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In 2025 Nicholas was selected as the recipient of the Cowan Prize, joining a distinguished lineage of past awardees whose research has shaped scientific and engineering practice, advanced knowledge, and contributed meaningfully to Canada and its institutions. This prize is one of the Royal Military College (RMC) of Canada’s most prestigious research honours, awarded to scholars whose work demonstrates exceptional originality, sustained impact, and national or international significance.

Nicholas is a Professor of Civil Engineering at RMC and cross-appointed at Queen’s. An internationally recognized expert in geotechnical/geological engineering and underground construction, his research has reshaped tunnel and underground facility design through advances in deformation profiling, distributed fibre optic sensing, and research-driven numerical modelling.

He is a former Canadian Army Combat Engineer and has applied this work to Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence infrastructure nationwide; supervised hundreds of highly qualified personnel; and is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada. His contributions have been recognized with Canada’s premier honours in the field, including the Thomas Roy Award for engineering geology and the John A. Franklin Award for rock mechanics.

Nearly 30 years after graduating from Queen's and over 20 years after moving to London, U.K., Genevieve has started a new career as a London Blue Badge tourist guide. The Blue Badge qualification gives her access to key sites in London, such as Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London, but she can guide nearly anywhere in the city – on or off the beaten track. Her English Literature degree from Queen's comes in handy at the vast number of sites connected to great writers! She encourages alumni to reach out to her. 

Alysson, a Councillor for the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ont., was re-elected to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) board of directors and also elected vice chair of the Ontario Caucus, the federation’s largest. FCM is the voice for over 2,100 municipalities representing more than 90 per cent of the population. Alysson would love to hear from fellow alumni.

John received an Award of Merit from the Canadian Standards Association in 2025 in recognition of his exemplary technical expertise, advocacy, and outstanding contributions to the development of standards for the storage of hydrocarbons in underground formations. After starting out as a geologist in the hard rock mining field, he went on to acquire 14 years of petroleum industry experience and 34 years of underground storage experience with a variety of companies in both Canada and the U.S., which included the preparation of technical standards. John has attempted to retire on several occasions but is still currently employed part-time at Tiberius Energy Services LLC in Austin, Texas, as a subject matter expert – underground storage. As John moves on from his technical career, he is working to improve his woodworking and lapidary skills, while continuing to educate himself about as many subjects as possible. John and his wife, Pat, who is from Sarnia (via Napanee), have been married for 45 years and plan to eventually retire in Austin, where they both also operate a boutique real estate business.

Carolyn completed her Doctorate of Education from the University of Calgary in 2024, with a specialization in curriculum and learning. Her research focused on teaching mindfulness with biofeedback and social-emotional learning to help high-school students self-regulate and manage stress. She had already completed her Masters in Education at the university in 2020. Carolyn retired from Rocky View Schools, where she was teaching high-school psychology and biology, and is now a sessional instructor at the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary.