Congrats to Ellen! More information about our awards and scholarships can be found here.

When Stephanie Downs returned to Canada from the UK to become a librarian, she chose to enter the MLIS program at Dalhousie for its sense of community, welcoming faculty and Maritime culture. Diagnosed with cervical cancer at the end of her last year at SIM, Stephanie graduated with her MLIS but lost her hard-fought battle to her illness on May 27th, 2007.

Remembered for her enthusiasm, Stephanie was a “doer” and very active in school life, serving as 2005-2006 Co-Chair of SIMSA and SIM Team Captain for the 2005 Halifax “Run for the Cure”. She was also awarded the Student-to-CLA travel award to attend the 2005 CLA Conference in Calgary. This award was established by Stephanie’s family and friends in her memory.

Ellen (she/her) is in her second year at Dalhousie in the MI program with a focus on metadata and academic libraries. She received her Bachelor of Arts with honours studying English Literature from the University of Manitoba in 2018. Following her graduation, she worked at the University of Manitoba in various administrative roles supporting students through admissions, awards, and academic support roles. During this time, Ellen recognized the importance of librarians within academic institutions and the impact they have on student learning which led her to pursuing her degree at Dalhousie.

In her career, Ellen worked closely with international students and supported them through the obstacles and challenges that come with moving to a new country and community. This inspired her to broaden her own horizons, and she spent a year travelling and working internationally before returning to Canada to continue her education. This experience showed her the importance of having local contacts and supports when navigating a new place and hopes to be someone international students can turn to for this support.

As a student in the MI program, Ellen is actively involved as one of the Academic Co-Chairs on ISSA, and was a part of organizing the Information Without Boarders (IWB) 2025 conference as Logistics Co-Chair. She works at the Sir James Dunn Law Library, and is a Research Assistant on the Respectful Terminology Platform Project. Ellen hopes to continue ensuring access and building community in her second year in the program and looks forward to welcoming the incoming cohort.