Alexandra Davis, Joel Palmer, Emily Grubb and Alyssa Findlay (not pictured) have won Fulbright Awards to research and teach in South Africa, Indonesia, Taiwan and Israel.  

Fulbrights awarded

UD undergraduate, graduate students awarded prestigious Fulbright grants

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12:03 p.m., May 18, 2015--University of Delaware doctoral candidate Alyssa Findlay, master’s degree students Joel Palmer and Alexandra Davis and undergraduate Emily Grubb have been awarded prestigious Fulbright grants for the coming year.  

They join faculty members Katya Roelse and Gretchen Bauer as UD Fulbright recipients for 2015-16.

Global Stories

Fulbright awards

Three University of Delaware students and an alumna have received word this spring that they will travel abroad as part of the newest class of Fulbright Student Program award winners.

Peace Corps plans

Two University of Delaware students, John McCarron and Bridgette Spritz, have been selected as Peace Corps volunteers and will serve in Ghana and Rwanda.

Created in 1946 by U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright, the Fulbright program seeks to promote relationships between governments and citizens of other countries. Since its inception, 122,800 U.S. students and professionals have participated in the program, conducting research or teaching English in a foreign nation for a year. 

Findlay, a doctoral candidate studying oceanography in UD’s School of Marine Science and Policy, has received a Fulbright scholarship to study sulfur cycling in the Sea of Galilee as a postdoctoral researcher at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel.

Most of what scientists currently understand about the chemistry of ancient oceans comes from interpreting sulfur isotopic signatures in sedimentary rocks. This information, however, relies on the idea that the signatures formed in the water column by biological and chemical processes are faithfully preserved in the sedimentary rock, which is still unclear. 

The Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Kinneret, lies in between ancient and modern conditions, and studying it can help scientists draw conclusions about how the oceans have transitioned over time. 

At Ben-Gurion, Findlay will learn new instrumental techniques and methods to measure sulfur species using isotopic measurements. “Understanding what drives sulfide oxidation,” she said, “may have important implications in the management of sulfidic waters and other water quality improvements. “

Palmer, a graduating master’s student of African American literature, has received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Program scholarship, and will spend the next year teaching English in Indonesia. 

While Palmer still awaits his exact placement in Indonesia, he says he has been interested in visiting the nation for many years and is most looking forward to “experiencing the culture as well as teaching high school or young college students.”

A master’s student in urban affairs and public policy in UD’s School of Public Policy and Administration, Davis is the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to study retail-led commercial real estate development in South Africa. 

As a 2013 Plastino scholar, Davis designed a project to go to South Africa to study the small medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector. Interested in examining marginalized and historically racially oppressed communities, she decided to focus on the community of Soweto, which has experienced focused retail-commercial development over the past five years.

Building many connections and relationships during her earlier time in South Africa, Davis’ decision to apply for a Fulbright grant was a natural extension of the research she had conducted. 

Davis also hopes to engage with many of the young African leaders she met while working with the Mandela Washington Fellows Program at UD in the summer of 2014.

Davis’ research is inspired by her father, a real estate developer who built a shopping center with the first supermarket in the West Ward of Trenton in about 40 years. Through her own research, she seeks to examine how new developments engage and create jobs for traditionally impoverished communities, such as the West Ward, in other parts of the world. For her Fulbright, she will be returning to Soweto, the community she originally studied as a Plastino Scholar.

Grubb, an undergraduate student with majors in international relations and three languages – Chinese, Spanish and Japanese – is a recipient of a Fulbright Program scholarship to Taiwan. She is one of two American students who received a Fulbright scholarship to complete an international master’s degree at the National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan

Grubb became interested in Taiwan when she realized, in high school, that her Chinese teacher was Taiwanese. In the summer of 2013, she traveled to Taiwan on a Huayu enrichment program to study Chinese in an intensive language program. While there, Grubb realized that she wanted to return to Taiwan upon graduation. 

With encouragement from her parents and UD faculty, Grubb applied for and received a Fulbright to Taiwan. Ultimately, Grubb hopes to work for the U.S. Department of State, participating in trilateral negotiations between the U.S., China and Taiwan. She believes her Fulbright experience in Taiwan will equip her with the necessary tools and connections to pursue a career in diplomacy. 

“Having a specialization in Asia Pacific studies from a university taught primarily from a Taiwanese standpoint will give me an edge,” said Grubb. “I will have an American background with a better understanding of the Taiwanese, so I will be able to navigate the conversations and dialogue between the two sides.”

About the Fulbright Program

Each year the Fulbright Program provides 8,000 grants for research or teaching in one of over 140 countries throughout the world. Introduced by U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright in 1946, the program seeks to foster international partnership and cultural exchange by funding research and teaching opportunities worldwide.

The University of Delaware counts over 150 members of its community as recipients of Fulbright scholarship awards, and is currently home to 17 Fulbright students and scholars from 12 countries. UD students and faculty interested in applying for a Fulbright award should visit the UD Fulbright website

Article by Jessica Franzetti

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