Three Brock University graduate students have received awards in recognition of their ongoing grape and wine research.<\/p>\n
Hannah Charnock is the 2020-21 recipient of the Ruth Binnie Fellowship<\/a> from the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW), Margaret Thibodeau received Brock\u2019s 2019-20 Harrison-Thompson Bursary Trust<\/a> and Robert Allie is the recipient of the Donald Ziraldo and Laura McCain CCOVI Director’s Award.<\/p>\n \u201cAt Brock, we have many outstanding students working in the sciences, and I am so pleased to see Hannah, Margaret and Robert receive recognition for their accomplishments,\u201d says Interim Dean of Graduate Studies Diane Dupont. \u201dReceiving these awards validates the importance of their research and contributions to the larger scientific community. I encourage them to push onward and continue with the valuable work they are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Allie and Charnock (MSc candidates in Biotechnology and Biological Sciences, respectively) and Thibodeau (a PhD candidate in Biological Sciences) are all conducting research to advance the Canadian grape and wine industry under the supervision of researchers at Brock\u2019s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI).<\/p>\n Allie expressed his gratitude to the Niagara Community Foundation for the award and said that it will \u201chelp to provide financial stability and allow me to concentrate on my studies.\u201d The award is named in honour of Canadian Icewine ambassador Donald Ziraldo, and Laura McCain, founder and former owner of Creekside Estate Winery in Jordan, Ont.<\/p>\n \u201cThis award seeks to propel studies in Icewine or wine business, and Robert\u2019s research examining the biochemistry of yeast strains and how it pertains to producing premium Icewine makes him a well-deserving candidate,\u201d says Debbie Inglis, Allie\u2019s supervisor and Director of CCOVI. \u201cHis research, and the research of all of these recipients, will help to advance the critical priorities of the cool climate grape and wine industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Charnock says it is an honour to have been selected as this year\u2019s Ruth Binnie Fellowship recipient from the CFUW, a Canadian organization that works to improve the status of women and to promote human rights, public education, social justice and peace. The award supports women pursuing post-secondary studies in fields related to consumer science, human ecology and home economics.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been a humbling experience to be awarded among the incredibly talented past recipients,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is also very validating as it helps to diminish the feelings of imposter syndrome that I\u2019ve often confronted in academia.\u201d<\/p>\n Charnock\u2019s research focuses on a specific system of chemical reactions known as the Maillard reaction, believed to contribute desirable aromatic qualities such as bready, roasted and caramel notes to aged sparkling wine. By better understanding these reactions, she hopes to identify strategies to advance quality, sustainability and innovation in sparkling wine.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Ruth Binnie Fellowship will reduce the financial barriers associated with pursuing graduate studies and provide financial security as I move forward in both my education and career,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful for the support of the CFUW and I\u2019m looking forward to engaging with the CFUW community.\u201d<\/p>\n Charnock is co-supervised by Belinda Kemp, CCOVI Senior Scientist, Oenology, and Gary Pickering, CCOVI Researcher and Professor of Biological Sciences and Psychology.<\/p>\n \u201cI am so very proud as Hannah has been recognized as a rising star in STEM,\u201d says Kemp. \u201cIn these unprecedented and difficult times of COVID-19, this scholarship and support of our future women scientists engaged in research and science communication is invaluable. I would like to thank the\u00a0National Fellowships and Awards Program of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW)\u00a0for their belief and support of Hannah’s research.\u201d<\/p>\n Thibodeau\u2019s research seeks to understand how the most common sensations elicited by alcoholic beverages (sweet, sour, bitter and astringent) interact with those elicited by ethanol to produce the overall flavour of alcoholic beverages.\u00a0This is the third year Thibodeau has received the award.<\/p>\n \u201cI would genuinely like to thank the donors for the award,\u201d she says. \u201cThe financial support is invaluable and provides both a boost to my moral and a vote of confidence in my abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n She plans to use some of the funds to attend the International Symposium on Olfaction and Taste (ISOT) this August, which has been moved to an online forum due to COVID-19.\u00a0The scholarship will also play an important role in supporting not only her research, but her overall well-being.<\/p>\n \u201cThese funds allow me to access mental health services to help treat my anxiety disorder,\u201d Thibodeau says, \u201cwhich will help keep my academic progress on track.\u201d<\/p>\n Thibodeau is also supervised by Pickering, who says she is a fitting candidate for the recognition.<\/p>\n \u201cHer course work and research have been outstanding during her time at Brock,\u201d he says. \u201cHer PhD research findings are already making significant contributions to the field of taste research, and she has published several papers from that work in high-impact scholarly journals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three Brock University graduate students have received awards in recognition of their ongoing grape and wine research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":66622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[188,55,41,1,4],"tags":[3630,49,61,3404,8912,156,9196,855,3746,8907,8938,3622,9166,3457,3330,9163,9167,5431,9164,9165,9124],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66595"}],"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\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66602,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66595\/revisions\/66602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}