Grad student wins national scholarship award

by Lynda Hills

Eerkes-Medrano

After growing up in the polluted climate of Mexico City and Toronto, Dafne Eerkes-Medrano has appreciation of clean air and nature.

“Coming to Victoria was so amazing,” she says. “Seeing how much nature there is here blows your mind away. I fell in love with it.”

Now the UVic graduate student in marine biology will extend that love overseas as she explores the ocean depths of other countries. Eerkes-Medrano is the winner of a 2005 Julie Payette Research Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), worth $25,000. She’s one of 24 winners across the country.

The scholarship is named after Canadian astronaut Julie Payette, who “embodies the leadership qualities and excellence that NSERC is seeking to encourage and support.” Winners are chosen for their outstanding academic excellence, research ability and potential, as well as their leadership and communication skills.

Eerkes-Medrano credits her life-long love of biology, the support of her teachers, and the UVic co-op program in getting her where she is today.“I had my first taste of research in co-op,” she says. “If it wasn’t for that experience I wouldn’t have known I liked it.”

Since graduating with a BSc in 2004, Eerkes-Medrano has gained experience in and out of the lab. During the last year of the degree, Eerkes-Medrano volunteered with the Let’s Talk Science partnership program and is now one of the co-ordinators. And recently, she’s been working with UVic and University of Alberta researchers to study glass sponge reefs.

The Payette award allows students to continue their studies in Canada or abroad. Eerkes-Medrano hasn’t yet decided whether she’ll study coral reefs at James Cook University in Australia or do deep-sea research at Southampton University in England.

“I wanted to go abroad, so I looked at every scholarship that enabled me to gain research experience from an international institution,” she says. “That way I can bring the knowledge back to B.C.”