When Sarah Wilson wanted to dig deep and plant a vegetable garden at U of T, she looked upward. She, along with fellow civil-engineering grad students Kyla Smith and Heather Wray, founded the Urban Agriculture Society and created one of the largest rooftop vegetable gardens in Toronto in 2008. Located on the Civil Engineering building, it has produced more than 200 kilograms of food for the student community.
For her volunteer work, Wilson received a Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award at Varsity Centre in March. The awards were given to 177 graduating students for outstanding extracurricular contributions to U of T and the wider community.
Wilson is also involved in issues of water access and safety. She founded the U of T chapter of WaterCan – an NGO that helps those in impoverished countries gain access to clean water and basic sanitation – and volunteered with the U of T chapter of the Ontario Water Works Association.