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to work closely with professors and graduate students -- and learning more about how her
studies can actually be applied. “If it were not for the scholarship, I would only have my
parents’ support. That would not be enough to live and study in Canada,” she says.
Shi comes from central China where, she says, there is not a lot of environmental
engineering. “This will happen in the future, but with my degree from the University of
Windsor, I may find jobs in other parts of the world first,” she says. Shi worked last year
on an air-quality monitoring project at Windsor airport, led by Professor Iris Xu. This year,
she is working with Professor Edwin Tam on a brownfield classification project. Brownfield
classification involves an analysis of contamination levels in previously developed
properties to determine what future uses could be appropriate.
“It is exciting to learn how our team is working through the methodology to test a new
assessment process,” she says. “This kind of experience means I will have more to offer an
employer than a student who has only gone to classes.”
Iva Peklova is in the third year of the Environmental Science Program at UWindsor.
Matched with Biology Professor Aaron Fisk, she works in his lab at the Great Lakes Institute
for Environmental Research. “The program has put me in contact with professors and
graduate students, and helped me develop lab skills,” she says. “I appreciate the money, but
it is more than a job. Because of the program, I have better ideas for the thesis I will need to
produce to graduate next year.”
Peklova spent two years at Czech University in Prague before transferring to the
University of Windsor. She juggles a heavy schedule of her studies, her lab work for Dr. Fisk
and her practices, games and community service commitments with the Lancer women’s
basketball team. “I have learned to manage my time effectively. I have a very busy life here.”
Music student Marc Funkenhauser says that the Outstanding Scholars Program is a
major part of his education. Working with the concert producer and operations manager
at the School of Music, he is one of the first to arrive and the last to leave a School of
Music performance. “I have learned to tune instruments, set up microphones for different
instruments, operate the sound board, work front-of-house and make arrangements
necessary for off-campus venues such as the Art Gallery of Windsor,” says Funkenhauser.
“All this will be helpful if I decide to do a Master’s degree in Performance or go into teaching
or whatever I may do,” he says. “The scholarship makes it possible to do the things I want to
do to prepare for the future.”
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Environmental engineering student Jingmiao Shi.
Third-year environmental science student Iva Peklova.
Music student Marc Funkenhauser.
