Jennifer Baldock, PhD Student awarded ‘Ember Venning Postgraduate Research Scholarship’

College of Nursing and Health Science, PhD student, Jennifer Baldock was recently awarded the “Ember Venning Postgraduate Research Scholarship

The Ember Venning Postgraduate Research Scholarship in Speech Pathology and Audiology was established in memory of the late Ember Venning, a South Australian teacher of elocution. The scholarship is funded through a generous donation from her daughter, Dr Elizabeth Kwan, and encourages research that promotes and better develops improved care and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Jennifer’s research focuses on the measurement of cognitive effort during auditory tasks. This research may have many benefits for Indigenous peoples as hearing loss and auditory processing difficulties disproportionately affect Indigenous communities.

Jennifer had these words to share with Dr Elizabeth Kwan and the Flinders University Scholarship Selection Committee:

“I want to express my sincere thanks to Dr Elizabeth Kwan for funding this extremely generous scholarship. My heartfelt thanks also go to the late Ember Venning – who was clearly a remarkable and caring scholar. I was very humbled and appreciative to learn that I was selected as the recipient. Thank you to Flinders University for placing your trust in me.

As a researcher coming to end of their candidature, this scholarship has provided a boost of inspiration and peace of mind during a tumultuous time. By awarding me the Ember Venning Scholarship, you have lightened my financial burden, which allows me to focus more on the most important aspect my research: helping people through knowledge generation. Your generosity has inspired me to give back to the community. I hope to one day help students achieve their goals just as you have helped me.”

Jennifer’s research is supervised by Dr Sarosh Kapadia, Dr Willem van Steenbrugge, and Professor Jason McCarley. She is planning to submit her thesis in November and to present recent findings at the upcoming Australasian Brain and Psychological Sciences Meeting in Brisbane later this year.

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