Fellowships help students cross international borders this summer

ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 16, 2012 – The University of Michigan International Institute (II) has awarded more than $190,000 to 50 U-M students as part of its Individual Fellowships program. The fellowships will take students across international borders this summer to conduct research or participate in an internship abroad.

“The II is committed to providing students with an internationally focused educational experience,” says Ken Kollman, International Institute director. “We help send students abroad knowing that the work they do and the experiences they have will help deepen their understanding of the world and the unique challenges people across the globe are facing every day whether that be access to clean water or HIV prevention.”

Students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds apply for the program each year representing the humanities, social and natural sciences, medicine, law, architecture, and business. Projects this year range from analyzing public health law in South Sudan to studying farming cooperatives in Nepal.

Kate Crosman, a master’s student in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, will intern with the Oceanic Society, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works in cooperation with local communities to preserve threatened marine habitats worldwide.

This summer, it will partner with a community situated within Micronesia’s Ulithi Atoll, a cluster of small islands near the equator in the western Pacific rich with coral reefs. Local chiefs invited the Oceanic Society to design a climate and fisheries adaptation plan when they realized that the reef fish populations, which they rely upon for food, were declining.

“They recognized that in order to maintain their traditional lifestyle, they needed to change the way they use their resources,” says Crosman. “I hope to help this community fill their self-identified need and gain the skills necessary to manage their fisheries sustainably.”

Crosman and Oceanic teammates will create a plan and train local residents to monitor their own fisheries. She hopes the experience will prepare her to help other communities in the developing world identify their conservation priorities and manage their resources.

She credits the International Institute for making this internship possible.

“Without the support of the International Institute,” says Crosman, “I would not be able to take advantage of this amazing opportunity to help those in need and grow both personally and professionally.”

The highly competitive, merit-based program is open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a degree program at U-M. More than 200 students applied for the prestigious competition, which awards individual fellowships of up to $5,000.

In late June, several fellowship recipients will begin sharing their research and internship experiences on the II’s blog – www.iimichigan.wordpress.com.

The year’s fellowship grantees, degrees and areas of study they are pursuing, and their research projects and internships include:

Kristen Anderson, M.S.W. (social work), South Africa – $3000; internship with Friends of Valkenberg

Victoria Burack, M.P.H. (public health), Dominican Republic – $1500; internship with Ministry of Health

Ananda Burra, J.D./Ph.D. (history & law), United Kingdom – $4500; “From Mandates to Trusteeship: Anticolonial Petitions in International Law”

Becky Cairati, A.B. (international studies), Spain – $4500; internship with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Spain

Ivan Cangemi, Ph.D. (classical art & archaeology), Italy – $5000; “Social Integration and Mobility in Early Iron Age Central Italy”

Haddi Cham, M.P.H. (public health), Gambia – $900; “HIV Prevention for Gambian Youth: Applying Techniques from a US Evidence-based Intervention”

Stephanie Chen, B.S. (Program in the Environment), China – $5000; “Nutritional Ecology of Captive Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys”

Scott Claassen, M.Arch. (architecture), Saudi Arabia & Turkey – $3900; “Metabolic Pilgrimage”

Cassandra Collins, M.P.H. (public health), Brazil – $3900; Maternal and reproductive health policy internship

Katherine Crosman, M.S. (natural resources & the environment), Micronesia – $3500; Internship with the Oceanic Society

Robyn d'Avignon, Ph.D. (anthropology & history), United Arab Emirates – $4000; “Solar Energy, Off-grid Politics and the Dubai Connection in West Africa”

Sean Dickson, J.D./M.P.H. (public health & law), South Sudan – $5000; “Needs Assessment of Public Health Law in South Sudan”

Adam Dingens, B.S. (microbiology), Zambia – $4000; “Trusted Messenger Intervention to Address HIV/AIDS through Religous Network”

Ann Duong, A.B. (health economics & development), Vietnam – $3800; Internship with Urban Care

Da Fei, A.M.  (economics), Philippines – $4800; GIS training internship with Center for Disaster Preparedness

Ian Fitzner, B.S. (engineering), Brazil – $4500; “Clean Water Systems in the Brazilian Pantanal”

Andrew Golicz, B.S. (neuroscience), South Korea – $1900; Neuroscience research internship at Gachon University

Brock Grosso, A.B. (public policy), Ghana – $3000; Community development internship

Morgan Gustison, Ph.D. (psychology), Ethiopia – $5000; “A Study of Vocal Complexity in Two Populations of Ethiopian Gelada Monkeys”

