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2019 Blum Fellows gathered in front of the International Center during their preparatory course

UC Davis Blum Center Announces Cohort of 2019 Fellows

By Larry Greer, Professional Intern, Global Affairs

Another wave of Blum Fellows is set to head out into the world to help make it a better place alongside communities in developing areas. These students will be implementing projects they have designed in partnership with humanitarian organizations like the Worldwide Child Relief Foundation and Child Family Health International, as well as with agencies like Water Hands Hope and with local groups like Tharsis Betel.

The 2019 cohort of Blum Center awardees includes 33 extraordinary UC Davis undergraduate and graduate students carefully selected by the Blum Faculty Review Committee. The students represent an array of majors and fields in the humanities and the sciences. These volunteers will spread out to places like the highlands of Papua New Guinea, villages and towns in Ghana and Nicaragua and rural south India, among other countries. One Blum Fellow heads to Knights Landing, a largely migrant worker community 20 miles north of UC Davis, to work on a community garden project. Elsewhere some Fellows will promote child safety, mental health, environmental sustainability, female empowerment, sanitation, healthy nutrition and literacy, and others will provide medical services, technology workshops, and care for children with special needs. Three Fellows will help African immigrants in southern Spain implement an aquaponics growing system that will provide them with employment and income. As with previous Blum Fellows, these students will work alongside people in the communities they seek to help.

Global Poverty: Preparing to Work Abroad - Blum Course
Blum Fellows participating in the "Global Poverty: Preparing to Work Abroad" course co-taught by Blum Center Directors Tu (Lovell) Jarvis and Lili Larson

To prepare Fellows to implement their projects successfully, Blum Center Directors Lovell (Tu) Jarvis and Lili Larson co-taught a spring quarter course Global Poverty: Preparing to Work Abroad. Says Jarvis, “Our preparatory seminar provides students with intercultural competencies helpful in partnering successfully with the communities in which they live and work, as well as tips regarding project management and personal safety. Students also refine their projects through presentations and critical discussion with peers and instructors."

For Larson, this is a fascinating opportunity for students to turn classroom knowledge into real-life expertise through hands-on experience. “Students will face real-world challenges and, through mentorship, will help create solutions that improve lives in underserved communities. It is usually a life-changing experience for these fellows, and often puts students on a career path involving international development.”

The undergraduate fellows program is a joint initiative with UC Davis’ undergraduate colleges that provides sponsorship, mentorship and overall support to implement innovative humanitarian hands-on and research projects. Such invaluable partnerships within the university have made it possible in recent years for over 300 UC Davis students to volunteer in over 50 countries on six continents.

2019 UC Davis Blum Fellows (PATA)

NAME MAJOR COLLEGE COUNTRY  PROJECT TITLE
Kayleigh Becker African American and African Studies College of Letters and Science Spain Aquaponics in Jerez, Spain
Adam Maiale Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Spain Aquaponics in Jerez, Spain
Sara Frederich International Agricultural Development College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Spain Aquaponics in Jerez, Spain
Chelsea Supawit International Agricultural Development College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Uganda Providing Foundational Soil Health Workshops in Rural Uganda
Anmol Pavade Global Disease Biology College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Nepal Antenatal Health Education Using a Community Based Participatory Research Model in a Kathmandu Medical Out-Patient Center
Zorrain Shakeel Biological Sciences College of Biological Sciences Pakistan Improving Adolescent’s Lives in Pakistan
Wai Lone Jonathan Ho Biochemistry and Molecular Biology College of Biological Sciences United States Promoting Affordable and Healthy Eating Through the Knights Landing Community Garden
Allison Huang Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior College of Biological Sciences Ghana Ghana- Pediatric Care and Reproductive Health Internship
Sofia Donovan Biological Sciences, B.S. College of Biological Sciences Papua New Guinea Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea
Daniel Thomas Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering Bolivia Engineers Without Borders, UC Davis Bolivia Project
Julian Lopez Civil Engineering College of Engineering Peru Peru Project
Jhonatan Romero Civil and Environmental Engineering College of Engineering Peru Peru Water Project
Israel Curry Biochemical Engineering College of Engineering Bolivia  Bolivia Sanitation Project
Sophie Danielsen Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering College of Engineering Bolivia Engineers Without Borders, UC Davis Chapter, Bolivia Team, Parque Colani Sanitation Project
Laura Oelsner Biomedical Engineering College of Engineering Nicaragua Special Needs and Technology Education in La Calle Real, Nicaragua
Luisa Gonzalez Chemical Engineering College of Engineering Peru Project Peru
Ava Walderman International Relations College of Letters and Science Zimbabwe Tackling Education and Gender Inequality with Sanitary Pads in Rural Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Aditi Venkatesh Cognitive Science (Emphasis in Neuroscience) College of Letters and Science India Community Development in a Rural Setting in South India via Improving Child Safety and Mental Health Practices and Related Interventions
Viviana Nguyen Vi International Relations College of Letters and Science Zimbabwe Tackling Education and Gender Inequality with Sanitary Pads in Rural Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Alyssa Marquez International Relations College of Letters and Science Bolivia Latrines for Parque Colani, Bolivia
Cesar Jovani Lara African & African American Studies, IR College of Letters and Science Nicaragua Special Needs and Technology Education in La Calle Real, Nicaragua
Pamela Munoz Design College of Letters and Science  Nicaragua Special Needs and Technology Education in La Calle Real, Nicaragua

