Student Bursary Winners
Sustainable Buildings Canada is pleased to announce that in 2023 we will be supporting 3 graduate students in the pursuit of their educational goals. After a review of potential candidates, SBC has selected the following individuals as recipients of a $1,000 bursary.
2023 Bursary Winners
How does the bursary program work?
Candidates for the bursary must be enrolled in a post-secondary education institution and provide proof of acceptance and enrollment. Programs eligible for the bursary should be focused in engineering, environmental, building science and planning, or trades training that support those disciplines, however candidates in other disciplines that support the industry in areas such as policy, law and finance may also be considered. Candidates should have demonstrated an interest in pursuing a career in the sector and have experience volunteering or supporting SBC programs and initiatives. The Board of SBC selects candidates at its sole discretion on the basis of recommendations from stakeholders, partners and academia.
Past Winners
Elsa Le is currently a M.Arch. student at Dessau International Architecture, in Germany. With a strong drive and enthusiasm about shifting architecture towards a sustainable future, she actively seeks to pursue and address buildings’ environmental performance, energy efficiency, and resilience of communities in the field of green construction. With a Bachelor degree in Biology specializing in Ecology and Environment, and a second one in Architecture from the University of Montréal, in Canada, she worked extensively in Indonesia, Argentina, Germany, and China. These professional experiences solidified practical insights into how different parts of the world deal with resilient buildings’ and with urban spaces’ design strategies, as well as emerging green technologies.
Hannah Villeneuve is a third-year undergraduate studying Environmental Engineering at Carleton University. She is interested in learning more about making buildings more sustainable, functional for occupants, and resilient in the face of climate change and hopes to pursue graduate studies in this field. The past two summers, she has assisted with research related to the built environment and sustainability. In 2019, she researched indoor environmental quality in Canadian homes by text-mining Airbnb reviews. In 2020, she and an interdisciplinary team of researchers explored changes to residential energy usage among teleworkers after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. When she is not studying, Hannah can be found biking, gardening, playing piano, and spending time with family.
Erika Ponce is currently a student of the Project Management Environmental (PME) program in Seneca College. She has always been passionate about sustainability and environmental projects that help reduce in any way the effects of climate change within the community. With a background in Environmental Engineering, completed at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador, she participated as the main author of the research on the “Optimization of a Gas Chromatography Methodology for Biodiesel Analysis”, just recently published in the Journal of Analytical Chemistry, where a cost-effective methodology for biodiesel characterization was developed. Having acquired some experience in the Municipal Sector of her city, she knows how important project planning is, which is why she expects to keep learning about it and gain enough experience to integrate sustainability in the management of diverse projects and contribute to Canada’s vision of a more sustainable and green future.
Suzana is passionate about driving process and strategic innovation and assisting organizations with adapting to change and improving process management. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in project and construction management at UBC-Vancouver, focusing on Sustainable Development Management in the Construction Industry. She has committed her career to researching and developing management and quality processes, identifying key strategies for improvement, maximizing growth opportunities. She has a background in business and engineering and is passionate about identifying process improvements to help organizations work effectively. This interest has led her to pursue her bachelor’s degree in business, an MBA focuses on people management, a master’s degree in Production Engineering and currently her doctoral studies in project and construction management, developing a framework for sustainable development management in the building construction industry and identifying the contribution of this field to the SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. As an active member of academia and 15 years of experience in the industry, she tries to bring forward unique perspectives on innovations and best practices. She believes in the importance of interdisciplinary studies and the power of using technology to connect people and process and improve communication in accomplishing significant goals. She acknowledges the financial support from the Brazilian Government – CAPES, UBC, UVIC, and now the SBC in achieving her educational goals.
Lizeth Rivera is a MASc student in the Civil and Mineral Engineering Department at the University of Toronto. Her research is on improving building sustainability from a life cycle assessment standpoint. She is working on a project with partners and funding from EllisDon, WSP, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada and Ontario Centres of Excellence. More specifically, Liz is investigating the trade-offs between embodied and operational greenhouse gas emissions in high-rise building enclosures, determining the implications of various energy efficiency measures on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions. Liz’s passion for sustainable solutions in the building sector began early in her career path. As part of her undergraduate thesis, completed at the Industrial University of Santander (UIS), Colombia, she designed a system that results in water savings of more than 40% in single family dwellings. Her professional and academic experience in civil engineering has provided her with a multidisciplinary grasp of sustainable building design. She is excited about expanding her contributions to the building science and sustainability community from a professional position, envisioning far-reaching academia-industry collaborations.
