Carleton’s own Kim Hellemans is a mentor, women’s issues supporter, academic, lecturer, author, researcher, runner and neuroscience enthusiast.

She is also the most recent recipient of a Capital Educators’ Award from the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI).

Hellemans was awarded one of 16 honours for the city’s top teaching professionals who combine their leadership qualities with a strong passion for teaching.

The awards credit talented educators whose commitment to academic growth is reflected in their students.

“For me, it’s about recognizing mentorship in educators,” Hellemans said.

“I really emphasize getting to know my students and going out of my way to help them reach their goals.”

Hellemans is an assistant professor in the department of psychology at Carleton and a member of the school’s Institute of Neuroscience.

She said she has a keen interest in researching the mind’s vulnerability to mental illness, the experience of stress on the body, and neurological sex differences.

She was first immersed in the field at McGill University where she completed her BA in psychology. Hellemans went on to achieve her master’s and PhD from Queen’s University, furthering her expertise on the biological basis of drug addiction.

In 2004, she took a post-doctoral position at Cambridge University and later at the University of British Columbia. Hellemans has been at Carleton since 2008.

“While I was a teaching assistant teaching labs in the last year of my master’s, I fell in love with teaching,” Hellemans said. “I had a blast, and felt like this was my calling.”

Certainly her students seem to feel this energy come through in the classroom.

“On teaching evaluations, I always get comments on my sense of humour and my ability to relate to students. People say my enthusiasm for the topic comes through in my teaching,” Hellemans said.

Outside the classroom, Hellemans has sat on the board of directors for the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology, and is currently on the board for Amethyst — a local women’s addiction treatment centre.

She has won awards at the departmental, university, and national levels as a teaching assistant, and recently received a 2010 TVO Best Lecturer nomination.

Her most recent nomination, from Ottawa’s top economic development agency, OCRI, resulted in her winning one of the region’s most prestigious instructor awards.

The honours were announced at the ninth annual EduGala at Algonquin College May 20.

Nominations for Top Educator Awards come from parents, students, educators and the general public, who feel their candidate is a positive role model who displays teaching excellence.

A community panel of judges reviewed the 67 finalists out of more than 450 teaching professionals who were nominated.

Hellemans was the only Carleton recipient this year.