Rural Studies alumna Ashleigh Weeden (PhD ’22) has been awarded a Canada Postdoctoral Research Award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Considered one of the most competitive and sought-after awards for early-career researchers in Canada, the Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) program recognizes the next generation of outstanding innovators, knowledge workers, creative thinkers and researchers at a pivotal time in their careers. Dr. Weeden will use the award to investigate the impacts of the ‘digital revolution’ in agriculture on rural communities’ capacity for innovation and the implications of this relationship for public policy. She will hold the award at the Rural Development Institute at Brandon University (Manitoba).

Dr. Weeden completed her doctorate under the supervision of Dr. Ryan Gibson in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) and continues to collaborate with researchers within SEDRD on a wide variety of initiatives, extending her lifelong relationship with the University of Guelph. She is a two-time University of Guelph alumna, having also earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in International Development in 2008, and her father, James K Weeden, was also a two-time alumnus (B.Sc.’71 and M.Sc. ’86, both in Engineering) and a two-term President of the University of Guelph Alumni Association.