Leah Creaser awarded 3M National Student Fellowship
Leah Creaser, fourth-year Honours Biology student and president of the Indigenous Student Society of Acadia (ISSA), has been awarded a 2021 3M National Student Fellowship. This prestigious award honours students across Canada who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and who exemplify a vision of education inside and outside the classroom.
Leah is a member of Acadia First Nation and has been a powerful advocate for the conservation of both the environment and Indigenous knowledge. In addition to her role as president of ISSA, she is active on high-level university committees and councils and created a first-year biology lab incorporating Mi’kmaq Traditional Knowledge as a research topic. In 2020, this lab was introduced as a part of the required core Biology course.
Leah's research at Acadia includes multiple projects in collaboration with the Mi’kmaq Conservation Group and Confederation of Mainland Mi’kmaq. Leah plans on pursuing a master’s degree focusing on Fish Biology with the Two-eyed seeing perspective.
Leah holds a fish specimen that will be examined in the lab for evidence of environmental contamination.
"It is wonderful to see Leah recognized for her dedication to research and learning," said Dr. Peter Ricketts, Acadia President and Vice-Chancellor. "She is a leader and active member of our campus and community, and she is thoroughly deserving of the national award."
Leah, an avid skateboarder, sums up her willingness to take chances in her efforts: "You don’t land 100% of the [skate] tricks you don’t try, and you don’t decolonize 100% of the colonized systems you ignore."
Learn more about Leah and this special award at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education awards website.
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