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.
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 |
Poverty 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.
Poverty 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.
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.