Thanks to the generosity of the Irving Oil Research Mentorship Award, StFX students were able to foster a deep motivation to lead positive change in rural nursing education, investigate strategies for inclusive classroom, and help start a used laptop program that will benefit an entire university community.
Nine StFX students, Julia Byron, Sarah Cullen, Stella Nette, Cole MacDonald, Emilia Stewart, Kristina Danyk, Yujia Huang, Dionne Lynch and Chloe Oleksiuk, each received the $8,500 award and spent 14 weeks this past summer conducting research projects under the supervision of a StFX faculty member.
DEEPENED UNDERSTANDING
“Receiving the Irving Research Award has been an incredible opportunity. It not only provided the financial support to pursue my honours research but also allowed me to dedicate my time fully to a project I’m passionate about. This experience deepened my understanding of rural communities and the unique challenges they face. I’m immensely grateful for the chance to contribute to research that could lead to meaningful changes in nursing education, particularly in rural Nova Scotia,” says Stella Nette, a fourth year Rankin School of Nursing student from Hubbards, NS.
She conducted research on a project titled ‘Identifying Student Learning Challenges and Potential Solutions in Nursing Education Delivery in Rural Nova Scotia using Photovoice.’ This project aims to uncover the unique learning challenges nursing students face in rural education settings and explore potential solutions.
Working with faculty supervisors Dr. Janet Purvis and Dr. Heather Helpard, she says to gather these insights, they used a method called Photovoice, where participants captured and shared photographs that represent their personal experiences with rural nursing education.
“This research experience has been transformative for me. It sharpened my research skills and deepened my appreciation for the complexities of healthcare in rural areas. Looking forward, this experience will shape how I approach my future career as a healthcare professional. It has instilled in me the importance of empathy, curiosity, and actively seeking the perspectives of my patients and colleagues—qualities that I believe are crucial for providing compassionate and effective care.”
Ms. Nette says one of the most striking aspects of this experience has been the power of Photovoice as a research method. “Seeing participants express their lived experiences through photography gave me a more intimate understanding of their challenges and fostered a deep motivation to lead positive change in rural nursing education. Additionally, I am grateful for the incredible support I’ve received from my faculty supervisors, Dr. Purvis and Dr. Helpard, and my fellow nursing students, who have been a constant source of encouragement.”
GROW CONFIDENCE, HELP WIDER COMMUNITY
Cole MacDonald of Antigonish, NS, a fifth year student completing a joint advanced major in math and computer science, says after researching and learning about laptop programs offered at other institutions, he helped create a used laptop program for students and developed research surveys to study the impact of the program to student wellness and grades.
“This experience helped grow my confidence in my research abilities and I have now applied to switch into the honours program so that I can write a thesis on this project to help motivate the continuation of the project for years to come and help other institutions implement similar programs,” says Mr. MacDonald, who is supervised by Dr. Erin Mazerolle.
“It gave me the ability to incorporate my passions for sciences, technology, and helping others, to create a program that can expand the help offered to other students, which is important not only to me but the wider university community.”
Mr. MacDonald says a highlight of the experience is that it showed him the amount of support from faculty, staff and students towards a program like this and how dedicated people are towards helping students achieve their university goals.
SOLIDIFIED PASSION, EXPLORE INCLUSIVE TEACHING
“I’m extremely grateful to have this opportunity. It gave me the chance to explore educational research and inclusive teaching methods prior to having a classroom of my own,” says Sarah Cullen of Truro, NS, a second year Bachelor of Education student. Working with faculty supervisor Dr. Jennifer Mitton, she focused her research on ‘Queering the Curriculum: Reviewing and Revamping 2SLGBTQIA+ Education and Literary in the English.’
Ms. Cullen conducted a scoping literature review of current academic understandings of queering education and literary analysis of both Book Bureau approved and unapproved queered texts. “The English classroom is a place where queer joy can easily be manifested through the texts we choose to teach; Arts based teaching methods are one means of decentering the texts we choose, ultimately queering our educational spaces,” she says.
Ms. Cullen says not only will this experience benefit her future students, it solidified her passions for teaching, art, English, and her queer community. It also gave her the chance to present her research to fellow educators in an academic context, at the Educational Research Forum, and opened avenues for potentially publishing co-authored works concerning queered, arts-based teaching methods. “It’s given a concrete opportunity to explore the ways in which my future teaching methods and classrooms will be queered for the benefit of all students.”
ENHANCE SKILLS, ADVANCE CAREER, STRENGTHEN PROGRAM
“Receiving the Irving Oil Research Mentorship award has been a wonderful opportunity for me. It has allowed me to enhance my research skills, advance my academic career, and contribute to improving Waves of Change, strengthening the bystander intervention capabilities of all StFX students,” says Emilia Stewart, a fourth year honours student from Ottawa, ON, studying biomedical health.
Ms. Stewart worked on a research project titled ‘Co-Creating a Logic Model for Waves of Change.’ Waves of Change is a training program delivered by peer educators, like herself, during the school year, focusing on the basics of sexual violence, consent, and bystander intervention.
“A logic model is a visual representation that outlines the key components of a program and their interconnections. With the guidance of my faculty supervisor, Dr. Laura Lambe, we are developing this logic model to identify the most valuable aspects and outcomes of the training. This will ensure that our program evaluation, my honours thesis project, during the academic year measures the right elements.”
LEARNED SO MUCH
Julia Byron of Cole Harbour, NS, a fourth year student in applied forensic psychology, working under the supervision of Dr. Ralph Redden and co-supervisor Dr. Laura Lambe, has been working on a project titled Cyberball-VR, a virtual reality paradigm that allows for researchers to study participants behaviours in a seemingly real bullying scenario. “This allows for participants to play an active role in the virtual bullying scenario. Over the summer I was able to submit my ethics application and received approval which means I can start data collection early in the fall. It has been an honour to receive a research funding award and has allowed me to get a head start on my thesis project. I have learnt so much about conducting research, which will help me for when I hopefully go to grad school.
“This award has allowed me to build close professional relationships with my co-supervisors which has been very beneficial. They are both happy to help me with applying for grad school and doing whatever they can to help me with my thesis project. Overall, I really enjoyed conducting research this summer thanks to the Irving Oil Research Mentorship Award!”
