Announcing the 2024 National Let's Talk Science Award Finalists

As we celebrate National Volunteer Week, we are happy to announce the finalists for our National Volunteer Awards! Each year, we honour our volunteers’ work to support Canadian children and youth and their community impact.

This year, we are presenting three awards: the David Colcleugh Leadership Award for Let’s Talk Science Outreach Coordinators, the Let’s Talk Science National Volunteer Award, and the Indigenous Outreach Project, Let’s Talk Science Outreach. 

Meet this year’s finalists below!

2024 David Colcleugh Leadership Award: 

This award recognizes a site coordinator who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and influenced people to create positive change through outreach through STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Negin Ficzkowski, McMaster University

Negin’s dedication to climate initiatives at her site, equity, inclusivity, and sustainability is inspiring. Her commitment to mentoring others, deepening partnerships and collaborations, and supporting her co-coordinators demonstrates her commitment to leaving a lasting legacy at McMaster.

Alexandra Leone, Brock University

Alexandra’s passion for equity, inclusion, and accessibility is clearly shown in her application, especially in creating a new STEM program for girls, STEMpower Women. Alexandra has also grown partnerships at Brock, including collaborating with Anishinabeg Outreach, where she developed custom workshops for Indigenous students. 

Olivia Vanhaesebroucke, Université du Québec à Rimouski 

Olivia’s commitment to equity, accessibility, and tackling inequities in STEM for women, neurodiverse students, and members of the LGBTQIA2+ community demonstrates her outstanding leadership. She is focused on providing STEM role models for youth with diverse backgrounds, making STEM accessible to all while providing mentorship and support for volunteers at her site.

2024 Let’s Talk Science National Volunteer Award

This award recognizes an exceptional volunteer who has shown outstanding innovation, communication, and a commitment to STEM education and outreach.

Oluwabunmi Adeyemi, University of Manitoba

Oluwabunmi demonstrates her commitment to STEM equity through her work with STEM for Everyone and the Black Volunteer Collective, and her team depends on her reliability. 

Colin O'Dwyer, University of Ottawa

Colin has a great passion for accessibility in STEM, which shows in his work with rural and underserved youth. 

Félicia Lauzon, Université du Québec à Rimouski

Félicia has shown tremendous commitment to her work with Let’s Talk Science- she has already volunteered over 100 hours this year!

Patricia Magallanes, University of Saskatchewan

Patricia demonstrates how organization and “background” work are essential to volunteer work, organizing the local Science Rendezvous event and devoting herself to empowering youth from all backgrounds. 

Sireena Pranommit, McMaster University

Sireena is one of her site’s most engaged volunteers. She focuses on empowering women and girls to pursue engineering and other STEM fields. 

2024 Indigenous Outreach Project Award

This award recognizes an outreach project initiated by an Outreach site (or sites) that demonstrates a strong, positive impact on Indigenous youth through involvement in STEM-focused learning opportunities.

Mentoring Cree youth in Moose Factory, University of Ottawa & Carleton University

Volunteers from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University sites have been partnering with two rural communities – the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation and the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne – to run an Indigenous Mentorship Program for more than a decade and have now expanded this to Moose Factory, Ontario. Volunteers have worked with a local school within the community to bring culturally relevant STEM activities and involve students in annual research projects, including travel to Ottawa, where students presented their research in a post-secondary environment. 

Award winners will be announced in June 2024 – congratulations to all our nominees!