Fulbright | Distinguished Scholarships Program

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WSU Senior Headed to Wales on a Fulbright to Study Human Impact on Marine Ecology

May 4, 2020 daniel.rieck

Fulbright 2020 recipient Thomas LeClair.

Washington State University senior biology and music double major and future veterinarian Thomas LeClair is the 2020 recipient of a prestigious, nationally competitive Fulbright Student Award that will fund his master’s degree studies in marine biology in Bangor, Wales. “I’m humbled to be able to go to Bangor University on a Fulbright and am excited for the opportunities this will provide and the future doors it can open,” said LeClair.

MEDIA CONTACT: April Seehafer, Director of the WSU Distinguished Scholarships Program, 509-335-8239, seehafer@wsu.edu

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University senior biology and music double major and future veterinarian Thomas LeClair is the 2020 recipient of a prestigious, nationally competitive Fulbright Student Award that will fund his master’s degree studies in marine biology in Bangor, Wales.

“WSU has a long tradition with the Fulbright organization, dating back to our first recipient in 1949,” said April Seehafer, director of the Distinguished Scholarships Program, part of the Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement (DAESA). “Thomas is our 65^th student to receive a Fulbright to continue their education. His unique academic pursuits and interests are an excellent fit for this Welsh university.”

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Fulbright Summer Institute to the U.K. Award Takes WSU Sophomore Ava Beck to Wales

June 19, 2019 daniel.rieck

Ava Beck, recipient of a 2019 Fulbright Summer Institute to the U.K. award.

MEDIA: April Seehafer, WSU Distinguished Scholarships Program director, 509-335-8239, seehafer@wsu.edu

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University linguistics major and Spokane native Ava Beck will study at Aberystwyth University in Wales for three weeks this summer, thanks to a Fulbright U.K. Summer Institute award.

Beck is one of around 60 U.S. students selected to undertake short academic and cultural programs at any of nine hosting institutions throughout the United Kingdom. At Aberystwyth, on the country’s western coast, Beck will join fellow Americans exploring contemporary issues in identity and nationhood “through the lens of Wales”. She will attend classes in the university’s Dept. of International Politics, explore the city, visit the National Library of Wales, and learn a bit of the Welsh language.

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WSU’s First Fulbright-Nat Geo Storyteller Award Takes Bee Researcher Melanie Kirby to Spain

May 17, 2019 daniel.rieck

Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship 2019 recipient Melanie Kirby.

MEDIA: April Seehafer, WSU Distinguished Scholarships Program director, 509-335-8239, seehafer@wsu.edu

PULLMAN, Wash.—Though career coaches encourage job applicants to say “yes” with a can-do attitude, answering “no” to a Peace Corps question 22 years ago set Washington State University student Melanie Margarita Kirby on a career and academic path like no other. It’s one that will take her to Spain this fall for a nine-month Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship—WSU’s first.

“In 1997, the Peace Corps questionnaire asked if I would mind working with stinging insects,” the 45-year-old mother of two recalled, “and by saying ‘no, I wouldn’t mind,’ my life changed forever. I was introduced to beekeeping as a volunteer in Paraguay, and that led to my own small farm back in New Mexico, raising honey bees and breeding queens.

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Fulbright Takes WSU Pianist Garrett Snedeker to London

April 18, 2019 daniel.rieck

Fulbright 2019 recipient Garrett Snedeker.

MEDIA: April Seehafer, WSU Distinguished Scholarships Program director, 509-335-8239, seehafer@wsu.edu

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University senior Garrett Snedeker has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to London’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance to explore the topic “harnessing music’s ability for social change” in the coming year.

“I’m always happy to perform and share music, but I want to introduce listeners to new ways to process and think about what they are hearing,” said Snedeker. “Thanks to the Fulbright, I will be thoroughly educated to accomplish that goal in a more informed manner throughout my career. I also appreciate the chance to absorb a new and creative environment in the U.K.” » More …

WSU History Student Ryan Booth Receives Fulbright to Study in India

March 19, 2019 daniel.rieck

MEDIA: April Seehafer, WSU Distinguished Scholarships Program director, 509-335-8239, seehafer@wsu.edu

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University history doctoral student and future professor Ryan W. Booth has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to spend nine months in India exploring socio-cultural characteristics attributed to indigenous soldiers during the British Raj up to a century ago.

