Winners of the 2021 National Student and Thought Leadership Awards

September 24, 2021

The Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA) and the Institute of Public Administration in Canada (IPAC) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 National Student and Thought Leadership Awards!

The National Student and Thought Leadership Awards in Public Administration, a joint initiative of CAPPA and IPAC, are a set of two awards that recognize talent in Canadian public administration and policy programs at the regional and national levels. They highlight excellence in public administration and showcases the top talent emerging from Canadian programs each year.  The five recipients of the National Student Award for 2021 were nominated by their programs in Public Administration, Public Policy, or Public Management in recognition of their overall program and leadership contributions, outstanding research, or excellent capstone or thesis work undertaken during the 2020-21 year.

The National Thought Leadership Awards recognize excellence in research that pushes boundaries. This year’s winners are:

Gold:  Soma Barsen, Simon Fraser University “Our Dirty Laundry: Policy interventions & considerations to address synthetic microfiber ocean pollution in British Columbia”

Silver:  Michael Longeway, Western University, “Accountability: Inter-local service agreements”

Bronze:  Ashley Rodriques, Concordia University, “Low-skilled & Essential: Immigrant Reconstruction in Times of COVID-19”

Presentations by all five winners of the National Student Award will be viewable online at the CAPPA.ca website in the coming weeks:

Soma Barsen, Simon Fraser University

Sharese Cyr, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy

Marla Johal, Universities of Manitoba and Winnipeg

Michael Longeway, Western University

Ashley Rodriques, Concordia University

Thank you to the members of the Award Jury, Dr. Andrea Migone, Dr. Brooke Jeffrey, and Professor Sam Andrey, for their time and service to the public administration community. Belle Young at the University of Victoria coordinated applications and award logistics, for which we thank her.

Thank you also to the programs, departments, and schools who nominated talented students for these awards.  We encourage you to participate in next year’s National Student and Thought Leadership Award process, and look for the call for nominations in Spring 2022.

For any questions about this award, please contact Dr. Andrea Rounce, Past President, CAPPA at andrea.rounce@u manitoba.ca.