2014 - Page 7 of 15 - Fulbright Student Program Blog

Architecture amidst the Trees in Helsinki

August 20, 2014

Rebecca Littman-Smith, 2010-2011, Finland

In a landscape of trees, the fields appear like islands, providing intermittent view corridors while riding the train from Helsinki to Turku. The trees are prevalent, dominating the Finnish countryside both in nature and in the built environment. Birch, pine and spruce trees are harvested and employed in a variety of ways. Timber is part of Finnish identity, from the forests that thrive in the Nordic climate, to the tradition of building a summer cottage within the landscape.

My Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant took me to Helsinki, Finland to study the use of wood in Finnish Architecture. As a material to use in the construction of buildings, timber is unique. Timber breathes, it feels warm to the touch, it shrinks and expands and preserves the organic qualities that give it a connection to life. In the words of Juhani Pallasmaa, Finnish Architect and scholar: “Wood speaks of its two existences and time scales; its first life as a growing tree and the second as a human artifact made by the caring hand of a carpenter or cabinetmaker.”

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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright Fulbright-Millennial Trains Project

“A Day in Transit”

August 14, 2014

The Green Power house uses algae and sunlight to transform waste into energy at the Algae Aqua-Culture Technologies in Portland, Oregon.

In the words of Silvia Tijo, a Fulbright Foreign Student from Colombia:

Our visit to Whitefish, Montana ended on Sunday. I had the opportunity to visit Algae Aqua-Culture Technologies as part of my Fulbright-Millennial Trains Project (MTP). They have a Green Power house, which transforms waste into energy with the help of sunlight and algae. The Green Power house is a unique project that I was able to personally experience thanks to the stop made there by the MTP train and to Robin Kelson, the Vice President of Corporate Development at Algea Aqua-Culture Technologies, for the hospitality and tour provided on such a short notice. Although the visit to Whitefish was short, it was productive, and it prepared us for a long trip ending at the Twin Cities (St. Paul / Minneapolis).

Sunday started early with a small group of researchers waking up to enjoy the sunrise over the landscape of Montana. The journey from Whitefish, Montana to Saint-Paul, Minnesota started at 6:30 a.m. when the locomotive pulled the three cabins of the MTP: the Silver Splendor, the Pacific Sands, and the Salisbury Beach. Shortly after departing on this part of the trip, it became an excuse to learn about the beauty of America’s landscape and the diversity of its people.

From left to right; Silvia Tijo, Ayla Boyle, Sarah Al-Khayyaal, and Kay-Anne Reed, participants of the MTP.

The Silver Splendor was full of life all Sunday since the entire day we spent in transit. This cabin is where we spend most of our time, and the space morphs as the day progresses: first, as a dining hall; then, a place to hang out; later, office space; and it even became a disco as the train chugged through one of the longest tunnels in the United States.

After breakfast, Julie Ershadi, the Sous chef Simone, and myself chatted while we cracked pistachos needed for lunch. Julie is from Los Angeles, California. She is developing a multimedia project on Iranian – Americans as cultural pioneers and bridge-gappers.

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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright Fulbright-Millennial Trains Project

“From Pakistan to Whitefish, Montana”

August 14, 2014

In the words of Anser Shaukat, a Fulbright Foreign Student from Pakistan:

Anser draws the images of America he views on the Millennial Train Project journey.

Anser draws the images of America he views on the Millennial Trains Project journey.

Our whitefish adventure began with us packing ourselves and our leather bag-packs in a rental car. Armed with nothing but traditional maps, we started heading towards the rocky blue horizon that seemed to be the permanent backdrop for the city of Whitefish.

The mountains in the distance reminded me of various swatches of blue paper cutouts meticulously selected and arranged along the horizon.

As we got closer, the colors changed from cerulean to red and viridian; a sight that could not be ignored by young smart phone-wielding Millennials. It was no wonder that our journey to the Glacier National Park took the pace of the glacier itself; slowly carving our way, through the lush pine, ridged rocks and silver rivers.

We stopped our cars immediately and frequently to immortalize our memories of the park’s grandeur in our phones whenever a breathtaking ravine would demand it of us and the hoard of visitors behind us would allow. It did not matter how many times we circled around the same rocky facade, the cameras would come out each time, as if the mountain was born anew. Each time we stopped, we would run across the highways avoiding incoming cars, Karachi-style, receiving shouts from the bikers along the way. We didn’t care, we were alive.

