The Premier Undergraduate Scholarships and Wesbrook Scholars are the University's most prestigious designations, given to senior students with outstanding academic performance, participation in sports (for some awards), leadership, and involvement in student and community activities.
Catherine Buschhaus
4th year, B.Sc. Forest Sciences program
Wesbrook Scholar & Premier Undergraduate Scholarship winner
Catherine’s love for the outdoors started as a child on Vancouver Island. Upon entering the Forest Sciences program in the UBC Faculty of Forestry, she discovered a deeper passion for the BC coast, including its ecosystems and people. In addition to volunteering for First Nations and coastal communities of BC, Catherine has been involved in leadership roles in the Forestry Undergraduate Society and on an NSERC-Industry chair search committee as the undergraduate representative (to name a few). Students at the Thunderbird residence have been extremely lucky to have Catherine as their Residence Advisor this year!
Catherine’s dream is to continue building strong communities on the BC coast, to integrate the physical health of individuals with ecosystem health and restoration, and to foster an environment where people can flourish.
Brendan Guy
4th year, B.Sc. Natural Resources Conservation program
Wesbrook Scholar
Brendan’s passion is educating and engaging students in dialogue about climate change and sustainability issues. Through his role as the Dialogue and Education coordinator for the student group “Common Energy UBC”, he has organized conferences, workshops and teach-ins to raise awareness about climate change issues and help foster a culture of sustainability at UBC.
This past summer, his volunteer efforts reached an international scale where he partook in a community development project in a tsunami-affected region of Sri Lanka and volunteered on organic farms in the UK. In the future, Brendan plans on pursuing designation as a Registered Professional Biologist as well as applying for graduate studies.
Congratulations Catherine and Brendan. You made us extremely proud!
Candace Parsons
Director of Student Services