When Maeve Collins-Tobin received a phone call with the news that she’d been selected for a Rhodes Scholarship, she started crying.
“I was really honoured, and I was also excited to share the news with my family,” Collins-Tobin said.
Established in 1902, the scholarship worth more than $100,000 paves the way for a postgraduate study at the University of Oxford in England.
The Rhodes Trust covers tuition fees, as well as a student visa fee and the International Health Surcharge, which provides international students access to UK’s healthcare services.
Collins-Tobin is in her fourth year of public affairs and policy management with a specialization in international relations and conflict at Carleton University.
With the scholarship, she plans to study global governance and diplomacy and migration. She said she hopes to work in public policy.
“I believe public policy policy is a way to serve others on a large scale and I’m interested in processes that make public policy more just,” Collins-Tobin said.
She also has an interest in environmental issues—particularly the ways natural disasters lead to forced migration.
Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, she said she spent a lot of time outdoors, hiking and camping. But it was a trip to Ecuador while she was in high school where she witnessed the effect of deforestation that kickstarted her climate activism.
Upon returning to St. John’s, she started her school’s first composting program. She also got involved with her city’s Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council, where she became a conversation partner for new immigrants.
Her involvement in climate change efforts continued throughout university. In 2021, she became an executive for Climate Action Carleton, where she contributed to the campaign calling on Carleton University to divest from fossil fuel.
Currently she is working with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society in environment and conservation advocacy training.
Richard Pan, the Canadian Secretariat for Rhodes Trust, said scholarship winners reflect the “best of Canada.”
“The selection committees were moved by the impressive intellect, exceptional experience and care with which each scholar elect is applying their remarkable talents to making the world a better place,” he said in an email to the Charlatan.
Collins-Tobin said she encouraged others to apply for the scholarship.
“I think a lot of people don’t think it could be them and don’t put their hat in the ring, but it [could be anyone].”
Featured image provided by Maeve Collins-Tobin.
