2025 UCalgary Nursing Spark Awards
Congratulations to this year's nominees and recipients of UCalgary Nursing's annual Spark Awards which recognize the hard work, commitment and success of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners
Undergraduate Student Award
Youjin Park
Nominated by: Navroop Ghangas, Hala Said, Kristi-Anne Wingert
Youjin Park is an incoming third-year nursing student who is invested in bringing positive energy and initiative, building stronger community and is committed to student leadership. In the past academic years, she served as first year co-chair and vice-president, academic of the Undergraduate Nursing Society (UNS), where she helped support academic success and community engagement among nursing students. Being part of UNS, Youjin organized multiple events to enhance student experiences and create space for open dialogue and questions. In addition, Youjin volunteered as a nursing mentor with the First-Generation Mentorship Program, supporting a fellow first-year student in navigating university life.
Other nominees:
Sutton Garner
Nominated by: Kristi-Anne Wingert and Megan Keszler
Kristi-Anne Wingert
Nominated by: Brayden Jones and Alexa Krull
Bill Zheng
Nominated by: Megan Keszler and Kate Wong
Graduate Student Award
Alexander Cuncannon
Nominated by: Annjanette Ridsdale-Weddell and Nicole Letourneau
Alex Cuncannon is a first-year nursing PhD student supervised by Dr. Nicole Letourneau and Dr. Kharah Ross at the Faculty of Nursing. His research interests encompass early relational health, human social genomics, and psychoneuroimmunology. His proposed PhD research will examine associations between the ATTACH™ parenting program and children’s proinflammatory gene expression in contexts of early adversity (e.g., family and gender-based violence, abuse and poverty). Through an internship with the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters as part of the Alliance Against Violence and Adversity (AVA) Community Agency Internship Program, Alex is also developing further capacity to contribute to community-engaged and implementation science research that supports families affected by violence and adversity. He aspires to advance nursing and transdisciplinary research that addresses biological and social pathways linking early life experiences to long-term health and development outcomes. In addition to his doctoral studies, he continues to build on three years of experience as a registered nurse in crisis intervention and stabilization.
Other nominees:
Davey Hamada
Nominated by: Graham McCaffrey and Nancy Moules
Teaching Award
Alexandra Krull
Nominated by: Kristi-Anne Wingert
Alexa Krull completed her Bachelor of Nursing degree at the University of Calgary in 2016. Since then, her clinical nursing experience has been in cardiology and critical care. In 2022, she returned to UCalgary as a clinical nursing instructor and quickly discovered that teaching was her true calling. This passion led her to eventually begin a PhD in Nursing at the University of Victoria in September 2024. Her research focuses on moral distress in undergraduate nursing students — a topic deeply rooted in both her clinical practice and experiences as an educator.
Other nominees:
Alan Ward
Nominated by: Jodie Steffan
Ashley Hamilton and Brooklynn Mont
Nominated by: Alisha Ling
Jane Corbeil
Nominated by: Diana Pham
Jennifer Jackson
Nominated by: Zahra Upal and Elke Jaibeeh Barah
Kate Wong
Nominated by: Sondra Wesner
Kristal Lawson
Nominated by: Julie-Ann Jans
Maria Sosa Ponce
Nominated by: Term 6 BN students (Kristen Ingram-cotton, Danielle Boisvert, Joyce Chan, Hoda Farrah, Misky Sanni, Kloee Undag, Asselle Tapil)
Alumnus Award
Dianne Dyer
Nominated by: Kate Wong
Dianne Dyer is retired after 44 years as a registered nurse. She graduated with a BN in 1976 and an MN in 1993 from the University of Calgary. Her experience has included staff and leadership in public health, inner-city communities, trauma, emergency and addictions. Her final nursing leadership role was strategies/policy work related to the opioid crisis, harm reduction and treatment for opioid use disorder. Her board experience includes the board of the Legal Nurse Consultant Association of Canada, president and chairman of the board for the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta, the Canadian Nurses Association and currently board chair for SafeLink Alberta. She has published several articles focused on trauma clinical care and prevention. Dianne’s passion is nursing excellence, legal issues and regulation, harm reduction, patient safety, social justice and advocacy for vulnerable populations.
