The Governor General's Gold Medal is awarded to the student who achieves the highest academic standing at the graduate level.

The 2026 recipient, Gemma Rawson, supervised by Dr. Laura Ferguson, graduated from Acadia University on October 9, 2025 with a MSc in Biology. Gemma's CGPA was 4.33/4.33.

Gemma's master’s research focused on mosquito and virus surveillance across the Maritime provinces, where the Acadia Mosquito team and Gemma traveled throughout the Maritimes collecting all the mosquitoes they could get their hands on! Gemma has a profound love for insects and commonly spends her time walking slowly along hiking trails, taking photos and identifying insects and other arthropod friends! Gemma loves research and is interested in vector biology and medical entomology, always looking to learn more about the important vector species around us!