BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, July 7, 2017- On a recent trip to the west coast, the Laspau Executive Director Angélica Natera visited the University of California, Berkeley and met scholars from five Latin American countries pursuing graduate studies at the renowned Bay Area campus. The inaugural meeting brought together scholars from different scholarship programs administered by Laspau. Though studying on the same campus, this was the first opportunity the scholars had to meet in person. They exchanged their learning experiences from the scholarship application process to the benefits and challenges of pursuing graduate studies in a new country.
During the conversation, they also shared their motivations, the importance of the role of the family and friends in their lives, and their dreams for the future. "Everyone is studying in the fields that are critical to their home countries. It gives me a sense of optimism and hope that Latin America will be even stronger when these professionals return home with new knowledge, skills, and experiences. When opportunities are opened, especially in the area of education, young people dream high and begin making an impact early on", says Natera.
The Laspau-administered scholars studying at UC Berkeley are pursuing diverse areas of research that are sure to positively impact the region:
Argentina
Catalina Vanoli – Master’s degree candidate in Transportation Engineering Luciano Felix Rosso – Master’s degree candidate in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
Brazil
Daniela Valente Andrade - PhD candidate in Biological and Biomedical Sciences (Infectious Diseases and Immunity) Gabriel Mendes Borges – PhD candidate in Social Sciences (Demography and Population Studies) Luisa Mayumi Arake de Tacca – PhD candidate in Biological and Biomedical Sciences (Comparative Biochemistry) Raissa Estrela Curado – PhD candidate in Biological and Biomedical Sciences (Molecular & Cell Biology) Rubens Golçalves Salsa Júnior – PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering
Colombia
Carlos Orozco Rios – PhD degree candidate in Engineering (Structural Materials) Jessica Camacho Amado – Master’s degree candidate in Architecture (City Planning) Juan Felipe Carvajal Vinasco – PhD degree candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ecuador
Jose Tinoco Ochoa – PhD candidate in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Guatemala
Rosa Jimenez Barrios – PhD degree candidate in Biological and Biomedical Sciences (Integrative Biology)
Look out for their success stories, as well as those of other Laspau-administered scholars, in future editions of eNews!