About

I am a PhD candidate in Biology where I study the habitat use and behaviour of juvenile lobsters. I also received my MSc degree from UNBSJ and hold a BSc degree from Dalhousie University. I have volunteered with the UNBSJ-GSA in some capacity since 2012 (as President, VP Communications, Chief Returning Officer, or advisor). As Chief Returning Officer for 2019, it is my goal to ensure the continuity of the GSA and enable a smooth transition between academic years by running elections, staffing all executive and council member positions, providing advice, and mediating internal disputes.

Sam is a 24 year old marine biologist who began his MSc in September 2018 in Saint John in the department of Biological Sciences, where he studies narwhals in the Arctic. Before beginning his masters program, he attended Dalhousie University completing an honours in marine biology and a minor in statistics. He was heavily involved in student societies during his time there, including serving as an elected president for the Dalhousie Association of Biology Students in his final year.

Sam is the GSA Saint John Liaison to Fredericton and is responsible for representing the graduate students during the GSA Fredericton meetings. Using his previous experience in representing student societies, Sam hopes to ensure that the voices of students in Saint John are well heard in the GSA meetings in Fredericton, so that all Graduate students of the University of New Brunswick are properly represented in GSA affairs.

Lokesh is also known by his nickname Lucky in the campus. He is a soft-spoken, polite and pleasant personality. He believes in ethics and integrity. He always motivates his fellows and team to achieve common goals. In Academics, he completed Executive Post Graduate Program in Management with specialization in Finance from IMT, Ghaziabad (Consistently ranked among top 10 Business school of India & accredited by AACSB). Currently, he is enrolled in MBA program. He has 13 years of rich experience in the area of core finance, banking, accounting, and relationship management. In his last assignment, he worked with Reliance Jio as an FC&A Lead (Finance, Compliance and Accounting Leader) on a mega project of LTE (4G business) project size is $27.53 billion.
His mission is to help students to build a network and provide an opportunity for them to grow as great business leaders and community members.

Swayam is an energetic communicator and a public speaker. He has served in various leadership roles in his previous employment and in his community. He believes that he can leverage his previous experience to reach out to everyone and make a difference.
Swayam has worked in several roles in the field of information technology for around three years. He holds a degree in Electronics & Communication Engineering and is currently pursuing his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of New Brunswick.
Swayam holds strong interpersonal skills and firmly believes in unity through diversity. He is easily approachable and is always willing to lend a helping hand. He understands the hectic schedule of graduate students and will aim to ensure that all updates reach them in a clear and timely manner, to make informed decisions.

Balaji Manivannan is a leather engineer by profession and sports enthusiast. A simple and humble person by nature, Balaji used sports as a tool to enhance his people skills, problem-solving skills and leadership skills. He was elected as the Vice President- Administration for GSA. Due to his good administrative skills, he would handle this role very effectively and efficiently. He would be responsible for monitoring GSA email account, to answer questions and forward requests to the correct executive member, records meeting minutes, books all events.
Balaji completed his Bachelors on Leather Engineering. During his study, he got insights into various management studies starts from entrepreneurship, logistics and supply chain management. After his graduation, he got placed in Alpharama Private Limited as a Technical Manager. It is one of the biggest leather manufacturing organizations in East Africa. He met with a lot of peoples from different backgrounds not only from Africa but also from other parts of the world. During this phase, he received a good amount of diversified experience. He has a good amount of insight in project management as well as logistics and supply chain management. Because of these fascinations, he drove to study MBA in Canada in one of the esteemed university in the world.
In the past three months at UNB, Balaji has grown as a person. This position in Graduate Students Association will help him to serve his colleagues better. He will do his level best in serving the graduate students community.

I am honored and excited about the opportunity to serve as President of the Graduate Students Association for UNB Saint John. Over the last number of years, I have been so fortunate, first as a student during my undergrad then as an MBA candidate, to come to know many of you.
Our common journey here at UNB is not only as learners and active members of our community but as people who want to make a difference, to help and to have an impact on the lives of others.
We have many good reasons to feel great optimism about the coming year. Your GSA is committed to our work and to serving your interests. We thank you all for your willingness to give us that opportunity and look forward to working with every one of you through meetings, working groups, and conversation to make this year a successful one.
I truly appreciate your support in the coming year and the opportunity to serve as President.