 

2019 UC Davis Blum Fellows (PASS)

NAME  GRAD PROGRAM COUNTRY  PROJECT TITLE
Nicholas Bowden Energy Systems Rwanda Rural Rwanda Solar System Initiative
Miki Khanh Doan Agricultural and Resource Economics Uganda The Impacts of Technology on Intrahousehold Contractual Structure: Evidence from A Coffee Agronomy Training in Uganda
Shant Douzdjian Civil & Environmental Engineering Dominican Republic Assessing Alternative Water Supply Infrastructure & Accessibility in Constanza - Dominican Republic
Narjara Grossmann  MPVM Madagascar African Swine Fever and Food Security: How Livestock Management Practices in Rural Communities in Madagascar Can Affect Risk of Disease.
Andrew Hobbs Agricultural & Resource Economics Kenya Sokoni: A Livestock Marketplace For Northern Kenya
Justin Malachowski Social Anthropology Tunisia Opening Youth Focused Community Workshops in Tunisia to Alleviate Conditions of Poverty in Marginalized Communities
Leslie Olivares Nutritional Biology USA Food Security and Nutritional Status Among Agricultural Workers in the California Central Valley
Ross Perry School of Medicine USA Paul Hom Community Exercise Program
Raiza Gruner  Geography Mexico Audiovisual Storytelling for Supporting Sustainable Artisanal Production in Cieneguilla, Guanajuato, Mexico
Margaret Slattery Energy Graduate Group Nicaragua Problem Framing Workshops in Rural Nicaragua
Robert Woodke Community Regional Development Senegal Resiliency and Development for Pastoralists in Senegal

 

Woman playing with childPoverty Alleviation Through Action (PATA)

Poverty Alleviation Through Action (PATA) is an UNDERGRADUATE student travel grant for fieldwork completed during the summer. Highly motivated students with a passion for working to reduce poverty and inequality are selected.

Learn more

 

two vaquerosPoverty Alleviation through Sustainable Solutions (PASS)

Poverty Alleviation through Sustainable Solutions (PASS) is a GRADUATE student small project grants program that supports research and project implementation in the field. Successful grants focus on innovative approaches to alleviating poverty.

Learn more

 


About the Global Learning Hub at UC Davis

Through the Global Learning Hub, each and every UC Davis student can find global learning opportunities available on campus, in the region, and across all seven continents. The hub’s network of local and global academic, experiential, and leadership programs helps develop capacity for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students to engage with global issues and make a difference in the world as the next generation of global problem solvers. Search all global learning opportunities available at UC Davis.

As a part of Global Affairs, the Global Learning Hub aims to inspire global curiosity, understanding, and engagement.

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