Oshawa, Ont. - First-year business student Melissa McKnight was named a winner in the 2003 Energy Ambassadors competition from among several dozen Canadian college and university entrants.
Energy Ambassadors, a new federal government program, recognizes and rewards post-secondary students for outstanding proposals to improve energy efficiency. The winners each received $1,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Ottawa in March, during which they presented their proposals to staff at Natural Resources Canada.
"I was ecstatic when I heard the news," said 18-year-old McKnight, who is in her first year of Durham College's Business Administration-Marketing program and the youngest of the 20 award recipients. "I ran about the house telling my parents as well as family members who were visiting from Jamaica."
McKnight's winning project is called Energy Angels. Through the program, charities and non-profit organizations would engage in a friendly competition to reduce energy consumption. Each organization would designate an energy angel to audit heating, electricity and air conditioning use. Monthly awards would be presented to organizations with the highest energy savings, while groups that don't have a good energy conservation track record or that ignore energy challenges from other organizations would receive a "smoggie award."
"We are extremely proud of Melissa and her exemplary achievement," noted Judy Moretton, vice-president, academic excellence and innovation at Durham College. "With many of the entrants from a bio-engineering or environmental background, we think that Melissa deserves an extra round of applause."
McKnight is no stranger to the limelight. In March, Oshawa This Week featured an article on McKnight and Relaxing Thymes, a home spa product line she created and promotes locally. As well, a short profile of her business venture was published in Summer Company Yearbook 2002, a publication of the Ontario Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity & Innovation.
media contact:
Catherine Shearer-Kudel
(905) 721-3111, ext. 2162
e-mail: catherine.shearer-kudel@durhamc.on.ca
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