Student Stories

When Mikaila Tombe began her post-secondary career, she was initially unsure what to do with her degree. Now, she’s combining her interests and talents into a new study for her undergraduate thesis.

A fourth-year VIU Psychology honours student and a musician, Mikaila has always been interested in the reasons behind why people respond the way they do to certain types of music.

Fourth-year VIU Geography honours student Sierra De Buysscher-Nailor has taken a special interest in understanding climate change.

An aspiring beekeeper, Sierra wants to develop a better understanding of the risks she will be facing in upcoming years as she starts her beekeeping journey. She is researching the impacts of climate change on the health and habitat of the western honeybee.

Using climate modelling data, Sierra is looking at how increasing temperatures will impact honeybees.

Doing research as an undergraduate student has helped Savannah Mercer make the connection between what she is learning in class and how it can be applied in the real world.

The fourth-year Bachelor of Science student is part of Dr. Heather Wiebe’s Molecular Modelling Research Group, which specializes in computational chemistry. The group uses computer simulations to answer scientific questions.

Savannah, whose hometown is Parksville, decided to attend VIU because it was close to home and offered small class sizes.

VIU alum Mac Barrera’s undergraduate research was not only published in an international journal, it has also led to new insights about the endangered Vancouver Island marmot.  

“It’s exciting. I feel very proud,” says Mac, who now works as a lab technician in VIU’s Biology department. “Getting an undergrad research paper published in a legitimate, peer-reviewed journal is rare.”

For the first time at VIU, a sociology class has written and published a book together. 

The students examined gender in their book Gender: Reflections and Intersections – a collaborative project for their Sociology 322 class. The 31 students each contributed two pieces: an academic article and one free-choice contribution that could be creative, such as:

Canada’s senior population is growing, which is why Master of Community Planning student Alicia McLean is researching how communities can be managed to best support older adults. She is conducting this research with the help of a BC Graduate Scholarship.

For Michelle White, the benefit of the Dual Credit Program at Vancouver Island University (VIU) is obvious: “It helps you get a step ahead in university, and it also helps you finish off high school.”

White is a high school student at Ladysmith Secondary School. She is also enrolled in VIU’s Culinary Arts program.

“I learn a lot and I get the opportunity to do a lot of things,” she says.

Fourth-year VIU Nursing student Carliegh Gainer chose her field of study because she’s looking forward to a career that will bring her “to many different areas and places.”

Although she has not yet graduated, this reasoning behind her decision is already starting to play out in the form of a grant application that was approved recently to fund a mural project at a local elementary school.

While Nadia Linning has always had an interest in the field of travel, tourism and recreation, a co-op opportunity this past summer resulted in a whole new experience and role for her, one that she ultimately ended up excelling in.

Nadia, a fourth-year student in VIU’s Bachelor of Tourism Management program, worked as a Fire Information Assistant with the BC Wildfire Service during the 2022 wildfire season.

For VIU student Hunter Jarratt, a social media account with a sizeable following and somewhat niche subject matter came about rather unexpectedly.

Hunter, a fourth-year student in the Bachelor of Natural Resource Protection Program, is the creator and personality behind @InvasiveSpeciesGuy on both TikTok and Instagram.