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U.S. Fulbright

Lab Science – Not for Loners

August 13, 2014

Kevin Fomalont, 2012-2013, Russia, preparing for the day’s injections of inflammatory factors

There is the impression that laboratory scientists do their work in isolation, plodding through their experiments uninterrupted. It is often overlooked that to maintain a controlled experimental environment, researchers accept some chaos in their own lives. After a few months working at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in St. Petersburg, Russia on my Fulbright project to investigate the effect of early life exposure to stress on behavioral development in a rodent model, I realized how similarly laboratories in Russia and in the United States function. To collect all the data during our narrow time points, we borrowed labor from other laboratories to be paid back in the future. We shared materials to be returned on pain of death. Our experiments started at 5:00 p.m. sharp to take into account the daily rhythm of stress hormone – the rats have outsized influence on our schedules. Five of us created an assembly line, and hurried at each step not be late for the next. Meticulous planning and troubleshooting preceded the harried action of the experimental day. Although there were many languages spoken, one sentiment was shared: “don’t blow it, or wait six months to repeat the experiment.”

Science research is a fundamentally collaborative activity, and that is why a laboratory-based project proposal is well-suited for a Fulbright grant. Successful Fulbright proposals have an element of community engagement. I became interested in the Institute’s research at a conference, where I also learned about its famous history. The Physiology Department of the Institute includes Ivan Pavlov’s preserved office to commemorate the location where he conducted his groundbreaking conditioning experiments. One of his students discovered that the immune system could be conditioned to overreact to innocuous substances, using the principles of Pavlovian conditioning. Although performed in the 1920s, these experiments were not well regarded in the United States until 50 years later when they were revisited at the University of Rochester. If Soviet and American scientists had worked together over those 50 years to reconcile their different experimental approaches, progress would have proceeded more quickly.

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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright Fulbright-Millennial Trains Project

“Building Communities Northwest-style”

August 12, 2014

In the words of Ammar Mohammed, a Fulbright Foreign Student from Yemen:

A gorgeous sunrise in Portland awakens the Millennials to embark on our train journey. I was ready and excited to get on the train. I have been daydreaming about this day for the past two weeks.

This whole journey was beyond my expectations. I never dreamed about traveling so far by train. The breathtaking scenes to Seattle, on the first leg of our journey, were just mesmerizing. The Millennials aboard are also a unique aspect of the train. Everyone is so invested in their projects and I am grateful to be a part of such a rich and diverse leaning environment. During the social hours, I engage in discussions with the American participants and my Fulbright counterparts. We speak about being pioneers and leaders and how diversified the meanings of those terms are; culturally and personally.

Ammar met with Portland’s On-The-Move Community Integration organization, which helps integrate developmentally and intellectually disabled individuals into the local community.

Prior to embarking by train, I visited the On-The-Move Community Integration group in Portland. I was stunned by the great effort the volunteers and participants are doing to integrate into the society. This organization, which works with the developmentally and intellectually disabled, has taken integration one step further. Instead of inviting the community to the organization, they go out to meet with the community and participate in outdoor activities.

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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright Fulbright-Millennial Trains Project

“All Aboard”

August 11, 2014

August 6, 2014: “Whirlwind Arrival”

The adventure started in Portland! Everybody who’s been to Portland International Airport would immediately recognize this carpet, which is famous!

Katie Nikolaeva landed in Portland on August, 6,2014.

My favorite place in Portland became (guess what) Union Station! We basically lived there for the first two days waiting for the train and exploring the city along the way.

Portland is considered the most “hipster” city in the U.S., and you can feel it just walking on the streets.

Katie visited Powell’s Books in Portland.

The first ‘hipster’ place I visited was Powell’s Books, which can be best described as a city of books. You can spend hours and hours there looking through thousands (probably millions!) of different books — from technical to art literature sitting on one shelf.

Portland is also often called Rose City, because people say that the climate there is perfect for growing roses, and you can see it in almost every element of architecture.

After all the MTP project participants gathered at the hub we headed to Mark Zusman’s home for dinner. Zusman is the editor of the alternative newspaper Willamette Week. We had an first amazing dinner and equally amazing speakers — young entrepreneurs who were presenting their small businesses (right to my topic!). Among others, we learned about Britt Howard’s creative fashion enterprise ‘Portland Garment Factory’, which was started as a sewing shop and developed into the fashion house, the last project of which was the uniform for flight attendants of Michael Jordan’s private jet!

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