“I am an enthusiastic third year student pursuing a combined honours undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and Environment, Sustainability, and Society (ESS) at Dalhousie University. In high school I was active in student government, volunteered as a junior leader for Girl Guides of Ontario Sparks group, and loved to read the daily morning announcements! Since starting my studies in Sustainability I have really grown to value community, and brought this to my role as president of YESS, the student society for the ESS program. I worked to create a space for open discussion and building a community of students, educators, and community members who are actively creating a more sustainable world. I have worked in local community gardens, and am currently helping populate a map of Eco-Artists around the world, so I am enthusiastic to keep learning and sharing the fantastic community developments taking on our global environmental issues. As an environmental scientist, I hope to work in communicating science, and build community engagement in the environment.”
Ever since becoming aware of pollution as a young boy, Jean-Francois has wanted to make a difference and restore the balance. Nowadays, being a carpenter and a builder, he has witnessed and experienced the harsh reality that the construction industry is responsible for a very high amount of waste and pollution.Having started his building career as a timber framer, and having a strong interest in natural buildings from the beginning, Jean-Francois often uses structures from the Middle Ages as a reference for sustainability. Those buildings might not have been perfect in every way however we can draw inspiration from the principles and concepts that are still relevant today. If we use technology with a strategic approach, there are no valid excuses not to reach a high level of comfort while at the same time minimizing the impact on the ecosystem. Jean-Francois remains continuously open and flexible to new ideas and to changing his habits, and is well positioned to influence and educate the population into taking incremental steps towards sustainable construction.
A passion for learning and commitment to environmental sustainability have guided Kyle through his career and educational pursuits. With a background in carpentry, he was formally introduced to sustainable building and building science while working with one of the leading residential renovation companies in Toronto. As an employee, on top of his daily tasks, he elected to take on key roles in the company’s waste management, air tightness, and indoor air quality programs. It was through hands-on experience while building healthy and energy efficient homes that he was inspired to enter the Architectural Technology program at George Brown College. During his educational tenure, Kyle has been committed to using his knowledge of building techniques to help influence innovative and functional design. In addition, Kyle aspires to effect change on a policy level as we move towards a more sustainable urban agenda with the ultimate goal of carbon and energy neutrality in our cities.
Priyanka is an architect and artist with a strong affinity for languages in her final semester in the Energy Management PG program at Algonquin College. She worked for the Ottawa chapter of SBC while graduating with a degree in Green Architecture in 2018. She is an honest and driven individual whose professional career has been a direct product of her learnings in undergrad school about art, and architecture and how buildings work. However, she believes what refined her focus and approach to things early on was the way she was made to read a lot as a child by her mother, and the way her art teacher’s lectures would completely transform the way she would grow to perceive the world. They left her with skills that would help her become a successful combatant if this world were a battlefield. With her undying passion for sustainability, she relentlessly advocates judicious management of resources and utilities and hopes to contribute to reducing the global carbon footprint in every way that she can. She strongly believes that change begins from oneself and tries her best to influence her microcosm. She associates herself with the word Meraki, defined as: (v.) “to do something with soul, creativity, or love; to put something of yourself into your work.” Any work. And she truly lives by that. With her enthusiasm and perseverance, she is prepared to dive into the workforce shortly with a vision of fostering a sustainable and harmonized world for the future generations that is filled with creative, regenerative solutions that are climate-responsive.
Shahrzad is a PhD student in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at Ryerson University. Her research is mainly focused on innovative building materials as a key to energy efficiency, specializing in thermal energy storage in buildings. With a background in Architectural Engineering and Building Science, she is well-positioned to combine her knowledge in the fields of design, engineering and performance in a holistic manner and to explore projects from multiple angles. Shahrzad previously completed an internship with SBC where she reviewed the policy and legislative side of green and energy efficient construction. This experience motivated her to find ways to bridge industry projects with academic projects as a future prospect. With her enthusiasm and persistence, she is determined to achieve her goals and face any challenges on her way with a vision of a sustainable and harmonized world.
As a student in the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program at Queen’s University, Sarah is curious about how the sustainability of our built environments can be promoted through innovative policy solutions. Her background in Environmental Science stimulated her interest in exploring the important role that the building sector plays in energy reduction strategies. Currently, this interest is applied in Sarah’s research on how energy disclosure policies for buildings can increase demand for sustainable building construction. Sarah hopes to pursue a career promoting innovative building science through urban planning policy in order to reduce the footprint of our cities.
