Two University of Victoria (UVic) scholars are among just three researchers nationwide to receive the Royal Society of Canada’s (RSC) Alice Wilson Award, recognizing outstanding academic achievement by emerging women scholars. This is the first time more than one recipient has come from the same university in a single year.
RSC’s Alice Wilson Award recognizes excellence demonstrated by women who are entering a career in research and scholarship at the postdoctoral level. This year’s recipients are UVic-trained historian Jamey Jesperson, whose research is advancing understanding of Indigenous trans histories, and Allison Selinger, who is recognized for developing innovative approaches to cancer treatment.
Law graduate Nicole Green is also recognized for demonstrating commitment to equity and social justice as recipient of the Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Prize.
Advancing Indigenous trans women and Two-Spirit stories through research
During her PhD studies at UVic, historian Jesperson delved into colonial archives across the Pacific Northwest and uncovered records documenting more than 50 Indigenous transformed (trans) women who lived in the 19th century. Now a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, Jesperson will take her doctoral findings on a new journey. Through oral history collaboration with Elders and trans/Two-Spirit community members, she says she will return these stories home and help reawaken ways of life that were attacked and suppressed by settler colonialism.
It is an absolute honour to receive this award and join the long line of norm-defying women in research, stretching back to Alice Wilson. I am especially grateful for the chance to publicize my work beyond the university to the broader public, specifically to Indigenous communities who are working to revitalize trans and Two-Spirit traditions that were ‘put to sleep,’ as Elders say, by the colonial project. I hope this recovery research can move Canada one step closer to reconciling with its dark past, including the ongoing legacy that colonial transphobia has in the present.”
—Jamey Jesperson, PhD
How new molecules can improve cancer treatment
As a PhD student, Selinger created new molecules that acted as sensors, changing colour to identify many different kinds of chemical and biological samples, including proteins, tissues and illicit drugs. Now a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council postdoctoral fellow in the Life Sciences Division at TRIUMF, Canada’s national particle accelerator centre, she is applying her expertise in building molecules to develop new radiopharmaceuticals. Focusing her passion for niche details and real-life applications, she’s creating radioactive drugs that specifically target tumor cells in cases where cancer has grown and spread through the body.
The Alice Wilson Award means a great deal of recognition for both my research accomplishments and personal scientific journey. I feel extremely honoured to be among the outstanding women in academia who have received this award. To me, this award honours Alice Wilson’s incredible endurance and perseverance to pursue her passions, despite the many barriers she encountered along the way. This award and her legacy inspire me to push forward in my scientific journey, to follow curiosity and seek new ways to continuously learn and grow.”
—Allison Selinger, PhD
What is the Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Prize?
The prize is given to graduating law students who are most likely to positively influence equity and social justice in Canada and globally.
Green, one of the 24 law graduates from Canada to receive the Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Prize, graduated with the highest academic standing in her graduating class at UVic Law—all while building a strong foundation for a career in public interest law. During her law degree, Green worked with UVic Law initiatives including The Law Centre and the Environmental Law Centre. She worked as a temporary articling student at Fasken Law in Vancouver and Avize Law Group in Victoria. Green is the 2026 recipient of the Law Society of British Columbia Gold Medal. In September, she began a new role as a judicial law clerk at the BC Supreme Court.
I am sincerely honoured to be selected as a recipient of the 2026 Justice Abella award. This recognition is particularly meaningful because it reflects the support, encouragement, and guidance I received from my professors, mentors, and classmates throughout my legal education at UVic law. I am grateful for this honour and inspired to continue to influence equity and social justice throughout my legal career.”
—Nicole Green, graduate
