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Human geography major Gabrielle Wong graduates this June after making her mark at SFU through a combination of academic excellence, impactful research and public service.

Wong is the recipient of the Gordon M. Shrum Undergraduate Medal, the Department of Geography’s Warren Gill Memorial Award and this year’s Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) Award.

As a research assistant for various projects, the new alumnus has explored topical issues in sustainability and social justice, including the impacts of Airbnb in Mexico City, gentrification in North American cities and .

Under the supervision of geography professor Rosemary Collard in the , she wrote her honours thesis on the political and economic factors shaping endangered species recovery to examine why some protected species recover from the edge of extinction while others with similar legal protections do not.

“By looking at the relatively small number of conservation ‘success stories’, I wanted to better understand what we should be doing to recover more species,” she explains.

Over the course of her degree, Wong also completed three Co-op work terms — two at the Refugee Intake Unit at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and a third at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in the Youth Engagement Unit.

These experiences helped bring her courses to life while also making her time at SFU more meaningful, satisfying and fun.

“I appreciated readings and assignments more after returning from Co-op work terms because I could see why they mattered,” she says. “My RA work gave me the opportunity to travel, including to present research at conferences. I’ve also loved working closely with other research assistants and my supervisors…the projects I’ve had the privilege of working on have been some of the highlights of my degree.”

To complement her major, Wong declared a minor in Social Data Analytics in her first year, which required taking classes in geographic information science (GIS), data visualization and ethics and taught her new ways to tell a story with data.

“I liked that the minor included an applied capstone project on a ‘real-world’ problem where we were tasked with seeing a project through, from the initial topic to data collection to a final presentation and report,” she says.

Outside of SFU, she serves as president of the Debate and Speech Association of BC and volunteers at her local Big Brothers, Big Sisters agency.

Alongside her degree, she completed her associate diploma in piano pedagogy through the Royal Conservatory of Music and was on the board of VAYA Youth Arts Society, where she helped organize an annual music festival.

She also runs a small non-profit that provides art-based programming to youth:

“Recently, we received a grant from the Association of Neighbourhood Houses BC to set up a ‘free little art gallery’ specifically for young artists in our community, and I’m excited to be establishing it this summer.”

When she first began her program, Wong says she used to worry that she would feel like “just a number”, and that it would be difficult to build meaningful relationships compared to high school.

“Luckily,” she says, “that hasn’t been the case at all! Every time I’ve needed support, I’ve always found multiple people willing to lend me a listening ear and/or practical help.”

She encountered one of these times when, as co-chair of the Geography Student Union, she co-led the 2023 and 2025 , bringing together faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students to celebrate and learn about the geography discipline.

“The conferences have been successful because so many people believed in them and committed themselves to helping out, whether that be through speaking, volunteering, advertising the event, and more,” she reflects.

This fall, Wong is heading to the University of Toronto to start her master’s, where she will likely continue her research on political ecology and economy and expand on themes from her honours thesis.

In the meantime, her fellow graduands can catch her on stage at the Faculty of Environment convocation ceremony as the designated undergraduate speaker.