3. Julie Payette—NSERC Research Scholarship
Recipient: Shannon Leblanc, Biological Sciences
The Julie Payette—NSERC research scholarships are the most prestigious NSERC scholarships offered at the Master’s level and are awarded to the 24 top-ranked Master’s scholarship competition candidates across Canada.
Shannon Leblanc researches bacterial pathways and how they respond to cues in the environment. Her research contributes to our knowledge about how bacterial systems work—crucially important in an era of bacterial “superbugs.”
In 2008, she received a Julie Payette—NSERC Research Scholarship. Winners of this scholarship, named for Canadian astronaut and NSERC Council member Julie Payette, are chosen for their outstanding academic excellence, research ability and potential, and leadership and communication skills.
Two previous NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards allowed Shannon to spend two summers in a lab—work that she found she loved and which led her into graduate studies.
After her graduate work, Shannon would like to explore teaching—ideally, combining teaching with further research.