PULLMAN, Wash. – The newly established Washington State University Fulbright Academy is sponsoring a free, public lecture series aimed at promoting increased knowledge of the international work being produced by WSU and visiting Fulbright students and scholars.
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Sara Humphreys
, a Fulbright International Student Scholar in WSU professor Norm Lewis’ lab, is scheduled to give the next lecture at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, in the Honors College lounge. Humphreys is from New Zealand.Humphreys’ research is focused on figuring out how plants distribute the carbon they fix, but for her Fulbright lecture she’ll also be discussing biofuels more broadly, including why they are important and what the challenges are to making them a viable alternative to fossil fuels.
She also plans to talk about some of the differences between graduate education in the United States and in New Zealand, and differing attitudes towards biofuels and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Humphreys, who earned her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Otago, was working at Plant and Food Research, a New Zealand-based research and development company, when she applied to the Fulbright program.
Her advisor knew Lewis’ work and suggested she apply to his lab. “Wow, wouldn’t it be great if you could work with him?” he said.
The Fulbright Academy plans to host about two seminars each month during the academic year. The first will be given by a faculty scholar and the second by a visiting student or visiting faculty scholar. This mix will help participants get a well-rounded feel for the Fulbright experience.
During the first seminar, WSU Fulbright Ambassador Mushtaq Memon discussed his first Fulbright experience in Oman, where he worked with local university students in the veterinary sciences. Specifically, he helped students and faculty understand how to track the reproductive productivity of their bulls.
Memon, who will be leaving for Pakistan next month for his second Fulbright fellowship, provided insight into the impact that his Oman fellowship had on both his personal and professional life. Living and working in an environment so different from the United States allowed him to grow and change both as an individual and as a researcher, he said.
Future lectures sponsored by the WSU Fulbright Academy include Hanu Pappu, WSU Fulbright Faculty Scholar who worked in Egypt (Nov. 8); and Boris Delimimarschi, Fulbright Visiting Scholar from Moldova (Nov. 29).
For more information about the Fulbright Academy, go to http://ip.wsu.edu/fulbright/home.html