Other nominees:
Luz Alvizurez
Nominated by: Stephanie Ng
Community Partner Award
Debbie Smith
Nominated by: Carson Doore, Kayla Fast, Lesley Black, Logan Red Crow, Samantha Sleigh, Sheryl Black Water, Tegen Dunnill Jones
Debbie Smith’s traditional name is Apaastakii (Bridge Woman). She comes from the Siksika First Nation. With her husband Dwight, she has been blessed with three sons and three beautiful grandchildren. Her parents are the late Chief Leo Pretty Young Man and Alma Pretty Young Man. Since graduating with her Bachelor of Nursing degree in 1994 at the University of Calgary, her career has primarily been in First Nations Health. She is presently the coordinator of the Iiyikinaami – Spirit Helper Bachelor of Science in Nursing Indigenous Community Route program at Old Sun Community College – Siksika Nation. This is a nursing program in partnership with the University of Calgary, Faculty of Nursing.
Along with her BN degree, her traditional roots as a member of the Siksika, her involvement in her culture and her love of her people has provided Debbie with the ability to continue advocating that Indigenous values, beliefs, customs and traditions are significant factors in advancing the quality of life of her people. She says she is very proud to be working, along with colleagues at Old Sun Community College, in a program that will graduate future Indigenous nurses.
Other nominees:
Kristen Graham
Nominated by: Anmol Shahid
NP Mental Health & Wellness Clinic
Nominated by: Connie Kapak
Staff Award
Katie Cordiner
Nominated by: Carrie McKay, Catherine Laing, Zahra Shajani and Dave Patterson
Katie Cordiner is the faculty operations and staffing specialist in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. Originally from London, Ontario, Katie has worked in education since 2017, building a strong background in human resources, academic coordination, and administrative leadership. She is passionate about creating supportive and efficient environments where faculty and staff can thrive. Katie says she feels incredibly privileged to work with an amazing group of colleagues who uplift one another and foster opportunities for growth and success. With a commitment to excellence and collaboration, she is proud to be part of a team that contributes to the advancement of the Faculty of Nursing.
Other nominees:
Gaylynne Plysiuk
Nominated by: Nancy Moules
Natasha Cholowsky
Nominated by: Anmol Shahid
Research Award
Tracie Risling
Nominated by: Nancy Moules
Tracie Risling RN, PhD is the associate dean (innovation) in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary, president-elect of the Canadian Nurses Association and the past president of the Canadian Nursing Informatics Association. With a practice background in paediatric and public health nursing, Dr. Risling leads a program of digital health research including study on artificial intelligence, social media and misinformation, co-design, and the use of text messaging for wellness support. She is a passionate advocate for increased nursing engagement in the development, use, and evaluation of digital health solutions, which is reflected in her work with the Doctor of Nursing program at the University of Calgary.
Other nominees:
Karen Benzies
Nominated by: Jamie Day, Anmol Shahid, Natasha Cholowsky, Kristen Graham, Oyinda Obiegbesan
Mentorship Award
Lorelli Nowell
Nominated by: Alyson Campbell
Dr. Lorelli Nowell, RN, PhD, is an associate professor and associate dean, graduate programs in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on innovations in teaching and learning, professional development of educators and mentorship to support teaching and learning practices. Lorelli frequently puts her mentorship research into practice by seeking out mentors to support her own learning and development while actively providing mentorship to students and colleagues.
Other nominees:
Athena Liu
Nominated by: Anjanette Ridsdale-Weddell
Nancy Moules
Nominated by: Kate Wong and Katie Webber
2025 Ignitor Award - Bill Zheng
Bill Zheng is a community-focused social entrepreneur based in Calgary. He is the co-founder and managing director of RadiCare Ventures, a social enterprise that employs individuals facing barriers to work while addressing urban issues like cleanliness and public safety. RadiCare is a key partner of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) and the City of Calgary, contributing to downtown revitalization through practical, people-centered solutions.
Bill also co-founded the Pop-Up Care Village, a unique event that combines health care, social services and arts and culture to support Calgarians experiencing homelessness. The event has grown into a city-recognized model for inclusive, cross-sector collaboration and community safety.
2025 Hall of Fame Award - Nancy Moules
Dr. Nancy Moules, RN, PhD is a professor and associate dean (research) in the Faculty of Nursing. She is editor of the Journal of Applied Hermeneutics and chair of the Canadian Hermeneutic Institute. She is a three-time alumni graduate of the University of Calgary (BN’95, MN’97, PhD’00), and has been faculty member for 25 years, supervised many students and received many awards. Nancy is a former holder of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and Research Institute Professorship in Child and Family Centred Cancer Care and the Kids Cancer Care Foundation Research Chair in Child and Family Cancer Care.