Record Number of Northeastern Undergraduates Apply for Fulbrights
The extension of Northeastern’s global reach was evident this year as a record number of undergraduates applied for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program Fellowship. The Fulbright Fellowships aims to advance the “promotion of international good will through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture, and science.” Through the Fulbright, awardees can study, conduct independent research, or teach English in over 140 countries worldwide. This year students applied to pursue projects around the world and across a wide field of endeavor — take a look below! We wish these students success in the competition.
STUDY AWARDS
The Fulbright Study Awards allow students to take coursework and pursue research while earning a Master’s degree at an affiliated university.
Priscilla Baquerizo CCIS ’17, United Kingdom
MSc Computing Science, University of Glasgow
Priscilla Baquerizo, a computer science and cognitive psychology major, hopes to earn a master’s in computing science at the University of Glasgow, advancing her understanding of the human elements of computing.
Hannah Bialic COS ’17, United Kingdom
MSc Immunology and Inflammatory Disease, University of Glasgow
Hannah Bialic seeks to continue her extensive research into the nature of autoimmune diseases. She applied to participate in master’s program at the University of Glasgow in immunology and inflammatory disease.
Mika Brown COE ’17, United Kingdom
MSc Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London
Mika Brown is applying for a master’s degree at Imperial College London and would like to conduct research on cartilage tissue engineering, which can improve the lives of people living with diseases such as osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease that occurs when cartilage deteriorates.
Caroline Fried CSSH ’17, Taiwan
MSc Asia-Pacific Studies, National Chengchi University
Caroline Fried has applied for the master’s program in Asia-Pacific studies at the National Chengchi University through the Fulbright Program in Taiwan to prepare for a career in foreign affairs.
Kristian Teichert COS ’17, United Kingdom
MSc Global Health Science, University of Oxford
Kristian Teichert’s experience conducting research in biochemistry has led him to challenge current conceptualizations of cancer that group all cases into a single disease—in reality there exist thousands of unique permutations of cancer. Teichert has applied to continue exploring the issues surrounding cancer treatment, pursuing a master’s in global health science at the University of Oxford.
FULBRIGHT RESEARCH AWARDS
Through the Fulbright Research Awards, applicants design their own research projects or creative endeavors projects, typically working with advisers at foreign universities, other institutes of higher education, or other in-country organizations that can serve as a host and facilitator of the projects.
Miranda Beggin DMSB ’17, Oman
Project Title: Access to Finance for Female Entrepreneurs
Miranda Beggin applied for a Fulbright to conduct an evaluation of the cultural, legal, and structural barriers to financing for female entrepreneurs in Oman.
Ryan Chaffin CSSH ’17, Jordan
Project Title: Tribal Democracy: Studying Bedouin Culture’s Influence on Jordanian Political Engagement
As part of his proposed Fulbright project, Ryan Chaffin hopes to travel to rural parts of southern Jordan in conjunction with a non-governmental organization to conduct survey data-collection with Bedouin Jordanians in order to study the effects of tribal Bedouin culture on political and civic engagement.
Johanna Gunawan CSSH ’17, Japan
Project Title: The State of Japanese Innovation: Sociopolitical Factors Toward Economic Growth
Johanna Gunawan has applied to conduct a project collecting opinions and information from the Japanese public and grassroots entrepreneurs outside of Tokyo to track the progress of Japan’s innovation environment.
Dena Guo COS ’17, China
Project Title: Early Motor Assessment of High-Risk Children for ASD
Less than 20% of individuals living with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in China have been diagnosed. Dena Guo hopes to extend current research on motor deficits in ASD children to identify behavioral markers that predict an eventual diagnosis.
Jonathan Hill COS ’17, Canada
Project Title: Investigation of Steroid Hormone Control of Embryonic Diapause
Jonathan Hill has applied to study the process of reversible arrest in the development of preimplantation stage embryos, which could serve as an inexpensive and less damaging alternative to cryopreservation.
Kelly Kasulis CAMD ’16, South Korea, Fulbright-National Geographic Fellowship
Project Title: How North Koreans are Rebuilding their Lives Outside of the DPRK
Kelly Kasulis hopes to tell the stories of North Korean escapees after they have resettled in South Korea and the United Kingdom, where significant populations live. North Korean escapees often face underemployment and discrimination in South Korea, and thousands of them “double defect” to a third country.
Irena Kuzma COS ’17, Germany
Project Title: Characterization of Differentiating Long-Term Tumor Initiating Cells
Cancer survivors face the ever-present possibility of cancer relapse—due largely to the fact that no current treatment options address the source of this problem, tumor initiating cells (TICs). Irena Kuzma would like to study the genetic and molecular changes that occur during the differentiation of long-term TICs.
