Madighan Ryan is the 2022 McEuen Scholar

A grade 12 student at Elmwood School (Ottawa) in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, Madighan is the co-founder and leader of SAGA (Sexuality and Gender Alliance), part of the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir, and a French and English Tutor at The Boys and Girls Club. Her hobbies include photography and trail running.

During her time at Elmwood, Madighan lived for a month in Kowak, a small village in the north of Tanzania and worked on a potable water project.

"In 2019, I witnessed first-hand the impacts of environmental degradation. I had the privilege of leading a project which served to rectify a desperate lack of potable water in Kowak, a small village in the north of Tanzania. They had seen mortality rates skyrocket as they were plagued with atypical environmental extremes including drought. I worked in Kowak for a period of time without charity or government organization or aid (in addition to which I raised $20 000 to finance the water tanks which I designed and that currently successfully collect rainwater during monsoon season for use during drought season). My experience there offered me insight as to how changemakers must act going forward in an increasingly globalized world. To advocate for change in the environmental world, I look forward to intensifying my knowledge on international issues interwoven with anthropological issues in the natural world. I wish to be a positive leader in learning to challenge my own biases by developing cultural awareness and a more international perspective."

Madighan will be studying in the Faculty of Arts at the University of St Andrews for a Master of Arts (Honours) in International Relations and Sustainable Development. She is interested in participating in the University's extra-curriculars such as the Wildlife and Conservation Club, Photography Society and the A Cappella singing groups.

Congratulations Madighan!