SFU student research scores Trudeau Scholarships
Alana Gerecke, 778.868.1137 (cell), agerecke@sfu.ca
Brent Loken, 604.849.2235 (cell), brentloken@gmail.com
Carol Thorbes, PAMR, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
Simon Fraser University doctoral students Alana Gerecke (English) and Brent Loken (Resource and Environmental Management) are trailblazing new ways of sustaining and enriching communities at opposite ends of the world.
But their accomplishments as thinkers and doers tackling issues of fundamental importance to Canadians will bring them together to receive prestigious $180,000 annual Trudeau scholarships at the Trudeau Foundation’s summer institute.
Gerecke, a Vancouver-based scholar and artist, and Loken, an educator from Squamish, are among 14 Canadian and foreign doctoral students receiving their awards at the foundation’s institute in Whistler, May 16 to 20 this year.
Among Canada’s most coveted awards, the Trudeau scholarship is granted to social sciences and humanities students examining hot issues affecting Canadians in the areas of environment, international affairs, responsible citizenship, and human rights and dignity.
Many Trudeau Scholars become leading national and international figures.
Born and raised in Toronto, Gerecke is a professional contemporary dancer who has published and presented work internationally.
Her doctoral research examines whether or not site-based dance in public places can help stimulate urban regeneration in North America. Gerecke’s exploration of how site-based dance can challenge and change the way we move in and through public spaces dovetails with the Trudeau Foundation’s interest in funding research that fosters responsible citizenship.
“I draw from current debates about the role of art and culture in urban sustainability to challenge a widely held assumption that performance in public places equally democratizes performance and public places,” says Gerecke.
Loken drew on his work as an educator in numerous overseas schools in countries such as Syria, Pakistan, Bolivia and Indonesia, to co-found an international 7-12 grade school in Taiwan.
He designed and implemented the school’s curriculum, philosophy and vision.
In 2009, Loken and his wife Sheryl, working with the local Wehea Dayak community, launched a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Indonesian Borneo’s East Kalimantan.
As well as serving as a case study for Loken’s doctoral research on the resilience and sustainability of socio-ecological systems in Borneo, the NGO runs a field school for North American university students.
Exemplifying the Trudeau Foundation’s interest in society-changing environmental research, the NGO is helping the Wehea Dayak community protect its Wehea Forest and culture from palm oil farming and logging, which is threatening both.
“The Wehea Forest is one of the most significant forests in East Kalimantan and contains one of the last intact orangutan populations in the region,” says Loken. “It may be home to all five cat species in Borneo, including the clouded leopard, flat-headed cat and Bornean bay cat.”
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Backgrounder on SFU Trudeau scholarship recipients
Alana Gerecke
The East Vancouver resident co-founded Behind Open Doors Arts Collective in 2004. The interdisciplinary site-specific performance group developed professional and community-based performance projects in public places.
Gerecke’s most recent research will appear in the forthcoming edited collection Political Bodies/Social Movements: Canadian Dance in the 1970s (Dance Collection Danse 2011).
Loken’s study of the Wehea Dayak community is the backbone of his doctoral research on the resilience and sustainability of socio-ecological systems in Borneo. It will produce a model of a local community and government working together to protect a forest and culture.
Trudeau scholarships
An independent and non-partisan Canadian charity, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation was established in 2001 as a living memorial to the former prime minister.
The first Trudeau scholarships were awarded in 2003. Seven SFU students have received the award to date. Each recipient is awarded $180,000 over a three-year period and the opportunity to work with a highly accomplished mentor in their field. Previous mentors have included Jim Judd, former Canadian Security Intelligence Service director, Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for human rights and Mike Harcourt, former B.C. premier.
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