International Development Studies Grant Recipients

2019 Recipients

Faculty

Dr. Sylvia Canetto: Psychology, Conference presentation: Whose culture? Challenging the Opposition between Women’s Human Rights and Cultural Rights, International Council of Psychologists, Cadiz, Spain.

  • Dr. Canetto received IDS funding to support an invited presentation at the 2019 Cadiz (Spain) International Council of Psychologists conference. There she will receive the Denmark-Gunvald award for international feminist research and service in recognition of her work on women’s human rights from a global perspective.

Students

Brittney Catherine Sly: Food Science and Nutrition, Empowering Rwandan Women: Participatory Evaluation Methods to Create Sustainable Nutrition Education, Cyanika, Rwanda.

  • Using participatory evaluation and peer-training models, Brittney empowered rural Rwandan women and expanded on their existing agricultural and nutrition knowledge, as well as implemented education and support for kitchen gardening. Brittney then determined if long-term, community-level health behaviors could be established through this model of intervention to address malnutrition at the household level.
  • Read more about her work

Kira Jalene Gillett: Ethnic Studies, Social Work in India, Maharashtra, India

  • Social Work in India was a study abroad opportunity focused on analyzing privilege and oppression in the US and India as well as exploring solutions to poverty in an international context.

Yan Xue: Anthropology, Trans Men and Women in China: Darkness and Resilience, Beijing, China

  • This study investigated how the everyday experiences of Chinese transgender people were shaped in part by a socialist political context and a cultural environment that is currently in flux in regard to perspectives of transgender identities, and the responses of transgender people and local organizations.

2018 Recipients

Faculty

Ryan Bailey: Faculty, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Prosperity through Hydrological Services, World Meteorological Organization Global Conference, Geneva, Switzerland

  • Ryan received the Tison award for young hydrologists for his paper Method for estimating available groundwater volume of small coral islands published in 2017 in Hydrological Sciences Journal.

Students

Jessica Baker: Graduate student, Water and International Development, Durban and Cape Town, South Africa.

  • Jessica investigated the application of the use of random packing material (RPM) on hydraulic disinfection efficiency in small water treatment systems.
  • She also presented a paper at the Water Institute of South Africa on Improvement of Hydraulic Disinfection Efficiency for Small Waterworks.

Michaela Furlong: Undergraduate, Social Work and Spanish, Grecia, Costa Rica.

  • Michaela committed to creating positive community change and studied the strategies for poverty alleviation and community development on a faculty-led program.

Jonathan Schlagel: Undergraduate, Mechanical Engineering, Medellin, Colombia.

  • Jonathan completed an internship with a development engineering firm in a fast-growing city to increase in intercultural knowledge and understanding of developmental concepts.

2017 Recipients

Students

Kara Borcher: Undergraduate, Sociology Department, Mombasa, Kenya.

  • Kara completed an internship with the Imani Collective. The Imani Collective is a holistic women’s empowerment program with a main strategy of providing meaningful and dignified work to single, widowed, differently-abled and vulnerable women.

Matthew Mason: Undergraduate, International Studies/Economics, Kenya.

  • Matthew participated in the SLiCE Alternative Break to Samburu, Kenya, where he engaged in service learning projects while connecting with local organizations such as the Unity Women’s Village, Lorubae Primary School and the Samburu Youth Education Fund.

McKenna Shanholz: Undergraduate, Journalism and Media Communication Department, Nicaragua.

  • McKenna completed an internship with the Global Medical Brigade. GMB works with licensed medical professionals and community health workers to provide comprehensive health services in rural communities with limited access to healthcare.
  • McKenna filmed a documentary about the impacts GMB and other NGOs have on individuals.

Oliver Miltenberger: Graduate, Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Bangalore, India.

  • Oliver’s project identified how livelihoods changed in the communities adjacent to the recently established Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary.
  • Oliver partnered with the Indo-US Knowledge Exchange Program (USIKEP).

Kathryn Powlen: Graduate, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Monteverde, Costa Rica.

  • Kathryn worked with two multinational organizations, The Monteverde Institute and The Conservation League, to conduct research focused on reforestation in Monteverde.
  • Her research aimed to identify the benefits and barriers for land owners to participate in tree planting.

Angela Varnum: Graduate, Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Marrakech, Morrocco.

  • Angela presented her paper Capturing Working Equid’s Influences on Health and Livelihoods in Peru at the 2017 Working Animal Congress sponsored by SPANA (Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad).

2016 Recipients

Faculty

Katherine E. Browne: Professor of Anthropology, Estonia.

  • Presented The Ethnographic Matter of Resilience at the European Association of Social Anthropology Conference.

Kris Kodrich: Associate Professor of Journalism & Media Communication, Canada.

  • Presented Fitting Reality: How U.S. News Coverage of Brazil and Its Social Ills Changed During the 2014 World Cup at the International Association for Medial and Communication Research Conference.

Lynn Kwiatkowski: Associate Professor of Anthropology, Vietnam.

  • Researched domestic violence in Hanoi and northern Vietnam

Students

Angela T. Varnum: Colorado School of Public Health and College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Peru.

  • Researched in five Andean Peruvian communities on the relationship between working equids and their caretakers.
  • Horse Culture Blog

2015 Recipients

Students

Acacia Andrews: Cultural Anthropology, Nepal.

  • Internship with Himalayan Health Field school expedition.

Allison Weaver: History and International Studies, Nicaragua.

Elle Houby: History – Morocco

  • Internship with High Atlas Foundation

2014 Recipients

Faculty

Silvia Canetto: Professor of Psychology, Los Angeles, CA.

  • Presented Peruvian Adolescents’ and Emerging Adults’ Perceptions of Suicide Causes and Protectors at the American Association of Suicidology

Suzanne Kent: Professor of Anthropology – Denver, COPresented “Encounters in Collaborative Conservation and Development: Voluntourism in Honduras’ Island Communities” at the Applying Anthropology: Enhancing Assets and Building Capacity in the 21st Century conference

Students

Rachel Wendland: Anthropology master’s student, Madison, Wisconsin.

  • Presented Explanations for Below-Replacement Fertility in Kerala, India at 43rd Annual Conference on South Asia.

Leah Norman: Economics, Uganda.

  • Research with BRAC and CARE

Stephen Chignell: Watershed Sciences master’s student, Ethiopia.

  • Researched in the Bale Mountains

Eric Rounds: Anthropology master’s student, Vietnam & Thailand.

  • Researched along the East-West Economic Corridor from Da Nang, Vietnam, through Khon Kaen, Thailand.