Belleville student receives coveted STEM Schulich Leader Scholarship

Bayside Secondary School (BSS) student Flora Sonneveld is turning her passion for physics and problem-solving into a future in nuclear engineering, backed by one of Canada’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarships.

She is the first nominee from BSS to receive the Schulich Leader Scholarship, which awards recipients $120,000 to study engineering.

The Schulich Leader Scholarship was created in 2012 by philanthropist Seymour Schulich to encourage the next generation of technology innovators. Every high school in Canada can submit one Schulich Leader Nominee per academic year for students enrolling in STEM undergraduate programs.

Out of the approximately 1,300 nominees, 100 students across Canada earned this year’s scholarships.

Originally from Wellington, Prince Edward Couny, Sonneveld moved to Belleville three years ago, and attended BSS for all four years of high school.

Quinteist caught up with Sonneveld to talk about her Schulich Leader Scholarship and her beginnings in engineering.

“Since high school, I always knew I wanted to do something in math and science. Really, my interest for science kind of intensified in Grade 9 and 10,” Sonneveld shared.

“I actually wanted to be in chemical engineering at first, because I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love chemistry, I’m gonna develop pharmaceutical products.’ Then I took physics, and I was like, ‘Switching lanes, I’m a physics girl!'”

Sonneveld was nominated by her school basketball coach, Erin Rose, for her outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements. Beyond academics, she competed on six school sports teams, and was a member of the yearbook committee and the Student Voice group. She also dedicated her time to welcoming international students and guiding them through their transition to high school in Canada.

Sonneveld shared her excitement at being nominated by Rose, describing her as one of her favourite people.

She’s heading to McMaster University this fall, where she’ll specialize in nuclear engineering. She explained that she first became interested in nuclear engineering when she read an article from The New Scientist for a research project.

“I stumbled across [an article] that was about development in nuclear fusion, and I went down a rabbit hole, a little bit. After a few days, I was convinced this is exactly what I want to do,” said Sonneveld.

“I think energy is one of the most topical issues in our world right now, and I think nuclear power has the potential to fix a lot of issues… I think there’s a lot of development that can happen and will happen with some work put into it.”

Sonneveld shared that she enjoyed the application process for the scholarship, saying it gave a lot of opportunity to be creative and showcase her interests and experiences. She also described her reaction to hearing the news that she had won a Schulich Leader Scholarship.

“I didn’t think it was real at all. I was at school at the time, and I received the email, and I was shaking a little bit… I went to the library, and [asked] our librarian, Mrs. Bell…’do you think this looks real?’

“It was really a shock, to say the least. It still doesn’t feel completely real yet… It’s a life-changing thing.”

Sonneveld shared that she wanted to study at McMaster University because they’re one of only a few institutions in Canada that offers nuclear engineering programs. She mentioned her excitement about getting to work with their nuclear reactor on campus.

She expressed her thanks to her teachers, family, the Schulich Foundation and McMaster University for their support and generosity.

“I’m really excited to be a Schulich Leader and represent the area, because we don’t have too many of us that are from the Bay of Quinte area. I’m excited to do things in engineering, and be a reflection of our area,” Sonneveld expressed.

For the full list of 2026 Schulich Leaders, visit the Schulich Leader Scholarship website.