Carreras awards 32 tertiary scholarships
THIRTY-TWO tertiary students from a pool of nearly 350 applicants were the beneficiaries of scholarships and bursaries valued at over $4.35 million at Carreras Limited’s 49th Scholarship Awards, recently.
Individual awards can be up to $300,000 per year, except for the postgraduate scholarship, which carries a value of $1.8 million for the two years of study. The awards, the company said, signals its recognition of the importance of education to the social and economic development of Jamaica.
Marcus Steele, managing director and keynote speaker told the awardees that Carreras remains committed to helping to create a Jamaica that is the “place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business”, as stated in Jamaica’s national development plan — Vision 2030.
Kimani A Kitson-Walters is this year’s postgraduate scholar. He is pursuing a PhD in Biotechnology at the The University of the West Indies, Mona campus and holds a BSc in Marine Biology and Biotechnology, with honours, both from the University of the West Indies. The topic of his thesis is “The Genetic Diversity of the Queen Conch in the Jamaican Fisheries: Does a Metapopulation exist?” His study will help to identify Jamaica’s unique conch specie in order to protect economic livelihood.
Kitson-Walters is the recipient of numerous awards and a dancer with L’Acadco. He was shortlisted for the Rhodes Scholarship in 2014, received the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence in Academics in 2012, the UWI Postgraduate Scholarship 2012, the Ivan Goodbody Prize for the Best 2nd Year Marine Biology Student in 2011, Dr Guy Harvey Scholarship in 2011, and the Ezra Lewis Memorial Scholarship in 2010. He was also selected the Most Outstanding Section Commander, Ardenne Cadet Unit 2008-2009, a member of the winning National Schools’ Nutrition Quiz competition in 2006, the Ardenne Special Award for Responsible Citizenship 2006-2007, the Teacher of English Award for Gentlemanlike Qualities and Good Citizenship in 2008, and received the second highest grade in CAPE Geography Unit 1 in Jamaica in 2008.
