Six UGA students were awarded scholarships from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for international travel and study for the 2008-2009 academic year.
William Wiegand earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Grant. Maria Baetti, Blake Scott, Kate Dunbar, Amber Huff and Richard Owens earned Fulbright U.S. Student Full Grants for study and research abroad opportunities. Dunbar also was awarded a Fulbright-Hays dissertation research award, which she is using to fund her project.
The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, is the largest international exchange program offered in America and is designed to foster international cooperation and cross-cultural understanding.
Wiegand, who received bachelor’s degrees in international affairs and Spanish in May, is in South Korea until July, where he teaches at an all-boys high school in Cheongju.
Baetti, who also received bachelor’s degrees in advertising and psychology in May, is currently enrolled in the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, a program to earn a diploma in international relations. She plans to work as marketing director for a nonprofit organization focused on human rights or environmental protection.
Scott, who earned a master’s degree in Latin American history in the spring, has been in Panama since August, studying the historical roots of eco-tourism, focusing on how the views of U.S. tourists have shaped Panama’s environmental and socio-economic history. His future plans include entering a Ph.D. program in Latin American history.
UGA’s anthropology department has three Ph.D. students representing its program this year. Dunbar, who has been in Peru for almost three months now, is conducting dissertation work on how highland community residents near the foot of glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range are dealing with changes in water availability due to glacial loss. She would like to work with communities and governments in understanding and developing environmental and social policies upon completion of her degree.
Huff is researching the impact of conservation policies and other types of social changes among residents of the Mikea Forest in Madagascar. She plans to pursue a career focused on public health policy.
Beginning in February, Owens will conduct dissertation research on how economic policy changes are affecting farmers’ agricultural and land-use practices in the Son La province of Vietnam. He would like to teach and work on social, ecological and political issues concerning agricultural development.
