Invitation to all graduate students

Join a committee (or more) in our GeoGrads society!

It’s an excellent opportunity to connect with fellow graduate students in the department and to polish leadership and organizational skills to benefit our own community. The position you hold will look great in your CV, too.

The committees are:

• Graduate Affairs (GAC)
• Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA)
• International Students
• Research Committee
• Social Committee
• Society of Graduate Students (SOGS)
• Speaker Series
• Wellness and Sustainability Committee

GeoGrads will provide information regarding the role of each committee during orientation time in the beginning of the Fall Term 2017. You may find the committees’ current news and updates under the menu Committee Updates.

There is a lot of spots available for everyone to get involved with. Please contact the GeoGrads Co-Presidents Kate (kate.schieman@gmail.com) or Merlin (mchatwin@uwo.ca) to sign up or to get more information.

Everyone is invited!

Congratulations to 2016 / 2017 Student Scholarships & Awards Recipients!

Ontario Graduate Scholarship Recipients (Masters)

Erika Freeman                             Rainer Hilland

 

Ontario Graduate Scholarship Recipients (PhD)

Rebecca Ellis                              Heather Peacock

 

NSERC – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Scholarship (Masters)

Rebecca Doyle

 

SSHRC – Canadian Graduate Scholarship (Masters)

Rosalind Ragetlie

 

CGS-D – Canadian Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral)

Siera Vercillo (SSHRC)

 

ESRI Canada GIS Scholarship

Jenny Tjhin

 

2015 / 2016 CAG Winners

Lydia Osei                                     Katherine Schieman

 

E.G. Pleva Teaching Assistantship in Geography Award

Michael Allen                                Julia Howett

 

The Edward G. Pleva Fellowship Award

Rainer Hilland                                Stuart McHenry

 

The Brian Luckman Award

Timothy Wiechers

 

The Allen K. Philbrick Scholarship in Cultural Geography

Kayla Baumgartner

 

The Michael J. Troughton Graduate Student Award

Kilian Atuoye

 

Canadian Association of Geographers, Ontario Division (CAGONT)

Evan Cleave, Treasurer, 2016-2018

 

2016 / 2017 Speaker Series Appreciation

Thank you to our Speaker Series Team for another successful year! 

Carol Hunsberger                         Danielle Barr

Rebecca Doyle                               Catherine DuBreck

Martin Lefebvre                            Jenny Tjhin

Siera Vercillo                                 Hongyu Zhang

Meeting and Committee nominations

Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather!

It’s time for our meeting again.

Call for committee nominations!

If you would like to be a part of our GeoGrads society, or know of someone who would be a good fit for one of the committees, please feel free to nominate for:

Social Committee

International Committee

Research Committee

Speaker Series

Wellness and Sustainability Committee

Graduate Teaching Assistants

Graduate Affairs

Nominations can be made at:

https://westernsocialscience.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7UtstRZcea7iSUd

Hope to see you there!

Congrats, Merlin!

Let’s give it up to Merlin Chatwin, our new GeoGrads Co-President!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the election process.

Our committees will be needing new members, check this website for an exclusive list of those. We will be organizing a second set of elections coming up for those positions.

Co-President Nominees are out. Time to vote!

Based on the last poll, we’ve got the names out. Vote for the one you see fit for a GeoGrads Co-President position!

The voting will remain open till Friday, May 5 at 11:59AM and Kate will announce the new Co-President by 4:00PM of that day.

Happy voting!

https://westernsocialscience.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bqIc00TBPgqpoS9

It’s election time again!

Know someone in Geograds who could be a great candidate for our Co-President to work with Kate this year? It’s anonymous, so nominate him or her…. even if that may be yourself!

Click here! (deadline: Apr 18th 4pm)

After we have our Co-President nominees, polls are open for voting until Thursday 20th.

Next, nominations for committee members. Check this website again for updates.

