In April 2008, Juan Manuel Córdovez Alvarez (Fulbright, Colombia) and his coauthors presented a paper entitled “Exploring the mechanisms for pH regulation in central respiratory chemoreceptors using a mathematical model” (J.M. Córdovez, C. Clausen, L.C. Moore, I.C. Solomon) at the 2008 Experimental Biology Annual Meeting in San Diego, organized by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). The team also presented their paper, “A mathematical model of pHi regulation in central CO2 chemoreception,” at the 2007 Experimental Biology Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. and at the 33rd Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference in Stony Brook, New York, in March 2007. Both papers were published in The FASEB Journal. Their research analyzes the effects of high levels of carbon dioxide on the hydrogen ion concentration (or pHi) of chemosensitive and non-chemosensitive neurons. The hydrogen concentration of a cell’s fluid is critical to neuron functionality and survival. Córdovez, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in biomedical engineering at Stony Brook Univ., also found time to run in the Boston Marathon in 2007, finishing the race with an impressive time of 2:54:37.
In April 2008, Sherri Loren Cumberbatch (OAS, Barbados), a bachelor’s degree candidate in visual communications and advertising at Kean Univ., was selected as a finalist in the Art Directors Club of New Jersey Scholarship Competition. Cumberbatch attended the awards ceremony in May, where her winning student portfolio was on display alongside those of the professional-level winners. Her portfolio was also selected as one of the top 100 graduating senior advertising portfolios in the United States by the Art Directors Club of New York. Winners took part in the Club’s National Student Portfolio Review in May 2008, where their work was critiqued by leaders in the advertising industry. The same month, Cumberbatch was one of a small group of students chosen to exhibit their work at the One Club’s second annual One Show Education Festival in New York City. The One Club, a non-profit organization, honors excellence in advertising among graduating seniors from colleges and universities around the world. In addition to displaying their work, honorees participated in an advertising- pitch competition and had their portfolios critiqued by top creative directors. Cumberbatch has said of her choice of major, “I thought it would be a beneficial area of study for me since in Barbados our main business is tourism. I felt there needed to be a new outlook for the country to market itself.”
As a part of her doctoral studies in ecology and evolutionary biology at Columbia Univ., Ma. Esther Quintero Rivero (Fulbright-OAS Ecology, Mexico) contributed to a project of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) that examined biodiversity in managed landscapes. The initiative brought researchers from eight U.S. and Costa Rican universities to NCEAS in Santa Barbara, California, to work in small crossuniversity groups. Quintero’s team focused on payment and subsidy methods between ecosystem service providers and beneficiaries, and the group submitted their work in manuscript format to NCEAS in the fall of 2007. Over the past year, Quintero has had additional opportunities to present her work to the larger community of ecologists. In September 2007, an article by Quintero and co-authors from the Instituto de Ecología in Mexico and the grante ne ws Univ. of California, Riverside, entitled “Phylogenetic analysis of interspecific variation in nectar of hummingbird-visited plants” (J.F. Ornelas, M. Ordano, A.J. de Nova, M.E. Quintero, T. Garland, Jr.) was published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. In May 2007, Quintero and her colleagues presented the results of their research, entitled “Historical biography of Hapalopsittaca parrots,” (E. Quintero, C. Ribas, J. Cracraft) at the VIII Congreso de Ornitología Neotropical in Maturín, Venezuela. The goal of the conference, which is held every four years in rotating countries of Latin America and North America, is to support the research and conservation of neotropical birds and to enhance the ornithological resources of the host country.
In April 2008, a paper by Leonardo Reales Jiménez (Fulbright-COLCIENCIAS-DNP, Colombia) entitled “Racismo y políticas públicas en Colombia” was published in Connexio, the journal of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The article examines public policy and economic issues surrounding the social exclusion of Afro-Colombians in their country. In May 2008, Reales participated in the Espacio USA: Vanguardia Latina conference at the IDB headquarters in Washington, D.C. The conference, which selects talented graduate students from the Americas to participate in three days of presentations and panel discussions, was designed to construct and strengthen ties between the future leaders of Latin America and the United States. Additionally, in the summer of 2007, Reales was selected to participate in the Diversity Internship Program for Afro-Descendants and Indigenous Peoples at the IDB. In July 2007, Reales published another article entitled “The Contribution of the Afro- Descendant Soldiers to the Independence of the Bolivarian Countries (1810-1826)” in Revista de Relaciones Internacionales, Estrategia y Seguridad, the journal of the Univ. Militar Nueva Granada. Reale is pursuing a doctoral degree in political science at the New School for Social Research.