Sarah Hodin, A.B. (anthropology & DAAS), Kenya, Uganda, & Tanzania – $2700; “Childbirth Beliefs and Practices in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania”

Steven Hoelscher, A.B. (Asian languages & cultures), China – $3500; “Street Photography as a Portal into the Beijing Fashion Industry”

Patrick Huang, M.B.A. (business), India – $5000; Impact investing Internship with village capital

Emily Lichko, B.S. (physics), China – $4900; “Design of Optical Lattice for Quantum Simulation”

Anna MacCourt, Ph.D. (anthropology & history), India – $5000; “Archaeology of First Millennium India – Preliminary Dissertation Research”

Benedito Machava, Ph.D. (history), Mozambique – $5000; “Frelimo and the Ethics of Nation-Building and Citizenship in Mozambique”

Nina Maturu, M.P.P/M.B.A. (public policy & business), India – $4600; “Policy Intervention and Preserving Craft in India”

Amre Metwally, B.S. (history), Turkey, Egypt, & Netherlands – $5000; “Reconstructing the Islamic City: Cairo, Istanbul and AM.S.terdam”

Jana Mokrisova, Ph.D. (classical art & archaeology), Turkey – $3700; “Central Lydia Survey Project”

Dominic Nardi, Ph.D. (political science), Indonesia – $4000; “The Judicial Popularity Contest in Indonesia’s Constitutional Court”

Michael Opper, Ph.D. (linguistics), China – $2500; “Metrical Requirements of Word Length Flexibility in Tibeto-Burman Languages”

Juan Pereira, A.Mus.D. (music- voice), Canada & Netherlands – $3500; Summer directing & performance internships

Sarah Rominski, Ph.D. (public health), Ghana – $4500; “Preliminary Dissertation Research: Safe Abortion Services in Ghana”

Jacob Rowberry, M.P.P. (public policy), Bolivia – $2500; Internship at Centro Vivir Con Diabetes

Elina Salminen, Ph.D. (classical art & archaeology), Greece – $4000; “Central and Northern Greece: Networks and Early States”

Claudia Sanchez, M.P.H. (public health), Guatemala – $3000; “Needs Assessment and Evaluation of Modelo de Atención Integral a la Salud”

Michael Schmid, A.B. (international studies), Nepal – $4500; “Small Farmer Development: A Case Study of Cooperatives in Kathmandu Valley”

Joshua Shake, Ph.D. (urban planning), Brazil – $5000; “The Local Forces of Brazilian Culture-led Redevelopment”

Rudai Shan, Ph.D. (architecture), China – $5000; “Climate responsive energy efficiency façade strategies in China”

Aleksandr Sklyar, Ph.D. (anthropology), Japan – $3000; “Practice and Knowledge in post-Fukushima Citizen Action”

Zachary Stepan, M.S. (natural resources & the environment), Nepal – $5000; “Aquaculture and Child Nutrition in Rural Nepal”

Alice Sullivan, Ph.D. (history of art), Romania & Germany – $5000; “Religious Art and the Dynamics of Cultural Exchange in East-Central Europe”

Amir Syed, Ph.D. (anthropology & history), France – $5000; “Who Authorizes Islamic knowledge?: Religion and Politics in West Africa”

Sarah Thompson, A.B. (Latin American & Caribbean studies), Brazil – $2800; “Urban Policy, Tourism, and Local Identity in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil”

Ian Trivers, Ph.D. (urban planning), Germany & Poland – $5000; “The Detroit School and Shrinking Cities in East Germany”

Mariana Valencia Mestre, Ph.D. (biology), Panama – $4500; “Biological Pest Control in a Climate Changing Environment”

Nadim van de Fliert, M.U.P (urban planning), India – $2500; internship with Environment Planning Collaborative

Courtney Weber, A.B. (anthropology & Spanish), Bolivia – $1500; “Critical Health and Policy Issues in Cochabamba and La Paz”

Ella Weber, A.B. (history & anthropology), Uganda – $5000; “Vernacular Logics, "Tradition," and Exclusive Breastfeeding in Uganda”

Kevin Weiss, B.S. (biology & international studies), United Kingdom – $4800; “Examining the effect of TRAIL and M.S.C's on Pulmonary Tumors and Fibrosis”

Yu Zhang, A.B. (psychology & economics), China – $1500; “The Effect of Emotions Rating Scale on Donation Decision”

University of Michigan International Institute
The University of Michigan International Institute houses 18 centers and programs focused on world regions and global themes. The institute develops and supports international teaching, research, and public affairs programs to promote global understanding across the campus and to build connections with intellectuals and institutions worldwide. For more information, visit www.ii.umich.edu.

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