AAG Annual Meeting is coming up soon

The American Association of Geographers (AAG) 2017 Annual Meeting is just around the corner. Have you started booking your accommodation and travel plans yet?

Polish your presentation slides and posters, and connect with fellow geographers!

Venue: The Hynes Convention Center, Marriott Copley Place and the Sheraton Boston

Date: April 5-9th, 2017

More information can be found on their website here.

Election Season is Back!

All good things must end…Danny is poised to join the ranks of honored past presidents such as Sarah Mason, Chad Walker, Sarah Pierce and the great Steve Fitzpatrick.

However, now a new GeoGrad has the opportunity to join such impressive ranks.

Is there a GeoGrad you feel would make a good co-president?

Any GeoGrad can nominate any other GeoGrad

All nominations must be accepted by the individuals.

NOMINATIONS CLOSE NOVEMBER 17th

ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD ONLINE FROM NOVEMBER 23rd to 27th

New Co-President will be announced at the December 1st GeoGrad General Meeting.

The new Co-President will serve from January 2016 to December 2016.

Please email Danny (dbednar@uwo.ca) and Meghan (mmcmorri@uwo.ca) with your nominations by the November 17th deadline.

Research Committee Workshop – Comps & Proposal Milestone

A few take aways from the Research Committee Workshop about Comps and Proposal Milestones held on Friday October 30 at 3pm:

We also wanted to let everyone know that what is most important for comps is to put yourself in the answers. Often students focus too much on summarizing and not enough on the critical appraisal or positioning yourself in the literature.
Also, pay attention to the word count for each question and answer.

Timeline discussion notes from workshop

Timeline discussion notes from workshop

A few other resources for you:

Sample Human Geography Questions

Sample Physical Geography Questions

What you need to know about the Comprehensive Exam Process and Expectations

What you need to know about the Proposal

Thanks to everyone who could make it, which was almost all of the first and second year PhDers!
Special thanks to Sarah, Danny, Wes and Lori for your invaluable contributions. Please email  us for resources, coffee conversations or requests for another workshop!

If you have any questions about workshops, please contact – Siera Vercillo

Next workshop: Publishing on November 27

Research Committee Workshop – Scholarships

2015 UWO GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS & SCHOLARSHIPS – A powerpoint presentation for you

A few take aways from the Research Committee Workshop about Scholarships held on Friday September 25 at 3pm:

• The Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Competition ($17,500) Deadline: October 30, 2015 to Peter Ashmore
• CIHR Doctoral Awards ($30,000/year +$5000/year for research) Deadline: September 28, 2015
• NSERC Doctoral and Post Grad Doctoral ($35,000/year or $21,000/year) Deadline: October 5, 2015 to Peter Ashmore and Final October 19, 2015 to Lori
• SSHRC Doctoral Awards (35,000/year or 20,000/year) Deadline: October 13, 2015 to Peter Ashmore and Final October 26, 2015 to Lori
• OGS and Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarships (15,000) Deadline: December 11, 2015 to Peter Ashmore and January 26, 2016 to Lori
• Masters/undergraduates CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC – November 6, 2015 to Peter Ashmore Due November 30, 2015 to Lori
• Others: Trillium (Doctoral International); Trudeau; Vanier; Richard J. Schemeelk; W.L. Mackenzie King Memorial; Michael Smith CGS Foreign Study Supplements

Scholarship List – a compiled list for you with more details.
*Note* Dates may differ, please contact Lori for confirmation and the powerpoint presentation above is most accurate.

What you typically need:
– Up to date transcripts
– 1-2 page personal statement / proposal – use key words; send to Peter Ashmore for Department feedback
– 2 academic references (minimum) – start now! Speak to professors who have given you top grades; send them your CV and research statement
– CV or CCV – academic resume or online file – give yourself at least a few weeks to do this

Need more information about this? Want to let us know how the workshop went? Send Siera Vercillo an email: svercill@uwo.ca

Next workshop: October 30 Comprehensive Exams, Proposal and other Milestones