I recently completed my undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and minor in Geography at Saint Mary's University (May 2023). I was astounded to be the recipient of this year's ESRI Young Scholars award for my honours research project, conducted under the supervision of Dr. Danika van Proosdij. This project allowed me to leverage the power of GIS and remote sensing to inform the restoration trajectory of salt marsh recovery by quantifying the spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation colonization. The importance of this research was to understand the efficacy of managed realignment, a nature-based solution used to restore tidal wetlands, in our ice-laden, hyper tidal system within the Bay of Fundy. The broader goal is to encourage the application of nature-based solutions on a larger scale to create more resilient coastal communities and support rich coastal habitats. This project was my first applied experience with GIS and remote sensing and really piqued my interest in continuing to learn more about these tools. I'm excited to be continuing this journey in the Masters in Applied Science program at SMU in September 2023.