In March 2008, Lina María Saavedra Díaz (COLCIENCIAS, Colombia) was awarded a 2008 UNESCO-L’Oreal Women in Science Fellowship at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Each year, the program awards scholarships to 15 young women from around the world who are working in the life sciences at the doctoral or post-doctoral levels and whose research projects have been accepted by institutions outside their home countries. Saavedra’s project examines ways in which communities in Colombia can conserve the marine environments of fisheries while still allowing for the sustainable use of some fish species. Fishing is an economic staple of coastal communities in Colombia, but many local fisheries are at risk of overexploitation due to unsustainable fishing practices and other factors. Saavedra will interview a sampling of communities on each Colombian coast about their fishing practices, eventually using this information to develop sustainable management systems for the fisheries. Once she has completed her research, Saavedra will return to her home institution, Univ. del Magdalena, as a professor and researcher. She also hopes to submit the results of her research to the Colombian government as a step towards developing a national fisheries management plan. Saavedra is pursuing a doctoral degree in natural resources and earth system sciences at the Univ. of New Hampshire.
Upon receiving his bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Univ. of Louisville in 1996, Juan Carlos Arita (CAMPUS, Honduras) returned to Honduras to work in the private sector while teaching at local universities. However, after Hurricane Mitch hit Central America in October 1998, Arita found himself transformed by the tragic devastation and worsening poverty around him. There was a critical need for humanitarian aid, and Arita began working on a range of projects for ASONOG (a network of Honduran NGOs), including housing rehabilitation and fundraising. In 2002, Arita became an advocacy officer in Honduras for the non-profit aid organization Oxfam International, and two years later he took on a larger role, providing guidance on democracy and governance issues for Oxfam’s projects in Central America and the Caribbean. Now, Arita is the regional program quality coordinator for the CAMEXCA region, which includes developing strategies for Oxfam’s accountability to program donors and beneficiaries in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Among its many projects, Oxfam helps family farmers to run economically and environmentally sound businesses through microlending programs and farming cooperatives and works with civil society organizations and local governments to deliver post-disaster humanitarian assistance.
In August 2007, Ancell Scheker Mendoza (Fulbright–Alliance for Excellence, Dominican Republic) was selected as an Outstanding Dominican Youth by Jaycees ’72, a Dominican chapter of the Junior Chamber International (JCI). JCI is a youth leadership development organization that recognizes individuals ages 18-40 who have made significant contributions to their local communities or countries. Scheker served as the national director of basic education in the Dominican Republic from 2001-2004, coordinating the county’s Education for All project. Following the completion of her Fulbright Program in 2007, Scheker stayed on at the Univ. at Albany to finish her doctoral studies in education policy. Now, as part of her doctoral research, she is participating in a longitudinal study of primary education opportunities and learning in the Dominican Republic, conducted by the Educational Evaluation and Research Consortium and financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development. In March 2008, Scheker also served as a chair and presenter at the 2008 Meetings of the Comparative and International Education Society, hosted by Teachers College, Columbia Univ. The theme of the meetings was educational equity within and among regions and countries. Scheker cochaired two panels during the five-day event, including: “Assessing the Achievements of Standardized Tests: Policy Lessons from the Americas” and “The Americas Panel: Does Private Higher Education Promote Access?” She also gave a presentation entitled “What Types of Educational Opportunities are Provided in Reading Comprehension in Dominican Schools?” during a panel discussion on Dominican primary school learning.
After receiving her master’s degree in linguistics from the Univ. of Chicago in 1996, Ana Vilacy Galucio (Ford-Amazon Basin, Brazil) stayed on at the University to obtain a doctoral degree. In 2002, she returned to the Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, her home institution in Brazil, as an associate researcher and linguist, and since 2005 she has served as the coordinator of social sciences at the Museu. In her work, Galucio studies Amazonian indigenous languages, working in cooperation with native communities to revitalize endangered dialects. In 2006, Galaucio published a bilingual book and CD-ROM by the Sakurabiat people entitled Narrativas Tradicionais Sakurabiat Mayãp Ebõ. The book and CD consist of 25 stories in Sakurabiat and Portuguese that depict the beliefs, mythologies, and perspectives of the Sakurabiat, as well as linguistic and ethnographic data about the group. The launch of the project was attended by tribal leader and project narrator Vicência Conceição Sakyrabiar and her son, Manoel Ferreira Sakyrabiar. The mother and son are two of only 23 speakers of the Sakurabiat language remaining in the world. Since 2001, Galucio has also been working with the Puruborá people to preserve and document their language, which has not been spoken for over 30 years. In 2006, these efforts were awarded the Rodrigo Mello Franco de Andrade prize in the category of Salvaguarda de Bens de Natureza Imaterial (Safeguarding of the Intangible Assets of Nature) by the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, a historic and artistic preservation institute that is part of the Brazilian Ministry of Culture.
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