Neeraj Nainwal
Neeraj Nainwal presenting at the PhD-CI Capstone Event Photo Credit: Queen's Gazette

Two PhD students in the Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Netsai Wiboonwipa, and Neeraj Nainwal, participated in the Queen's PhD-CI (Community Initiative) Project. The project is aimed at addressing community challenges through partnerships with local communities. The project spanned eight months and involved a diverse group of Queen's University doctoral students interested in community work. The capstone event of the PhD-CI was held on Tuesday, May 9 at Kingston City Hall. 

Netsai's team project was titled, "Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) model for the corporation of the City of Kingston". She describes her project and experience:

"I was a part of an interdisciplinary team of five individuals from different academic backgrounds, including chemistry, chemical engineering, education, environment, and geological engineering, where I volunteered to be a team lead. Our team was tasked with working with the City of Kingston and its partner, United Way KFL&A, to integrate United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) into their existing work and come up with suggestions to improve how they should move forward to be successful in implementing SDGs using Queen’s University and other municipalities as case studies. We also got opportunities to interview Bhavana Varma, the president of the United Way KFL&A, Bryan Paterson, the Mayor of Kingston and our Principal, Patrick Deane. The interviews are in podcast style talking about their views towards SDGs. The podcasts will be available soon and the full transcript of the interviews will be available in the report, so if someone is interested in reading or listening to the podcasts, they can contact me."

Neeraj's team project was titled, "Strategic plan support". He shared:

"My team Community Health Strategizers, focused on stakeholder mapping for the KFL&A (Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington) Public Health Unit as part of their post-pandemic strategic planning. This project provided an exciting opportunity to work on a health sciences initiative outside our technical domain. We gained valuable experience and contributed to the community while expanding our knowledge and skills.

I highly recommend participating in this initiative to gain hands-on experience, learn from others, and enhance skills in addressing community challenges. Working with diverse students and mentors offers a unique perspective that fosters collaboration and personal growth."

More information about the PhD CI including the capstone event is available on the Queen's Gazette website.