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A City Back on Its Feet

April 27, 2016
Julia Holup

After a long climb, the view from the top of Death Rock, looking down upon Williamson and the Tug River

It’s just before sunrise and I’m making my way up a steep, rocky slope. A short jog beyond the city’s main drag, the earth begins to rise. Flat streets become steep grades as we climb up, up, into the Appalachian Mountains. The weather is cool as the mountains exhale softly in the morning air. I fall in stride next to Tim Caudill, a Williamson native, trained archeologist, and seasoned ultra-marathoner who has since returned home to carry out research into how best to revitalize the local economy.

This morning, we’ve pulled ahead of the group of us who rose early to hike up to “Death Rock,” a peak overlooking Williamson offering a birds-eye view of the Tug Fork River separating Williamson, West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. For Tim, the roughly five-mile route to the top is easy exercise. In the course of training for a 100-mile race, he logs dozens of miles per week in the surrounding mountains. As we run, Tim shows himself to be a trusted guide for all things big and small. He stops to point out the fossilized remains of plants etched into small rocks. And when we reach the peak, he is quick to gesture toward mined mountaintops and discuss the storied history of the area. Here the closer you look, the more treasures you see.

Williamson is a city graced with grand natural beauty. With over 700 miles of trails, the surrounding mountains are a trail runner’s dream. While many locals utilize the Hatfield-McCoy trail network for All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) recreation, runners like Tim are a less common sight. But times are changing.

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U.S. Fulbright

Detecting Gravitational Waves at Home and Abroad

April 26, 2016
Dan Hoak

Daniel Hoak, 2015-2016, Italy

Two months ago, physicists around the world were set ‘chirping’ with the announcement that gravitational waves had been detected for the first time. The detection is the culmination of decades of work, and it represents the beginning of a new era in astronomy.

I’ve been a member of the team that made the detection since 2005, when I joined the staff of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in Livingston, Louisiana. Later, I went to grad school at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where I earned my Ph.D. last fall. My doctoral research focused on data analysis with gravitational wave detectors, and I assisted with upgrades to the LIGO facility in Hanford, Washington that made the detection possible.

For my Fulbright research, I’m helping to upgrade the Virgo detector, an experiment located outside of Pisa, Italy. Using a third detector to listen for gravitational waves will improve the science tremendously: we’ll be able to detect weaker signals, across more of the sky, and work out their position and properties with greater accuracy.

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U.S. Fulbright

From Apia to Paris: Combating Climate Change as a Fulbright-Clinton Public Policy Fellow

April 22, 2016
Marie-Claire-1

Marie-Claire Tuzeneu, 2014-2015, Fulbright-Clinton Public Policy Fellow to Samoa, attending the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris with the Samoan Delegation – the perfect conclusion to her Fellowship with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

In honor of Earth Day and the United Nations’ Climate Signing Ceremony, we are sharing Fulbright-Clinton alumna to Samoa Marie-Claire Tuzeneu’s testimonial of attending the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) last December.

Do you have a story to share about how you’re celebrating Earth Day today on your Fulbright grant? Send them here or share them on Twitter using hashtags #Fulbright and #earthday2016.

As a Fulbright-Clinton Public Policy Fellow, I was placed with the Samoan Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE). A central part of my Fellowship was finalizing a review of Samoa’s climate change policies and programs and helping lay the groundwork for a new Climate Change Bill. This Bill will provide an official mandate for climate change work in Samoa and clearly delineate the roles and responsibilities of key government ministries. Finally, several months after completing my fellowship, I was able to rejoin my Samoan colleagues in Paris for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21), assisting the delegation by preparing remarks, taking notes during initial negotiations, and conducting background research.

My time at MNRE gave me a direct look at some of the challenges countries face when using external funding from sources such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for national and local development projects. I was also able to learn some of the detailed steps involved in managing one of these projects, from holding an opening workshop, to hiring project staff and consultants, procuring equipment, and preparing annual and completion reports. And I was able to make more general observations about the day-to-day running of a Ministry. I now know, for example, that in Samoan Ministries, email is not used as extensively as for communications in the United States. For example, important inter-ministerial communications are often printed with a cover letter and distributed by courier.

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U.S. Fulbright

Learning About Diversity in Malaysia

April 19, 2016
Kacy

Kacy Rauschenberger, 2015-2016, Fulbright ETA to Malaysia and Reach the World Traveler (right)

In partnership with Reach the World (RTW), the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is publishing a series of articles written by Fulbright English Teaching Assistants participating in Reach the World’s Traveler correspondents program, which through its interactive website, enriches the curriculum of elementary and secondary classrooms (primarily located in New York City but also nationwide) by connecting them to the experiences of volunteer Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) and other world travelers who are currently studying and living abroad. 

During my eight weeks in Malaysia on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, I have been thinking a lot about the meaning of the word “diversity.” In the United States, we consider our society to be a diverse “melting pot” of all types of races, religions, cultures, and ethnicities. This means it is common for people in the U.S. to identity with multiple cultures and countries. For example, my roommate Carlina is Chinese-American. Both of Carlina’s parents are from China but she is a first generation American citizen because she was born in the U.S. Carlina’s first language was English but she can also speak Mandarin Chinese with her parents and grandparents. Carlina is an American citizen but she practices traditions from American and Chinese cultures! Can you think of anyone you know in the U.S. that can speak another language or whose parents are from another country?

Diversity in Malaysia, however, does not mean the same thing that it does in the U.S. There are only three main ethnic groups in Malaysia: Malay, Chinese, and Indian.  Even though Malaysia considers itself to be a diverse country, these three ethnic groups do not often mix in society. In many cases, there are separate schools for all three of these groups based on the language or religion that each cultural group speaks or practices.

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Culture and Contrast in Fortaleza

April 11, 2016
Missy Reif-1

Missy Reif, 2013-2015, Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Brazil (center), performing with members of Oré Anacã

During my time as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in Fortaleza, Brazil, it was apparent that my students at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) had widespread access to American culture. They watched American TV shows and movies, listened to American music. Yet, despite living in the fifth largest city in the country, most of my students had never met an American before I arrived on campus. While this idea made me a little nervous at first, it was an amazing opportunity to show my students that life in the United States is more than American Pie.

ETAs in Brazil fill a number of roles on their university campuses. At UFC, my time was split between giving guest lectures and running my own extracurricular activities on campus. In two years, I led many conversation clubs where we played games and practiced English without the pressure of grades or assignments, and organized weekly cultural seminars on topics including religious and cultural diversity, sports, and American holidays and traditions. All of these activities provided students with opportunities to improve their English, and their confidence, in a fun and laid-back setting. While our activities sometimes focused on aspects of the language—workshops on slang and phrasal verbs were always a hit—I found that the students were most interested in in-depth discussions focusing on distinctions between the United States and Brazil.

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