Post-doc named Newcomer Champion by Ontario government

A McMaster post-doctoral fellow has been given a Newcomer Champion Award by the Ontario government.

Bharati Sethi, who currently works with Professor Allison Williams in Geography and Earth Sciences, was presented with the award by Michael Chan, Ontario’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade.

She is one of only 15 people to be given the award, which recognizes people and organizations for their significant contributions to fostering a more welcome society.

Sethi’s PhD thesis was on the link between employment and health for immigrant women of colour.

She also works to develop programs and policies for immigrants in rural communities who may otherwise have little or no access to support.

“I’m a community-based researcher, which is really why I wanted to come to McMaster,” said Sethi. “I really believe that we should find a way to get our findings from campus to service-providers, social workers and others.”

Sethi currently has an art exhibit of 21 photographs on display at Laurier University.

The project documents the experience of immigrants from just before migration through resettlement and adaptation to a new home.

Sethi came to Canada from Mumbai, India and has received a number of prestigious awards, including a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, an Ontario Women’s Health Scholarship and a Hilary M. Weston Scholarship.