After a decade spent trying to climb the career ladder in British Columbia\u2019s wine industry, Stephanie Van Dyk realized that not having a university degree was keeping her from becoming a head winemaker at a larger winery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a working knowledge of how to do things in the winery, and experience making wine,\u201d Van Dyk said recently, \u201cbut I wanted to understand the \u2018why\u2019 behind the actions we take.\u201d<\/p>\n
After considering her options, the reputation of Brock University\u2019s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute led her to apply to its Oenology and Viticulture (OEVI) degree program.<\/p>\n
It was not an easy decision. Upgrading her assistant winemaker certificate from Okanagan University College meant uprooting her husband and two children and moving across the country to make a new home in St. Catharines.<\/p>\n
But now, two years later, it\u2019s all paying off. Van Dyk is close to completing her OEVI degree, and was recently named the winner of the prestigious 2016 Ontario Hostelry Institute (OHI) Oenology and Viticulture Award.<\/p>\n
The OHI, an organization dedicated to recognizing top Ontario hospitality industry achievers, selects the recipient of this $3,500 scholarship based on academic excellence as well as the student\u2019s achievements and experiences outside the classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis award is reinforcement that the decision I made to move my family was the right one,\u201d Van Dyk said. \u201cIt also justifies the time spent away from them working on this degree.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now in her final year of the OEVI program, Van Dyk is working on her undergraduate research thesis, examining the fermentation of red table wines with yeast isolated from local grapes \u2014 Brock isolate Saccharomyces bayanus \u2014<\/em> under the supervision of CCOVI director and researcher Debbie Inglis.<\/p>\n With most of her coursework now complete, Van Dyk realizes the OEVI program\u2019s strong science background is an invaluable asset that will open up future opportunities and address those obstacles on the career ladder.<\/p>\n Van Dyk isn\u2019t sure if she\u2019ll stay in Ontario after graduating next spring or return to B.C., but wherever she ends up, she knows she has the knowledge and confidence needed to leave her mark on the industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a decade spent trying to climb the career ladder in British Columbia\u2019s wine industry, Stephanie Van Dyk realized that not having a university degree was keeping her from becoming a head winemaker at a larger winery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":41751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,1,4],"tags":[855,4605,4604],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41750,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41749\/revisions\/41750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}