Three OSU students and one alum advance in the 2020-21 U.S. Student Fulbright competition for Spain, Denmark and Macau.

April, 2020

Three OSU students have been awarded the 2020-21 U.S. Student Fulbright program and one alum is currently an alternate.

Ryan Baumbusch, PhD student in Wildlife Science, has been awarded a Fulbright Study/Research Grant to Spain in the field of Zoology. Using a dataset stretching back more than a century, Ryan will analyze the importance of individual and environmental quality on the reproductive success of a population of Spanish Imperial Eagles in Doñana National Park. He will work with Dr. Miguel Ferrer, a world-renowned raptor biologist and the leading authority on Spanish Imperial Eagles, at the Doñana Biological Station in Seville, Spain.

 

Isabella (Bella) Karabinas is a graduating senior earning an Honors BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and an Honors BA in Psychology. Bella has been awarded a Fulbright Study/Research Grant to Spain in the field of Neuroscience. She will be working in partnership with Dr. Moro and Dr. Lizasoain at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid to investigate the role of the immune system in producing neuroinflammation after stroke. Bella will investigate the potential of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), implicated in the pathogenesis of stroke, as a therapeutic target. This research will contribute to the development of novel treatments to help people that are recovering from stroke.

 

Marika Stock, graduating senior earning an Honors BS in Earth Sciences (Geology,) has been offered the Study/Research Grant to Denmark.  Marika has declined the award in favor of an offer to pursue a fully funded PhD position with the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Rochester, NY.  In addition to coursework and teaching, Marika will conduct research to improve knowledge of the global methane (greenhouse gas) budget by measuring and analyzing geologic emissions and comparing them with relevant ice core records.

Jeremy Chu is currently an alternate for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Macau.  Jeremy earned a BS in Biology (pre-medicine) in 2018 with a minor in Chemistry, and currently works as a public school teacher in Houston, TX. If selected, Jeremy will be assigned to a higher education institution in Macau where he will offer English tutorial support as well as organize language-related cross-cultural student activities.

Six total OSU candidates were selected as Fulbright semifinalists in January, 2020. In addition to the candidates named above, two more reached the semifinalist stage: Hailey Bond, Master’s student in Coastal Engineering, for a fellowship in Flood Management in the Netherlands; and Hannah Friedrich, 2019 alumna (MS in Geography), for the Study/Research grant in Geography to Uganda.

 

These students are among approximately 2,000 U.S. citizens who will study, conduct research, and teach abroad for the 2020-2021 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.

 

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 390,000 participants with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. U.S. students, artists, and early career professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English, and conduct research annually in 160 participating countries throughout the world. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation by the United States Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports the implementation of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.

For more information about the U.S. Student Fulbright Program, visit https://us.fulbrightonline.org/. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered at Oregon State University through LeAnn Adam, OSU National and Global Scholarships Advising Coordinator. For more information about applying for Fulbright or other national and global awards, please contact LeAnn at [email protected]  and visit: http://topscholars.oregonstate.edu