Brag - Spring2023

Campion College Launches
a New Environmental
Impact Scholarship
BY HOLLY GUSTAFSON BA '96
Dr. Sarah Abbott is an associate professor in
the Department of Film at the University of
Regina, where she teaches courses in film
production, ethnographic practice, sentient
ecologies, and climate change. She has been
engaging with concepts of sustainability,
ecology, and climate concerns in a variety of
ways throughout her research, teaching, and
life for over 30 years. In 2021, she obtained an
Interdisciplinary Doctor of Social Sciences
degree from Royal Roads University with a
research focus on the sentience, intelligence
and relationality of trees, with funding support
from a Vanier Canada Scholarship.
For her recent doctoral research, Dr. Abbott
worked with public and multispecies
ethnography, Indigenous ways of knowing and
inquiry, plant science, interspecies communication
and film. In November 2022, she
presented a talk titled “Perspectives on Earth
Care and Interconnection” at Campion College
that highlighted her research, relationships
between humans and nonhumans, the intense
impacts of human-centered beliefs and
activity on the planet we call home, and that
shifting to mindful, intentional practices that
recognize and respect all life on Earth can help
many of us reconnect with this life and live in
more sustainable, balanced ways.
Dr. Abbott generously donated the
honorarium for her talk to officially launch an
exciting new scholarship at the college: the
Environmental Impact Scholarship. “I wanted
to use this speaking opportunity” she says, “to
draw attention to ecological concerns and to
support students engaging with this important
subject in their research and volunteer work.”
The Environmental Impact Scholarship will
be awarded to a full-time Campion student
who is passionate about the environment and
is making a difference in the world. Campion
alumni, staff member, and environmentalist
Carla Ballman designed the scholarship, with
assistance from the Campion Sustainability
Committee, Krista Calfat, and Dr. Abbott. It
provides an opportunity to recognize students
who are taking action to address environmental
concerns. This scholarship is for continuing
students registered through Campion College,
with preference given to students doing an
honours thesis with an environmental focus or
those pursuing the Certificate in Sustainability.
The scholarship is worth $1000 and will be
awarded annually each fall.
In 2020, Dr. Abbott began teaching the
first course in climate change through the
University of Regina’s Faculty of Media, Art,
and Performance. This multidisciplinary
course, called “Engaging Climate Change:
Creativity, Community, Intervention”
considers climate change and ecological
issues with a focus on resilience, community,
Indigenous perspectives, science, art, and
students thinking outside the box. “It’s not
an easy topic, but it’s so important that we
spend time with it, that we speak about what’s
happening in the climate and in our ecology
and find ways to take action that resonates
with us” says Dr. Abbott. “There are relational
complexities, nuances and effects in the
infinite web of all our human and nonhuman
life experiences.”
To find out more about Campion’s Environmental
Impact Scholarship or to make a
donation, visit campioncollege.ca.
To apply for the Environmental Impact
Scholarship, visit Continuing Scholarships at
Campion College.
PHOTO BY TREVOR HOPKIN
The Environmental
Impact Scholarship
will be awarded to
a full-time Campion
student who is
passionate about the
environment and is
making a difference in
the world.
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