.

“My goal is to be that person who helps build a larger evidence base around sport-based mentorship and program evaluation to inform best practices for researchers and practitioners in the sport sector,” she says. “Receiving the funding is an amazing feeling to have others recognize the value in this research.”

The Canadian Graduate Scholarships aim to promote and assist research excellence to exceptional graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in criteria set out by the awarding agencies, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Hummell plans to use part of the funding to compensate her study’s participants.

“They’re making a huge contribution to the research and I’m excited to give something back to them,” she says.

In addition to being awarded the CGS Doctoral (CGS D) funding, Hummell is also the first-ever Brock University student to receive the Nelson Mandela Distinction with the scholarship.

The distinction seeks to recognize graduate students conducting research in one or more of five areas that Mandela championed during his lifetime: national unity; democracy, freedom and human rights; leadership; children’s participation in society; and children’s health.

Only 10 of the highest ranked SSHRC CGS D applications that align with one or more of the five research areas that Mandela championed receive the distinction.

“I am incredibly honoured to be the first recipient of this distinction from Brock,” Hummell says. “I hope to pave the way for many other future award winners after me.”

In addition to these outstanding accomplishments, Hummell was also provided a supplement doctoral award to her SSHRC CGS D funding that is supported by Sport Canada. The Sport Participation Research Initiative supports research on participation in sport in Canada and the objectives of the Canadian Sport Policy.

As she readies to learn more about mentorship’s impact in sport, Hummell is thankful for her own Brock mentors who influenced and played a big part in her academic journey.

“It is one thing to research mentorship for women and another to be fortunate enough to be surrounded by strong, inspiring women mentors myself,” she says, reflecting on work with supervisor Corliss Bean, Assistant Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies; dissertation committee members Shannon Kerwin, Associate Professor of Sport Management, Dan Cui, Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies, and Michele Donnelly, Assistant Professor of Sport Management; and Brock’s Women in Leadership committee members Ingrid Makus, Associate Professor of Political Science, and Jeannie Mackintosh, Strategic Initiatives Co-ordinator in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

“Each one has played a pivotal role in my growth and development as a young woman in academia.”

Chris Bittle, Member of Parliament for St. Catharines, says “Academic research like Caroline Hummell’s can change lives.”

“When researchers apply their expertise to societal challenges they can make significant changes to what we know about our world, our culture, our community and ourselves,” he says. “Brock’s recent success in securing funding through the tri-council research agencies is a reflection of how important the research that happens on campus is. I extend my sincere congratulations and look forward to this research improving lives in Niagara and beyond.”

Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre, called it a “pleasure to affirm the announcement by Minister of Transport Pablo Rodriguez on behalf of Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne, that Brock researchers earn another research grant from the federal government.”

“The $2-million from Canadian Graduate Scholarships for 40 students at Brock is a testament to the talent and importance of the research being done right here in Niagara,” he says. 

Brock University’s 2023 Canadian Graduate Scholarship (CGS) recipients include:

Postdoctoral fellowships:

• Erik Lachance, Department of Sport Management: “Goal or No Goal? Explaining the Relationship between Decision Making and Effectiveness in Sport Organization Boards”
• Owen Kane, Department of English Language and Literature: “English Civility and Early Modern Arctic Contact Literature”

Doctoral level:

