A Quebec environmental engineering student intent on researching solutions to the global climate crisis is the latest recipient of a $30,000 prize established in honour of the 14 women killed 33 years ago at Montreal's École Polytechnique.
The engineering school announced Sophia Roy is this year's winner of its Order of the White Rose scholarship, which was established in 2014 to commemorate the victims and survivors of the shooting on Dec. 6, 1989.
Roy says she is extremely honoured to receive the award, adding it encourages her to continue to fight prejudice and break down barriers that limit women from pursuing careers in science and engineering.
The scholarship is awarded annually to a female engineering student who wishes to enrol in graduate studies in engineering at any institution of her choosing, in Canada or elsewhere in the world.
Roy's mother, Nathalie Sioris, began her studies at Polytechnique a year after the shooting, and now her daughter will be pursuing an accelerated PhD in chemical and environmental engineering.
Roy, 23, graduated in chemical engineering from McGill University, and Polytechnique says her recent internship at Quebec's Department of Environment and Climate Change yielded data instrumental to the province's rejection of a proposed multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas project.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2022.