Cristian is in his first year of the Master’s in Environmental Studies (MES) program at York University with a specialization in Business and Environment from Schulich School of Business. He is a passionate, honest and driven individual who desperately wants to make a significant contribution to Canada’s fight against climate change. Having a varied academic and professional background that includes theoretical physics, athletics and recreation, fashion retail, and construction has given Cristian many different perspectives on how to be most impactful in this fight, and he believes that tackling the global issue of energy use and generation is where he can make his mark. Family matters most to Cristian, and that is often what drives him to continue searching for better answers in the energy sector. “There are days that I get deeply concerned for the future that we are leaving behind for my unborn kids and grandkids. Only recently has it dawned on me that it is becoming decreasingly likely that the next generation will get to experience the beauties of nature that I have. I want to do everything I can to ensure that such a bleak reality never comes to pass.”
Sarah is an undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo, pursuing a joint honours degree in Geography and Environmental Management & Peace and Conflict Studies, specializing in Climate Change. She is a solutions-oriented individual driven to build incentives, security and social capital through her interdisciplinary background. She’s currently a researcher for the Home Adaptation Assessment Program at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation. Family and community support and expectations played a meaningful role in Sarah’s academic development. “There was never a question of whether I’d go to post secondary or find a job. The only question my parents posed was whether I was willing to put in the work into achieving my goals, and continue moving forward when they don’t work out. When I look at my support network, I am surrounded by both strong females and males. My father and grandpa were never opposed to hearing my opinion simply on the premise that I was a female – nor would my mother have allowed them such bias!”
Christina is a fourth year undergraduate student in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto. Her work in the University’s Building Energy and Indoor Environment Lab contributed to an undergraduate thesis investigating the economic and environmental impacts of evolving building policies in Ontario. Christina previously worked in building science consulting and laboratory research with RDH Building Science Inc. Her additional work includes a focus on reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from high-rise residential buildings. “Being in a traditionally male field, the impact of female role models has been very important to me”, she reports. “Learning about (NASA software engineering pioneer) Margaret Hamilton and other ground-breaking women like her had a big impact on my decision to study engineering … in part because through her, I saw myself represented and could see a path to my own success. My aspiration would be to see that anyone who has the desire to pursue engineering is encouraged to, and hopefully soon for it not to be exceptional to meet a female engineer, but typical.”
As a student in the Masters of Building Science program at Ryerson University, Hayley’s passion and unstoppable drive make her an exemplary student in the sustainable buildings industry. Her background as a Civil Engineer from Queen’s University provides a technical foundation upon which she applies a creative approach to sustainable and holistic building design. Hayley’s experience in large scale construction project management offers a complementary understanding of the practical aspects of project execution and construction. Mentorship matters. “Looking around engineering and green building conferences today, I see mostly grey haired men in suits. But when I look at an incoming class of building science masters students, I see an even representation of women and men entering the industry. As a civil engineer who is accustomed to a male dominated classroom and workplace, I have hope and confidence in the incoming diverse student group in the sustainability stream.” Professionals can help realize this vision: take the time to speak with promising students, offer perspectives, make introductions and be available for brief regular discussions when needed.
Miyoko Oikawa
As a graduate from George Brown College’s Construction Project Management degree program and a current MASc candidate at the University of Waterloo (Civil Engineering), Miyoko is SBC’s building science enthusiast. Through her research experience with George Brown and Building Science Consulting Inc. (now RDH Building Science Inc.) she has developed a special interest in building retrofits and below grade assemblies. Her focus with SBC has and will continue to be to assist residential builders enhance both long term durability and energy performance.
Christopher is currently studying the Masters of Building Science (MaSc) program at Ryerson University. Building Science where he is introduced to both old and new ideas related to the built environment. He is excited to expand his undergraduate skills in Environmental Studies within an exciting, fulfilling and emerging industry. Christopher’s goals are to better understand sustainability in the context of the built environment and promote regenerative solutions that positively affect the natural world.
Sacha Klein
Sacha is driven to implement design solutions that minimize the environmental impact of our energy demands. After completing his Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science – Honours) from Queen’s University in 2009, he spent four year working with construction management companies. In 2014, he joined Sustainable Building Canada as the program manager for the Savings By Design green building initiative. Concurrently, Sacha has been training with A & J Energy Consultants to become a Certified Energy Advisor, which will enable him to continue to bridge construction site management and building science.
