Chief Whip of Scottish National Party to Speak in Oregon

     IE₃ Global Internships is pleased to announce that Mr. Brian Adam, MSP, the Chief Whip of the Scottish National Party, will be visiting Oregon as a guest of IE₃ and its partner institutions on October 9th and 10th.  Mr. Adam is a Member of the Scottish Parliament, and the Chief Whip for the Scottish National Party, which won a historic victory in Scotland’s national elections in May of this year.  For the first time, the Scottish National Party is the majority party in Scotland.  The SNP envisions a progressive agenda for Scotland, and at the center of its national policy is independence for Scotland from Great Britain.   
     Biography:  Brian Adam was born June 10, 1952, in Newmill, Banffshire, Scotland. He attended Aberdeen University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, and a Master of Science in Clinical Pharmacology.  Before entering public life, he worked as a biochemist and forensic toxicologist, and was involved in politics as a trade union activist.  Mr. Adam’s first elected position was as a local councillor, a post he held for 11 years, before being elected as a Regional Representative for the North East of Scotland in 1999.  In 2003, he won election to the Scottish Parliament as the member for the constituency of Aberdeen North.  Safely defending his seat in 2007, he increased his majority to over 3000 votes. Mr. Adam holds the key position of Chief Whip in the Scottish Parliament, ensuring that party members vote together to support the SNP agenda for Scotland.  Mr. Adam convenes and serves on numerous parliamentary committees, including those dealing with the Energy, Economy and Tourism Committee, and those focusing on natural resource policy, media, and culture in Scotland.   Mr. Adam is married and has five children. 
      As part of a speaking tour of the western United States, Mr. Adam will address the topic of “Scotland’s Road to Independence” on the following campuses:  October 9^th, University of Oregon.  October 10^th, Oregon State University, and Portland State University.  These lectures will be followed by a question and answer session.  The lectures are open to the general public, and are free of charge.  Mr. Adam serves on the following Committees and Groups (for further information, please follow the live links): 
Ø       Member of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on the Scottish Economy
Ø       Deputy Convener of the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee
Ø       Member of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Drug and Alcohol Misuse
Ø       Co-Convener of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Oil and Gas
Ø       Deputy Convener of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Tobacco Control
Ø       Member of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Architecture and the Built Environment
Ø       Member of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Culture and Media   LECTURESPEAKING SCHEDULE: 
Tuesday, October 9^th
5:30 p.m.  University of Oregon, Browsing Room, Knight Library
Hosts:  Political Science Department, University of Oregon            
           European Studies Department, University of Oregon            
           International Studies Program, University of Oregon           
           Office of International Affairs, University of Oregon
           Mills International Center, University of Oregon
           IE₃ Global Internships, Oregon University System Education Abroad  

Wednesday, October 10^th  
10:00 a.m., Oregon State University, Memorial Union Room 109
Hosts:  Political Science Department, Oregon State University           
            International Programs, Oregon State University
            IE₃ Global Internships, Oregon University System Education Abroad   Wednesday, October 10^th
4:00 p.m.  Portland State University, Smith Memorial Union 328/9.
Hosts:  Hatfield School of Government, Portland State University            
           Office of International Affairs, Portland State University
           IE₃ Global Internships, Oregon University System Education Abroad

Looking Back – 10 Years After an Internship

by Katrina McPherson

I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I first went to Ecuador to work at Bilsa Biological Reserve. It’s funny how I ended up there in the first place because Diane Hart, who was in charge of the Latin American internships didn’t want to let me go. She said that working in a biological reserve had nothing to do with my major in biochemistry or my future as a medical doctor. It was quite a feat to convince her that an internship in environmental conservation was indeed relevant to my future, but somehow she agreed to place me in Bilsa. Ecuador was great. People were warm and friendly, even though my third year Spanish skills were very inadequate in real life. The real experience was working and living in a remote rainforest and it was one of the best things I ever did. There is nothing that compares to the beauty and tranquility of being inside a real tropical rainforest. We all know how terrible deforestation is, but it hurts even more after actually living there. As a result, I decided that I would have to do my own part to protect some part of the world’s rainforest, but first I had to go to medical school and become a doctor.I flew directly from Bilsa to Baltimore for medical school orientation (2 days late, in fact). Even while I was studying medicine, the rainforest was always in the back of my mind, and so was working in developing countries. This time the destination was Africa. During medical school I arranged to spend 2 months working in a rural hospital in Cameroon. The people there were also very warm and welcoming and the environment was breathtaking. I thought that maybe Cameroon would be a good place to start a rainforest reserve after becoming a doctor. Well, luckily I met my future husband while I was there, so now I am permanently tied to Cameroon.After Cameroon I finished medical school and a residency in pediatrics. For the last three years I have been working in the emergency department of Miami Children’s Hospital, trying to figure out how to move back to Africa and start up my biological reserve. And besides that, we want our children to grow up in Cameroon and know that side of their family, culture and languages. Last year I began a Master’s in Public Health through Johns Hopkins and I have begun to work out the details of how being a doctor is going to directly impact environmental conservation. My thesis for that degree will include a plan on improving healthcare to those living in rural, forested areas of Cameroon. My husband is in Cameroon at this very moment working with people in some of the rural villages in the forests and learning about the many problems they face. With a little bit of luck we will have our rainforest reserve up and running in a couple of years. I will be in touch with the details of a new internship in environmental conservation in Cameroon for IE3 Global Internships.My international internship was a very important experience in my professional career and I will always be thankful for having the opportunity to work at Bilsa. I especially owe a big thank you to Diane Hart, who believed in me enough to send me on an internship that seemed to have nothing to do with my major or my future career.