Grantee News

In November 2005, Mauvalyn Bowen (Fulbright, Jamaica), C. Earl Buchanan, and Clive Grossett presented a refereed paper, “New Business Creation, Incubation & Growth: Jamaica," at the 2005 Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference in Blackpool, U.K. Bowen and her colleagues focused their research on the Technology Innovation Center, a business incubator at the University of Technology, Jamaica, which provides assistance to Jamaican start-up technology companies. Also in November, Bowen volunteered as a speaker for the International Classroom Connection, a program organized by the Minnesota International Center that matches international scholars and residents with local schools in order to provide Minnesota children with first-hand knowledge of other countries and cultures. Bowen is a doctoral candidate in entrepreneurial studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Julia Leva Ramos (OAS, Peru) wrote an article entitled “Accesibilidad ... Un Mundo Web sin Barreras,” which was published in the special education section of the Peruvian Ministry of Education’s website. Ramos’s article discussed issues surrounding Internet accessibility for people with disabilities. Ramos is a master’s degree candidate in educational technology and computer science at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica.

In October 2005, P. Cristian Gugiu and Nadini Persaud (Fulbright, Barbados) presented their paper, “Marketing Evaluation to Small Developing Countries,” at the American Evaluation Association’s annual conference, “Crossing Borders, Crossing Boundaries,” held in Toronto, Canada, in conjunction with the Canadian Evaluation Association. In the paper, Persaud and Gugiu discuss the complex issues that arise when conducting evaluations in developing countries and—as their project summary explains—present “a roadmap for designing, conducting, and evaluating an educational program in order to achieve maximum comprehensiveness, stakeholder buy-in, and utilization of evaluation findings.” Persaud is pursuing a doctoral degree in interdisciplinary evaluation at Western Michigan University.

Alumni News

Victor Banoy (Kellogg, Colombia) is the director of the Asociación Empresarial Productora y Comercializadora de Frutas y Hortalizas del Sumapaz (AESUM), a Colombian NGO serving rural communities. For his master’s thesis, which dealt with training as a key factor in transitioning indigenous farmers from subsistence to commercial farming, Banoy developed a model that he has now adapted to several new projects focused on training rural youth in Colombia. Banoy participated in the 2004 Social Leadership Workshop, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and held at Harvard University for LASPAU Leadership Fellowship Program grantees and alumni. He received a master’s degree in development economics from the Colegio de Postgraduados in 2005.

A study conducted by José Manuel Cerrato (OAS, Honduras), Lourdes P. Reyes, Carmen N. Alvarado, and Andrea M.Dietrich entitled “Effect of PVC and iron materials on Mn(II) deposition in drinking water distribution” was published in Water Research, the journal of the International Water Association. The water quality study, carried out in Honduras, examines the use of both PVC and iron pipes in a section of the Tegucigalpa drinking water distribution system and the impact of these materials on the oxidation of soluble manganese, which causes water fouling and black discoloration. The research demonstrated that interactions between water and the distribution infrastructure affect the ultimate quality of drinking water. Cerrato received a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Virginia Tech in 2005.

Orlando Hernández (Fulbright, Colombia) was part of a research team, led by his advisor Ralph von Frese, that discovered an asteroid crater 482 km (300 miles) wide under the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The asteroid is believed to have struck the Earth 250 million years ago, around the time of the Permian-Triassic extinction when almost all animal life on Earth died out, paving the way for dinosaurs to rise to prominence. More evidence is being gathered to determine the role the asteroid impact may have played, but the discovery has already received worldwide news coverage. Hernández received a doctoral degree in geological and earth sciences from Ohio State University in 2006.

In January 2006, a paper by Franklin Jaramillo-Isaza (COLCIENCIAS, Colombia) and Michael L. Turner titled “Synthesis and properties of conjugated oligomers containing fluorene, fluorenone, thiophene and cyclopentadithiophenone units” was published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry. In a supplement to the article published in November 2005, Clare E. Boothby wrote that Jaramillo-Isaza and Turner’s study may help in “designing the next generation of blue materials” for developing light-emitting polymers (LEPs). Most commonly found in the display screens of cell phones and MP3 music players, LEPs are small dots of organic material that emit light when charged with electricity. They produce more light but use less power than their older, more expensive liquid crystal (LCD) counterparts and—if synthesized on a larger scale—could potentially revolutionize the lighting and display industries. Jaramillao-Isaza received a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Manchester in 2005.

Frida Larios (FANTEL, El Salvador) was awarded the 2005 Sign Design Award in the student category for her master’s project, titled “New Maya Glyphs Archaeological Site in El Salvador.” Larios received the only prize granted to a Latin American in the competition, which drew entries from around the world. Her project consists of directional and informational signs and a guidebook for a Mayan archaeological site. The signs and other items include color-coded logographics that echo and compliment the native Maya hieroglyphs and their historic setting while at the same time communicating to visitors on a contemporary level. Larios was presented with her award at a ceremony held at the Royal Society of Arts in London. She received a master’s degree in communication design from the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2004.

While studying at the University of Kansas, Erika Susana Mariscal (Fulbright, Bolivia) served as the vice-president of the Fulbright Club. The club’s activities included a diversity workshop in Topeka for the Kansas Coalition against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. As a part of the workshop, Marsical gave a presentation on resilience and child abuse, and five Fulbright grantees from different continents discussed domestic and sexual assault issues in their own countries. In April 2006, Mariscal was awarded the University of Kansas’s Outstanding International Woman Student award. She received a master’s degree in social work from the University of Kansas in 2006.

In April 2005, Alicia Scherson (Fulbright, Chile) won the award for Best New Narrative Filmmaker at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York for her full-length feature film Play. Critic Ann Lewinson said of the film, “In writer director Alicia Scherson’s offbeat and stylish first feature, old Santiago indigenous rubs against new European in an international melting pot of riotous color.” After its premiere at the Tribeca festival, Play was accepted to many more international film festivals. Scherson received a master’s of fine arts degree in film and video from the University of Illinois, Chicago in 2005.

Maria Adenil Viera (Kellogg, Brazil) is the executive director of the Instituto Aliança, an NGO committed to improving the lives of Brazilian youth by engaging them as partners in the sustainable development of their homeland. In 2006, the AVINA Foundation, which supports and partners with leaders in sustainable development, invited Viera to become an AVINA leader-partner due to her work with the Institute. Additionally, the Institute was asked to become a strategic partner of the Group of Institutions, Foundations, and Firms (GIFE), an association of South American grant makers committed to social, cultural, and environmental projects. Viera says that her studies through the Leadership Fellowship Program, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, have played a significant role in the Instituto Aliança’s success. “The program gave me important tools as a leader to meet the challenge of the sustainability of the Institute,” says Viera, “including more confidence in my work and my knowledge, stronger English skills to communicate with funders, and a network that provided access to donors such as the IDB, the Skoll Foundation, and USAID. The result was raising $2,000,000 in 2006.” Viera completed a short-term program in social sciences at Harvard University in 2005.