Niraj Dayanandan is a Master of Urban Planning student at McGill University. He is a recent graduate of Concordia University’s Honours in Urban Planning, where he also pursued a minor in Sustainability at the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability. Niraj’s interest in environmental science started young, having won awards at provincial and national science fairs. He is interested in exploring the connections between urban ecology and city planning, aiming to optimize ecosystem services while fostering community-driven planning. His honours thesis used quantitative methods and spatial analysis to assess transportation infrastructure in Vancouver, Canada. Moreover, he has completed research assistantships in urban ecology, urban economics, and urban waste flows, as a member of the Ziter Urban Landscape Ecology Lab where he was funded by DesignLIFES, an NSERC CREATE program, and an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA). Committed to student life, he launched scholarship funds for urban studies and planning students, founded a student-led academic journal, and represented over 35000 students through departmental, faculty, and university-wide governance positions. He has received several achievements and distinctions for his research and service during his undergraduate studies—including the prestigious Concordia Medal, awarded to the graduating student with excellence in leadership through academic and non-academic achievements. When he isn’t at the lab or at his student association office, he is usually out exploring the city, reigniting the passion for urban adventure that drew him to study city planning and urban ecology in the first place.

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Awards and Honours

• Valedictorian, Faculty of Arts & Science – Concordia University, 2025
• The Concordia Medal – Concordia University, 2025
• Concordia Council on Student Life Outstanding Contribution Award – Concordia University, 2025
• Weitzman Scholarship – University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, 2025
• Leadership in Environmental Sustainability Shuffle Award – Concordia University, 2024
• LCDS Student Engagement Award – Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability, 2024
• Undergraduate Travel Award – Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution (CSEE) Vancouver, 2024
• Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2024
• Undergraduate Travel Award – Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution (CSEE) Winnipeg, 2023
• Ben’s Sustainability Scholarship – Concordia Student Union, 2021
• Prix d’Excellence en Études Urbaines Cardinal Hardy – Concordia University, 2020
• Prix Hydro-Québec Scholarship – Concordia University, 2018
• Coupe Polytechnique Scholarship – Polytechnique Montréal, 2018
• Gold Medal – Montreal Regional Science and Technology Fair, 2018
• Gold Medal – Montreal Regional Science and Technology Fair, 2015