Eight CU Boulder students have been named Fulbright finalists for the 2020鈥�21 academic year by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.听
Each year, more than 1,900 U.S. students, artists and early career professionals are offered Fulbrights to study, teach English and conduct research in more than 140 countries throughout the world.听
CU Boulder had 33 students apply to Fulbright this year, 19 of whom were named semi-finalists, and 11 of those were recognized as finalists or alternates.
CU Boulder students interested in applying for a Fulbright award听should contact听Deborah Viles at听viles@colorado.edu.
The finalists and their host countries, where they will study or teach during the coming academic year, are听Rayna Benzeev, Brazil;听Joseph Hegeman, Azerbaijan; Zena Jahmi, Spain;听Aislyn Keyes, Chile; Remington Ruyle, Mexico; Ku Thomas, Fiji; Erica Ursich, Brazil; and Olivia Wittenberg, Argentina.听
鈥淚鈥檓 so proud of our students鈥� accomplishments and I know they will be wonderful cultural ambassadors in their host countries,鈥� said Deborah Viles, director of the Office of Top Scholarships. 鈥淚鈥檓 also grateful to our faculty and staff who served on interview committees and provided additional feedback to our applicants. Fulbright is truly a community effort.鈥澨�
The Fulbright is the U.S. government鈥檚 flagship international educational exchange program and has given more than 390,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.听
The program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.
CU Boulder鈥檚 finalists are among more than 2,100 U.S. citizens who will study, conduct research, and teach abroad for the 2020鈥�21 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Award recipients are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, and their record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.听听
Fulbright study/research finalists
Rayna Benzeev听is a PhD candidate in the environmental studies program, researching tropical forests, land use change, and socioenvironmental systems. For her Fulbright project, she will spend nine months studying forest landscape restoration in Brazil's Atlantic forest. As part of her dissertation work, she is developing spatial conservation planning tools that will help decision-makers target reforestation efforts in places where they have the highest probability of success. The Fulbright award will enable Rayna to spend time working听directly with researchers, nongovernmental organizations, and government agencies in southern Bahia, Brazil, developing and implementing these decision tools. She will also spend time in Brazilian universities and research institutes, in alignment with Fulbright's aims of cultural and academic exchange.听
Aislyn听Keyes听is a PhD student in ecology and evolutionary biology (EBIO) who is interested in marine conservation and the interactions between human and natural systems. Her current research focuses on food webs and ecosystem services. Specifically, her project seeks to听understand how species loss in coastal food webs indirectly impact ecosystem services in the face of global change. As a Fulbrighter, she will use socioecological networks to study adaptive capacity and environmental outcomes in Chilean fisheries as part of her doctoral dissertation.
Remington Ruyle听is a physics and Spanish double major with a concentration in environmental studies and a minor in leadership studies. She鈥檚 a member of the Presidents Leadership Class, Phi Beta Kappa, CU club field hockey team, and the CU Environmental Center. In her free time, she enjoys photography and spending time with her dog.听She will pursue a master鈥檚 degree in sustainability sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City under the Fulbright.听
Erica Ursich听will graduate this May with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in ecology and evolutionary biology and studio arts, and a minor in Spanish. She鈥檚 passionate about the study of amphibians and reptiles, and currently works at the Center for Snake Conservation听in Louisville, Colorado. With her Fulbright, she will explore snake conservation in the endangered Brazilian Atlantic rainforest with a local research organization, The Institute for Ecological Research, to document species prevalence and the impact of habitat fragmentation on endemic snakes.
Ku Thomas听is graduating with a degree in chemical engineering. He鈥檚 from Hawaii, where before coming to college, he studied medicinal properties of local plants. His interest in his culture led him to give many presentations on Hawaiian tattooing practices and burial rituals, even creating graphic novels as visual aids for school children. He applied to Fulbright in Fiji to learn more about another region of Oceania. Thomas hopes to study the medicinal properties of plants used by traditional healers in Fiji.
Fulbright English-teaching assistantships
Joseph Hegeman听is a second-year听master鈥檚 student in the English literature department. His research examines the impact of race on 18th-century definitions of the human. He has taught Shakespeare and Latin American foreign policy classes at CU Boulder and currently works as a learning technology consultant for CU's Office of Information Technology. As a Fulbright ETA, he hopes to increase cross-cultural exchange with the often overlooked, but important, country of Azerbaijan, and he hopes he'll get a chance听to attend a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro 2020 game.听
Zena Jahmi听is a recent graduate of CU Boulder with a degree in international affairs and minors in Spanish and ethnic studies. She recently worked as a paralegal at an immigration law office and hopes to go into the immigration field. During her time in Spain with Fulbright, she plans to focus on language and culture with students in the classroom. Additionally, she鈥檒l be able to use her Arabic and Spanish language skills to volunteer with North African immigrants outside the classroom. 听
Olivia Wittenberg听is graduating with honors this May as a double major in international affairs and Spanish language and literature and a minor in philosophy. She has been offered a Fulbright grant to assistant-teach English in universities in Argentina, where she will also conduct research on women鈥檚 participation in government and travel extensively. Olivia views Fulbright as a way of fostering mutual cultural understanding to create a more peaceful and connected world. At CU, Olivia has volunteered with听Swap, a student-run initiative to provide English classes for CU employees, and served as one of the campus鈥檚 2018-19 student body presidents.听
CU Boulder also has three Fulbright alternates who may be promoted if additional funds become available. They are: Sam Albert, The Netherlands; Christopher Dunn, Iceland; and Xenia Mathys, Uzbekistan.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered at CU听Boulder through the Office of Top Scholarships. Students interested in applying for the 2021鈥�22 academic year should contact Deborah Viles at听viles@colorado.edu听for more information.