• Rebecca Anderson, Psychology: “Understanding the effect of institutional signals of inclusion on decision-making behaviour in STEM”
• Kirina Angrish, Applied Health Sciences: “Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating An Online Prenatal Yoga Program In The Canadian Population”
• Mishka Blacker, Applied Health Sciences: “Investigating Mental Toughness and Risk Taking Behaviours in High Performance Sport”
• Francine Burke, Psychology: “Steroidogenesis in Adolescence: Effects on HPA Stress Responding and Ongoing Development”
• Emily Copeland, Applied Health Sciences: “Does sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) dysfunction contribute to cognitive decline in mdx mice?”
• Lyllian Corbin, Biology: “Investigating the advantages of large body size and dispersal in territorial carpenter bees”
• Melanie Denomme, Biology: “Using behaviour to examine the husbandry and cognition of bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps)”
• Sarah Davis, Child and Youth Studies: “Evaluating the Application of Behavioural Coaching Strategies in Dance Education”
• Shannon Fernandes, Sustainability: “A roadmap to effective municipal climate change adaptation: bridging the implementation gap”
• Caroline Hummell, Applied Health Sciences: “An Exploration of Mentorship and Positive Youth Development for Girl Athletes”
• Olivia Parker, Applied Health Sciences: “Can we alter perceptions of fear of falling among people with a progressive disease?”
• Nicholas Rickards, Education: “When Feminists Learn From Hollywood: Critical Media Literacy and Public Pedagogy”
• Marvel Megaly, Biology: “Investigating the role of Notch signalling in mesoderm specification and cell proliferation”
• Shealin Murray, Psychology: “The Development of Social Reward Motivation and Consequences of Stress Across Adolescence in Female and Male Long-Evans Rats”
• Hamnah Shahid, Psychology: “Lay Perspectives on Drug (De)Criminalization as a (De)Stigmatizing Process”
• Rosa Torres Hernandez, Psychology: “Neural Underpinnings of Age-Related Differences in Visual Working Memory Distractor Filtering”
• Collin Tower, Physics: “Photo-Physical Properties of Halide Based Double Perovskites and 2D Derivatives for use in Photovoltaic Devices”
• Anita Twele, Psychology: “First Impressions of Older Adult Faces and Their Influence on Behaviour”

Master’s level:

• Tabeer Afzal, Psychology: “Religious Identity and Altrusitic Behaviour: The Effects of Expanding the Boundaries of Religious Identity”
• Madeleine Beaulieu, English: “Anti-Capitalism and Collaboration in Contemporary Small Press Communities”
• Daniel Belanger, Classics: “The Roman Understanding of the Natural World Through the Lens of Non-Human Pathologies”
• Amy Csordas, Psychology: “Psychopathic Traits, Fear Enjoyment and Invincibility”
• Matthew Dingwall, Applied Health Sciences: “Enabling the Uptake of Pedagogical Innovations in Physical Education: The Role of Social Media”
• Zoe Gagnon, Biology: “The role of semaphorin 3A on hippocampal synaptic plasticity in the mouse”
• Jessie Hendriks, English: “Effects of Writing Skills Workshops on First-Year Humanities Students’ Academic Achievement”
• Isabelle Hill, Applied Health Sciences: “Experimentally testing whether we can reframe biased perception of exercise for individuals with Multiple Sclerosis”
• Madeline Janecek, Computer Science: “Energy Consumption Analysis of Software Systems”
• Benjamin Johnson, Child and Youth Studies: “How do executive functions impact treatment response in children’s reading remediation programs?”
• Bianca Marcella, Applied Health Sciences: “Can lowdose lithium supplementation protect against sarcopenic obesity in ovariectomized mice?”
• Helen Martin, Applied Health Sciences: “Incarceration as a Space for Health Promotion: An Intersectional Approach to Reviving Community Health”
• Jordan Masi, Applied Health Sciences: “Investigating the Antiviral Effects of Carnosic Acid and Carnosol During Zika Virus Infection”
• Evelin Melekh, Applied Health Sciences: “The Effects of Degenerative Protein Modifications on Age Related Diseases”
• Ahmad Mohammad, Applied Health Sciences: “Examining amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in a mouse model of gradual estrogen loss”
• Wynne Reichheld, Biological Sciences: “Long­term response of Niagara’s Ephemeroptera to climate change and its effect on livestock disease vectors.”
• Kat Rice, History: “Playing with Pride? Queer History of Women’s Ice Hockey in the Niagara Region”
• Lauren Stepien, Child and Youth Studies: “Predicting poor attentional control in highly sensitive children with high executive function as a potential protective factor”
• Isabella Tremonte, Applied Health Sciences: “Body appreciation and well-being in female powerlifters undergoing weight loss for competition: A longitudinal analysis”
• Samantha Wallbank, Applied Disability Studies: “Assessing Barriers and Facilitators in Evidence-Based Parent Training”