His work adds an international element to his dissertation, and may well lead to a new global thread of research in the area of military history. » More …

WSU Vancouver alumna Imee Williams lands Fulbright Scholarship to research in the Philippines

June 29, 2018 daniel.rieck

MEDIA: April Seehafer, WSU Distinguished Scholarships Program director, 509-335-8239, seehafer@wsu.edu

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University Vancouver neuroscience alumna and future physician Imee Williams has received a 2018 Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to investigate sociocultural aspects surrounding families raising children with disabilities in the Philippines.

“Being a Fulbright Scholar is a great honor for me personally, and it is certain to open doors for me in my native country and lead to opportunities to improve lives there,” said Williams. » More …

Fulbright ETA distinguished scholarship awarded to Gregory K. Walker, WSU Vancouver graduate

February 24, 2017 daniel.rieck

MEDIA: April Seehafer, WSU Distinguished Scholarships Program, 509-335-8239, seehafer@wsu.edu

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University Vancouver graduate Gregory K. Walker has received from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) award to teach in Spain.

Walker, who graduated in May 2016 with a bachelor of arts degree in English, planned to travel to Spain early in 2017. He will be placed in a classroom to assist a local teacher.

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WSU Fulbright scholar to study natural cleanup crew in New Zealand

October 30, 2015 seabertson

MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Jones, Department of Entomology, 404-432-9528, matthew.s.jones@wsu.edu

Mary Sanchez Lanier, Assistant Vice-Provost, School of Molecular Biosciences, 509-335-2320, sanchez@vetmed.wsu.edu

PULLMAN, Wash. — Driving thousands of miles to catch dung beetles in traps baited with pig droppings may not sound like glamorous work to most, but for entomology graduate student Matt Jones it is just another day in the field. Jones is Washington State University’s newest recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship. The award will fund his ongoing doctoral research on what he calls nature’s “cleanup crew.” » More …

WSU’s Newest Fulbright Fellow and Ph.D. Student Patrick Freeze to Improve Thailand Rice by Decontaminating Soil

May 12, 2015 daniel.rieck

MEDIA: Sarah Ann Hones, Distinguished Scholarships Program director, WSU Undergraduate Education, 509-335-8239, shones@wsu.edu

Amelia Veneziano, communications staff, WSU Undergraduate Education, 509-335-6679, aj.veneziano@gmail.com

Unearthing an Italian connection

Italy wasn’t just about academics. In the course of his studies there, Freeze decided to try to pick up some Italian. The author of a language book had a familiar name on the cover—Picarazzi—the same as his maternal grandfather who immigrated to America from southern Italy.

“Do I know this person?” Freeze wondered. “So I emailed her and asked if we could be related.”

After several exchanges, the two determined that they were, in fact, second or third cousins.

“And that my great-uncle Lou bought her father his first pair of shoes during the war,” Freeze said. “It’s crazy. Getting the opportunity to go to Italy opened up this connection with someone out of nowhere.”

College: the Most Foreign Experience of All

One of seven children, Freeze is just the second to attend college. He grew up in Hamilton, a rural town in Texas Hill Country “about three hours from anything.”

“I feel like my family has the makings of a good country song,” he said. “When I was four, my family and I lived in a tent. In junior high I picked grass in a neighbor’s corn field for money and I worked through high school. With that many kids, resources can be tight.”

Freeze was unsure about attending a four-year university. As a Texas farm kid, he was in Future Farmers of America and 4-H, but never had much formal science education. He considered going to art school, but instead took community college courses in central California. One earth science course in, and he was hooked.

“I was doing so much better in my science classes then my art classes,” he said. “That was because in science I was so attentive. It was fascinating. So I decided to switch.”

Transferring to UNR gave him what he calls the biggest culture shock of his life.

“Going to a large university for the first time was honestly the most foreign experience I have ever had, or ever will have, including my international research and travel experience. Once I got over that, though, I was completely fearless.

“Getting my undergraduate degree was one thing, and the Ph.D. is something else. Now, as a Fulbright Fellow and with all of the international work I’ve done, my family is really proud of me.”

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University doctoral student Patrick Freeze has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to spend 10 months in Thailand to study reducing toxic cadmium contamination and plant uptake in rural rice paddy soils, with a goal to improve the quality of the grain as a safe food source as well as an export product.

“Patrick’s pursuits in soil science and remediation in combination with his personal interest in improving life through science made him an excellent candidate for support from the nationally funded Fulbright Program,” said Sarah Ann Hones, director of the Distinguished Scholarships Program in WSU Undergraduate Education. “We appreciate that he will be an outstanding ambassador of our university and the U.S.”

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