Congratulations Christina Murphy – Returning to Chile on a Fulbright this Fall

Christina at work on her internship

Christina Murphy, a senior in Fisheries and Wildlife (College of Agricultural Sciences), International Degree, and University Honors College at Oregon State University, has been awarded a Fulbright to return to the Estacion Costera de Investigaciones Marinas (ECIM) in Las Cruces, Chile to conduct marine research.
ECIM is part of the Pontifica Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile and is internationally known for the quality of its work. Two of the head scientists at ECIM are OSU alumni and have strong connections with Dr. Jane Lubchenko and Dr. Bruce Menge at OSU.
Christina Murphy participated in an IE3 Global Internships internship at ECIM during the summer of 2007. During her time there, she focused on intertidal ecology. For her project, she specifically focused on a species of intertidal predatory crab, Acanthocyclus gayi.  Upon her return from her internship, Christina commented that “Before this internship I had planned to move directly into a PhD in fisheries ecology.  Now, I am applying for a Fulbright to return to Chile to continue my research before entering a graduate program.  In general, going abroad again gave me a chance to look at my life and values out of my normal context.  I have a much clearer perspective when I can look into the situation rather than out from it.” Now, Christina’s dream has come true.  She went on to say that “I want more than anything else to return to Chile on a Fulbright and begin a new project at the station.  I need the experience of complete integration and international research.  While I found the internship exceptionally valuable, I need more time to continue to become a part of the lab and of Chile.  Values such as patience will be essential in my return to graduate school and my large life dream of becoming a professor/researcher.” Christina gained a lot of practical skills in her internship such as adaptability, patience and understanding.  She describes how they relate to a career in science: “Let’s face it: in science, things rarely work out perfectly.  Adaptation is yet another tool of the trade.  I think that learning to adapt to a variety of situations has helped keep me thinking creatively and constantly problem solving.  Understanding is another valuable tool that I will use in my future.  Once again, a lesson that falls as a cornerstone of science.  The struggle for understanding will shape the rest of my professional career.  It is the wellspring for project ideas and research topics.”

University of Oregon Announces $3.1 Million in Scholarships, $750,000 for Internships in Developing Countries

The UO just announced $3.1 million in donations for international scholarships.  A full million is earmarked for internships, and 75% of that is dedicated to internships in developing countries in Africa,  Asia, and Latin America.

This news was just announced last Wednesday and you can read the full Daily Emerald Article here.

There are no details yet about when the promised funds will be available, but we will post any new information on our blog and send them out over our scholarships and UO email lists.

Congratulations, UO! The IE3 team is thrilled that international opportunities have received such generous support!

Another IE3 Fulbright recipient! Congratulations Austin Charron!

I am constantly impressed by what IE3 alumni go on to accomplish. An internship in and of itself is a challenge, but for many of our students it is one stepping stone in a long list of challenges and accomplishments.  Read the article below to find out more about Austin Charron. He’ll be spending the coming year in the Ukraine on a Fulbright Scholarship: 

http://pmr.uoregon.edu/current-uo-news/multimedia/multimedia-archive/a-world-of-understanding

Austin Charron came to the University of Oregon to study history. It wasn’t long, however, before he found himself immersed in the cultures, languages, politics, and geography of present-day Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

In fact, Charron, a 2008 graduate of the UO and the Robert Donald Clark Honors College, will spend next year on a Fulbright Scholarship in Simferopol — the capital of the Crimea — in Ukraine.

Throughout his time at the UO, the geography and Russian major blended academic disciplines with real world experience. He studied for five months in St. Pertersburg, Russia, where he polished his Russian-language skills.

“If you really want to get to know a people and a place, knowing the language is vital,” says Charron, from Corvallis. “I had the chance to get out of the city and see some places tourists don’t often go.”

But seeing the northwest corner of Russia wasn’t enough for Charron. Before graduating, he completed an IE3 Global Internship in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet Republic in Central Asia, where he taught English to grade schoolers before trekking around Central Asia.

“Getting to see a place like that was amazing,” Charron says. “Some people might have a hard time pointing out Kyrgyzstan on a map. But it’s really important for me to go to these places, get to know people and see them first hand.”

Charron’s experiences on campus in Eugene and abroad played off each other, lending insights, understanding and context to his travels and his academic work. For his honors thesis he analyzed how the world’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence might affect similar de facto independent regions in the former Soviet Union. His undergraduate research closely relates to what he wants to study in Ukraine as part of the Fulbright program.

In Ukraine, Charron plans to study the Crimean separatist movement. In 1954 — just nine years after the Crimean peninsula hosted Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference — the Soviet Union shifted control of the Crimean territory from Russia to Ukraine. When Ukraine gained independence, it retained control of Crimea, much to the consternation of many in the heavily Russian region who would prefer to be aligned with Moscow.

“The university broadened my horizons and exposed me to things I never would have known about otherwise,” Charron says. “I’ll always be hungry for experience.”

IE3 At NAFSA

At the end of May the National NAFSA (Association of International Educators) conference was held in Washington D.C. and IE3 was there! As a presenter, our Africa director, Christopher Bennett, spoke on a panel focused on” Building and Sustaining a Quality International Internship Program.” An additional poster session focused on orientation and preparing students for international internships. We’re proud to be contributing to the body of knowledge at a national (and international) level!

