Royal Saskatchewan Museum Announces Graduate Student Scholarship Recipient

Released on April 22, 2015

The winner of the 2015 Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) Graduate Student Scholarship, Tera Edkins, will spend the next two years in the province studying the ecology of snakes in Saskatchewan’s Big Muddy Valley.  She is the scholarship’s first recipient.

Edkins recently completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Manitoba.  This spring, she will begin work on her Master’s degree in the Biology department at the University of Regina under the supervision of the RSM’s Dr. Ray Poulin and the U of R’s Dr. Chris Somers.

“I am confident that the partnership between Tera and the RSM will be a mutually beneficial one,” Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Mark Docherty said.  “The RSM will provide her with the tools she needs, as well as expert guidance, while Tera will help further our understanding of Saskatchewan snakes and their environment.”

The RSM Graduate Student Scholarship, a partnership between the Friends of the Museum and the RSM, accepted applications until November 2014.  It is valued at $25,000 ($12,500 per year for two years).  Its aim is to support highly qualified graduate students pursuing research that focuses on Saskatchewan’s natural or human history—ecology, palaeontology or archaeology, for instance.  The scholarship will be offered annually.

“I am very thankful for this scholarship and for the opportunity to study in Saskatchewan,” Edkins said.  “There’s a lot to learn about the ecology of grassland species and this scholarship will make it possible to conduct this research right here in Saskatchewan’s Big Muddy Valley.”

Scholarship funds were raised by the Friends of the Museum.  The Friends is a non-profit, members-based organization and registered charity that supports the RSM.

“We are proud to support the research of Tera Edkins here in Saskatchewan,” Friends of the Museum Executive Director Michelle Hunter said.  “Funding for this scholarship would not be possible without the generosity of Information Services Corporation (ISC), Friends of the Museum members and supporters.”

Net proceeds from Artifact or Artifiction, a fundraising event hosted by the Friends of the Museum in 2013 and 2014, support the scholarship.  Artifact or Artifiction is sponsored by ISC.  The scholarship is also sustained through donations to the Friends of the Museum.

“We are very pleased to support the Graduate Student Scholarship through our sponsorship of the Artifact or Artifiction fundraiser event,” ISC President and CEO Jeff Stusek said.  “Through our community investment program, we passionately support causes, initiatives and academic programs that make a difference in our province and to its people.”

-30-

For more information, contact:

Chelsea Coupal
Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Phone: 306-787-5781
Email: chelsea.coupal@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-527-8152

Michelle Hunter
Friends of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum 
Regina
Phone: 306-787-0787
Email: michelle.hunter@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-539-0265