Each year, the Heritage Preservation Partnership Program provides up to $10,000 in grant and scholarship funding for individuals and organizations that are actively working to preserve and promote Alberta's heritage.
Scholarships offered through the Heritage Preservation Partnership Program are part of an overall investment of $52.9 million through Budget 2024 to support provincially owned museums and historic sites to protect Alberta's history and celebrate our cultural heritage.
Both of this year's recipients were awarded $5,000 through the Roger Soderstrom Scholarship.
This scholarship honours the late Roger Soderstrom's work in the preservation and interpretation of Alberta's heritage, and his long career with the Government of Alberta. Applicants to the scholarship are required to be pursuing research projects in areas like architectural preservation, urban or area planning and conservation, historic resource management, archaeology, history or palaeontology.
"I am proud that our government is investing in the scholarly work and research of students who are preserving Alberta's story. Our province needs individuals who are passionate about pursuing careers in historical preservation and making sure Alberta's unique history can be shared for generations to come."
Tanya Fir, Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women
"Research plays a key role in ensuring Alberta's economic and cultural prosperity, today and for generations to come. I am proud of our government's work supporting students in their research endeavours and want to congratulate the 2024 recipients of the Roger Soderstrom Scholarship for their excellent work preserving Alberta's historical heritage."
Rajan Sawhney, Minister of Advanced Education
The 2024 recipients are:
- Erica Van Vugt, Calgary, for the research project, The Challenge of Digitally Preserving Collapsed Heritage Buildings.
- Lyndsay Conrad, Sherwood Park, for the research project, The Women Within the University of Alberta Varsity Ski Club, 1930-1938.
"Digital heritage documentation is a powerful tool for preserving buildings and spaces less invasively, cementing them in archives and allowing the public to view them digitally. As a Métis scholar, maintaining heritage sites like the Leavings' is important to me because documenting Indigenous and settler negotiations of space helps tie Métis identity to the landscape."
Erica Van Vugt, scholarship recipient
"I am honoured to receive the Roger Soderstrom scholarship, which will allow me to continue to explore the history of Canadian women in Nordic skiing. This funding will help to preserve and interpret Alberta's history through storytelling and illuminate the details of the University of Alberta's Varsity Ski Club. I look forward to sharing a small piece of Alberta's sport and social history through conferences and public presentations."
Lyndsay Conrad, scholarship recipient
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