For the second straight year, a Squamish resident has won the Trudeau Scholarship, the most prestigious doctoral award of its kind in Canada.
Sophia Murphy, who plans to put the $60,000 award toward her doctoral studies at UBC's School of Resource Management and Environmental Studies, was one of 14 recipients of the 2013 awards announced by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation on May 14.
Murphy has spent 20 years working on food security issues for various government and non-government agencies including the Canadian Council for International Co-operation. Beginning this September, she aims to focus her studies on improving food security - which she defines as "access for all people to an adequate diet to live a healthy and productive life" - both locally and internationally.
Murphy, who moved to Squamish three years ago when her spouse André Lambelet became a history tutor (professor) at Quest University, has been teaching a one-month course called Understanding Food Security at Quest.
Born in the United Kingdom, she did her undergraduate work at Oxford University and her masters at the London School of Economics. Murphy has spent many years as a writer, public speaker and lecturer.
Murphy, who has worked for the United Nations on food security issues, has titled her doctoral studies at UBC is "Resilient Food Security: Strengthening the International Governance of Agricultural Trade in Support of the Human Right to Food."
"I'm hoping to find ways in which governments and others who are trying improve food security outcomes - based on the that everyone has their right to food met -can do this better," she told The Chief on Friday (May 17).
Since moving to Squamish, Murphy has sat in on the informal meetings known locally at the "Foodie Forum" and helped the Squamish Climate Action Network (Squamish CAN) in its work to increase the amount of locally grown food that's and distributed through the likes of the food bank and Helping Hands.
She said it's important for governments and non-governmental agencies to recognize the connections between the seemingly disparate areas of agriculture, education and health. Developed nations such as Canada can do a much better job feeding its own people while promoting food security globally, she said.
"There's no perfect solution, but there are better ways of assessing the solutions to ensue that they take into account the impacts of climate change and other environmental challenges. In a country like Canada, there's no shortage of food or money but we still face challenges. Globally, for many countries, the challenges are darker and much more daunting."
Last year, Squamish resident Brent Loken, who is working toward a doctorate at Simon Fraser University and is renowned for his work to help indigenous people affected by deforestation in Borneo, was among the Trudeau Scholarship recipients.
One of the benefits of winning the Trudeau scholarship is the chance to meet other recipients and take part in forums hosted by the foundation several times each year.
"It's quite a mix of subjects and questions that they're asking and I'm excited to be part of that dialogue," Murphy said.
In 2002, the foundation received a $125 million endowment from the federal government. It is also supported by donations from the private sector in support of "outstanding individuals who are making meaningful contributions to critical public issues," foundation officials wrote in a statement. For more information, visit www.trudeaufoundation.ca.
