When W. Garfield Weston Loran scholar Alexandra Conliffe first applied for a Loran Award, she saw it as a source of much-needed funds for her undergrad tuition. But her conception of the award changed when she came to Toronto for national interviews. That weekend was, she says, transformative: “The money became secondary and I realized that I wanted the award because of the amazing community that I could be part of.”

The Loran Award community is, in her words, “a massive support network,” and she has appreciated that support as she has changed directions and faced new challenges in her academic career. In high school, Alexandra had her sights set on a career in medicine—but just before applying to university, she realized that medicine wasn’t for her and switched her focus to engineering.

Another change of direction lay ahead. While looking for a suitable option for her first CMSF-funded international summer, Alexandra stumbled upon an internship with Engineers Without Borders, an opportunity that led her to spend time in Uzbekistan. She credits this experience with helping her discover the links between engineering, health, and the environment; her interest in these links led her to change fields from engineering to geography.

The decision was the right one: Alexandra is now a Ph.D. candidate in geography at Oxford University and a Rhodes scholar, working on a thesis which explores the impact of political and environmental change in developing countries. “I am interested to see whether global attempts to address global problems help, hinder, or lack impact at local scales,” she explains.

Her passion for exploring the impact of development and environmental policy on rural people has led her well beyond the classroom. In pursuit of answers at the local level, she has conducted research for her thesis in Uzbekistan and Iran. And through her involvement with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), she has been able to get a front-row view of policy making in action. In her role with IISD’s reporting services, Alexandra has sat in on closed-doors UN negotiations on climate change, desertification, and other issues.

She has also taken an active role in Engineers Without Borders. Feeling an affinity with the group’s mission, she started up a McGill chapter, co-chaired their first annual conference, worked in the national office, and volunteered overseas. EWB also led her to the Canadian-Palestine Educational Exchange (CEPAL). Through this group, she ended up spending two months in Beirut, teaching English and sports to children in refugee camps. This proved an invaluable experience: “I learned more about the complexities of poverty, conflict, human nature and human strength than at any other time,” she says.