Katra Laidlaw COS ’17, Costa Rica
Project Title: Developing a Cost-Effective Methodology to Prevent Electrocutions of Arboreal Wildlife
Katra Laidlaw has applied to conduct a project in Costa Rica that would identify areas where there have been multiple electrocutions and/or road kills of arboreal wildlife and develop and test creative cost-effective methods, such as installing rope bridges or wildlife-excluding structures, to prevent these road-related deaths.
Barbara Lee COS ’11, Netherlands and Ecuador, Fulbright-National Geographic Fellowship
Project Title: Tourism and Conservation of Island Species in Bonaire and Galapagos
From current reforestation on Bonaire to successful species removal in the Galapagos, Barbara Lee hopes to use photography, video, and participatory journalism to show the effects of population growth and species introduction on island ecosystems.
Kara Morgan CSSH ’17, Austria
Project Title: Stories of Intersection: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Refugee Status
Kara Morgan’s project proposes to use ethnographic journalism to explore the stories of refugees who came to Austria to flee persecution for their sexual orientation or gender identity. She seeks to disseminate information about the lives and experiences of asylum-seekers at Queer Base, a community-based refugee-support organization in Vienna.
Vanessa Nason CAMD ’17, Hungary
Project Title: Fighting for Women with Journalism
Vanessa Nason has applied to research and report on women’s issues in Hungary, where domestic violence was not a specific criminal offense until July 1, 2013.
Sneha Pandya CSSH ’17, India
Project Title: Themes of Ethnography of India/Indian Diaspora
Sneha Pandya’s research would focus on the Indian Diaspora and return persons of Indian origin (PIOs) living in Mumbai, India, a central hub that attracts return PIOs, both US-born and US-educated.
Grace Schulz CSSH/COS ’17, Germany
Project Title: Neuroprotective Function of Hox Genes
Grace Schulz’s research focuses on understanding how neurons find and make connections. An in-depth understanding of the development of neurons could provide important guidance when exploring new therapies for neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s.
Sarah Sherman CSSH/COS ’17, Botswana
Project Title: Assessing the Role of Pathology in Timely Cancer Care in Botswana
The purpose of Sarah Sherman’s project is to evaluate the impact of recent improvements to pathology labs in Botswana, including the installation of an automated tissue processor. She hopes to examine how these changes have affected the processing time of samples to generate timely cancer diagnoses.
Rosanne Teniente CSSH ’16, Nepal, Fulbright Clinton Fellowship
Project Title: Women in Nepal’s Civil Service: How to Increase Access and Participation
Statistics from Nepal’s Department of Civil Personnel Records indicate that in 2010 women held slightly less than 7% of higher positions within the civil service, whereas men held around 93%. Rosanne Teniente proposes to research women’s access and participation in the public administration of Nepal, examining participation trends, analyzing barriers, and proposing policies to overcome those barriers.
ENGLISH TEACHING ASSISTANT AWARDS
The English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Programs place Fulbrighters in classrooms abroad to provide assistance to the local English teachers. ETA’s help teach English language while serving as cultural ambassadors for the U.S. The age and academic level of the students varies by country, ranging from kindergarten to university level.
Alanna Bailey CSSH ’17, Poland
Alanna Bailey, an international affairs and anthropology major, has already traveled extensively to places like Denmark, Iceland, the Dominican Republic, and South Africa—even teaching English in an after-school program in Argentina. For the Fulbright, Bailey hopes to teach English to university students in Poland.
Gabrielle Chapman CSSH ’17, Spain
Gabrielle Chapman is a history major and talented dancer. For the Fulbright, she would like to be a teaching assistant in Spain and teach dance in the local community.
Aria Elahi COS/CSSH ’17, South Korea
Aria Elahi discovered a love for teaching while leading English classes in a small mountain town in Iran. He hopes to further advance his teaching strategies in South Korea, where he would also instruct the local community in basic medical and emergency response skills that he developed as an EMT.
Mary Elliott COS/CSSH ’17, Mongolia
Mary Elliott aspires to be a professor of linguistic anthropology and is currently conducting research on how teachers’ perceptions of student dialects may impact student outcome. She has applied to teach English in Mongolia, where she would like to learn more about the culture and develop connections for a possible future research field site.
Ruth Leifer DMSB ’15, South Africa
While on co-op in South Africa, Ruth Leifer helped build a community garden behind a school building. Currently a curriculum writer for Bridge International Academies, Leifer hopes to return to South Africa to use her skills in developing lesson plans to provide a quality learning experience for English language learners.
Rose Leopold CSSH ’17, Nepal
Rose Leopold has experience teaching from a variety of contexts, including leading nutrition classes in rural Mexico. She would like to draw on her past endeavors to teach English in Nepal, after which she plans to work for the United States Foreign Service.
Olivia Rice CSSH ’16, Rwanda
An international affairs major, Olivia Rice studied and worked abroad in both South Africa and Senegal. Given her interest in Sub-Saharan African cultures and post-conflict reconciliation, she has applied to teach English to students in Rwanda.