Thursday with Dr. Borda

By Jessica Fowler, an OSU student who interned at CFHI La Paz, Bolivia during Winter term 2008

 

 

Oh how we love working Thursdays with Borda! Today was no exception. The city of El Alto was celebrating some sort of independence holiday so the clinic was absolutely dead. By that I mean there were only 30 people in the waiting room as opposed to 200. There was however a cesearan section planned, so Linh and I scrubbed up and headed to the surgery unit with Dr. Borda. Since he is in charge of getting the surgery underway with the local anesthesia, he had to have the room as he pleased, so he made a nurse bring in a radio so he could crank the toons. He never ceases to entertain us! He was dancing and singing the entire 40 mins it took him to sedate the women. It took so long since she was 42. I guess since it is harder to inject the drugs into her spinal cord. After about 15 needle attempts, we were finally ready for the incision. Everyone was especially careful since she was an older women and this was like a first pregnancy in the regard that she already had 7 kids, but not one since she was 30 years old! Luckily, she was also getting her tubes tied. After the baby was out, we followed the pediatrician to the “baby prep”area, where we helped ink the foot on the birth certificate, check the baby’s reflexs, clear its respiratory tract, and clean and dress it. Then, we got to hold and play with the baby girl for 40 mins until the mother was in the recovery room and could hold her baby.
Another thing that was really cool, but sad, was that another women had just delivered her baby, and it had congenital defects. So, for the first time I got to see a baby born with cleft lip and palate AND ectrodactylyl (“lobster claw” syndrome, where only the thumb is formed and the rest of the fingers are all together and unformed).

Monkey Business in Rishikesh

blog excerpt by Heather Hodnett, intern on the CFHI Traditional Medicine Rotation in Dehra Dun, India

Another funny thing happened…I had an encounter with monkeys earier this morning! I was just sitting on my bed typing this morning (after I got to sleep in, which was awesome) when I heard a plastic bag rustling in the entry room behind me. I looked around the corner, and there were two mokeys helping themselves to our snacks! I kind of freaked out since I ‘ve heard monkeys will attack people if they feel threatened, so I shut the door to the bedroom. Then I realized that the monkeys would eat all of our snacks if I didn’t scare them out, so I opened the door and started swinging at them with my pajama pants (that’s all I could think of to use!) They slowly just grabbed what food they wanted and walked out the front door, so I totally felt stupid that I was crazily swinging my pants back and forth to scare them off! I shut – and locked – the screen door, only to open it a few minutes later to take a picture of the baby monkey that was still sitting outside finishing the banana that was supposed to be my breakfast. It was pretty funny in retrospect!

Professional Internships in Cape Town

Video by Eric Taylor, an IE3 intern in Cape Town South

IE3 Summer Orientation Group – Corvallis

This summer, one of the largest groups of interns in the history of the IE3 program will be headed to internships as diverse as teaching in India, marketing projects in Germany, and assisting with marine research and policy in Australia. We’re excited for all the adventures that lie ahead. Since it was one of the largest groups at our Oregon orientation, we felt had to capture it on film (or pixels as the case may be).

Congratulations Denise and Bruk!

Over the years, international internships have changed the lives of interns from the Northwest in many ways, but the most life changing experience of all may be falling in love – and marrying – someone from another country. The most recent cross-cultural couple to make it to the altar are Denise Baker (former intern at AAI in Ethiopia) and Bruk Haile. Denise met Bruk in Ethiopia and they tied the knot in Addis Ababa in April. The following is a short update from her about their plans. Congratulations, Denise and Bruk – and best wishes for your move to Portland!

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“We had a really small ring ceremony at the transportation office in Addis, complete with fake peach trees and yards of blue silk hanging from the walls, and then had a fantastic honeymoon that included eleven hour bus rides, chamber pots in Harar, and one bout of Denise “exploding” in Dire Dawa.

I’m headed back to Portland, Oregon on May 13th, where I’ll be in need of a job (also a good wedding present, if anyone knows anyone who needs a nanny, or anything else) and doing prerequisite courses for an 18-month nursing program. Destination Africa continues…

Bruk will be headed to Portland as soon as he gets his visa – should be three to six months. We plan to soak up electricity, hot water, and basketball games, and then head back to Africa, armed with a nursing degree and shared memories involving sushi, the Oregon coast, and a chunk of time where I’m not The Ferenji.”

Hiking in the Himalayas

By Alyssa Boesch, on the Rural/Urban Himalayan Rotation in Dehra Dun India

Well, I have now been in India for over a week and I absolutely love it! Than Gaon was a small village in the Himalayan foots as they call it here. I got to work with Dr. Paul who does so much with so little. He hikes up to 5 hours away 2 times a week to treat patients in other villages and the other 3 days people walk from hours away to see him. All the treatment and medication they receive is free due to CFHI (the organization I am here with) providing everything. It was amazing meeting some of the village people and seeing how they live. We did a lot of hiking while we were up there and on Saturday we woke up at 5 to hike 5 1/2 hours to Musoorie at 7,000 ft – 2,500 ft higher than where we were. It was a great hike with great views.

Now I am back in Dehra Dun which is a really busy, hectic city. There is constantly noise from cars honking to cows mooing. It is way different than Than Gaon but it is exciting none the less. This week I will be working with an OBGYN and a pediatrician so I’m pretty excited. I’ll try and put more pictures up later this week. I have also been invited to a wedding this weekend which will be interesting to see! I get to go shopping for a Sari to wear which will also be fun!