After three years, McGill’s Indigenous Mentorship and Paid Research Experience for Summer Students (IMPRESS) program continues to empower Indigenous students to overcome barriers and flourish in their academic pursuits, all while supporting Indigenous perspectives and knowledge at McGill.
Run by Branches, McGill’s community outreach program in Enrolment Services, IMPRESS pairs undergraduate Indigenous students from across the country with McGill professors and graduate student mentors. This paid research experience also offers professional skill-building and Indigenous-focused community engagement.
As Margaret MacKenzie, IMPRESS’s Indigenous Outreach Program Advisor, explained, the program was created to uplift Indigenous voices on campus. “When fostering Indigenous talent and research, it’s crucial to recognize that, historically, Indigenous voices and worldviews haven’t typically been welcome in academic spaces. We want to honour Indigenous students’ knowledge and experiences, and we strive to build a community with trust and respect.”
Dr. Delphine Raucher-Chéné, one of HBHL’s New Recruits, hosted an IMPRESS student in her lab this past summer. An Assistant Professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry and a psychiatrist at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Dr. Raucher-Chéné highlighted the importance of Indigenous representation in academia. “The under-representation of these communities in research environments unintentionally biases our research projects. Welcoming students from Indigenous communities is a first step towards better integration of Indigenous concerns into all research projects,” she said. “Academia must represent the population if we, as researchers, are to address issues relevant to the rest of the population.”
Balancing academic life and community-building
Each summer, IMPRESS offers student-interns various activities to enrich their experience beyond academic and lab work, such as self-reflection exercises, beading, gardening and hoop dancing workshops, and field trips to Kahnawá:ke, Quebec, for a Pow Wow and a wilderness skills training day.
“Seeing the friendships and connections being forged within the group was one of the highlights this summer. These friendships are special, and I see that the students have carried them beyond the summer internship,” MacKenzie noted. “McGill’s Indigenous community has blossomed since the beginning of IMPRESS. Now, with three cohorts of students, there’s a sense of community at events on campus. You have a place at the university and will always find a friendly face.”
Opening doors to the post-grad world
MacKenzie, who is Red River Métis and a citizen of the Métis Nation, British Columbia, brings her own unique perspective to the program. She participated in IMPRESS in 2023, working with Claudia Mitchell in the Participatory Cultures Lab on the Critical Campus Tour, a decolonial research project that reexamines McGill’s campus in a truth-seeking lens. Returning as the IMPRESS Program Advisor for the 2024 cohort, MacKenzie embodies the program’s full-circle impact.
Since participating in IMPRESS, opportunities have emerged beyond the Roddick Gates for students like MacKenzie, allowing them to expand their academic and professional experiences. Inspired by their time in IMPRESS, MacKenzie and fellow participant Samantha Nepton teamed up with their IMPRESS graduate mentor Emilee Bews to develop another project with the Participatory Cultures Lab.
After presenting their project, ‘ at the in Montreal last year, the trio traveled to Germany in May 2024 to at the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies. “Presenting our research on a global scale allowed us to keep sparking conversations about Indigenous learners and education, particularly with folks who might not be familiar with such topics,” MacKenzie explained. “It was a way for us to speak our truth and present ourselves in a place that doesn’t always understand our cultural background.”
The supportive research environment in IMPRESS encouraged MacKenzie to pursue graduate studies and apply to the . This fall, MacKenzie began her first year in McGill's Master of Educational Leadership program and was named a McCall MacBain Scholar. “IMPRESS shaped my path and opened many doors. I don’t think I would be going to grad school and completing a thesis if it weren’t for this program,” she shared. Expanding upon her experience in IMPRESS, her master’s studies will focus on better advocating for Indigenous peoples within education systems.
Since 2022, IMPRESS serves as a stepping stone toward cultivating strong and diverse leadership in academia, providing new opportunities for those often underserved. As Dr. Raucher-Chéné explains, “participating in this program is a way of contributing to the development of future leaders from all communities. It has also enriched me by introducing me to people with different perspectives and expectations.”
HBHL is proud to support the brain health research stream of the IMPRESS program. If you’re interested in hosting an IMPRESS student in your lab next summer, please reach out to hbhl [at] mcgill.ca.
