Three UMass Amherst Graduate Students Garner Boren Fellowships

Three UMass Amherst graduate students have received Boren National Security Graduate Fellowships to study languages in regions critical to U.S. interests. While living abroad, the students will immerse themselves in the culture of their host country. Following their studies, each recipient will enter public service at a federal agency for at least a year.

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Fiona J. Almeida, of Marlborough, is a doctoral student in the Department of Health Promotion and Policy. She works with Aline Gubrium and Krishna Poudel, professors of community health education, with a focus on women’s reproductive health, menstrual stigma and equity. Almeida will study the language Kannada in Karnataka, South India. Proficiency in Kannada is vital for her future goal to strengthen the Bureau for Global Health’s collaboration with South Asia to design innovative digital health education to improve health care for girls and women.

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Patrick “Paddy” Heng, of Memphis, Tennessee, is a master’s student in the Department of Earth, Geographic and Climate Sciences. He will study the Khmer language for nine months in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. While there, Heng also hopes to study present-day soils and sediments under the guidance of his advisor, Isla S. Castañeda, professor of molecular paleoclimatology, and researchers from the Institute of Technology of Cambodia to improve understanding of past climate conditions within mainland Southeast Asia. Studying Khmer is vital to his future goal of strengthening scientific collaborations between the U.S. and Cambodia and exchanging knowledge of climate adaptation strategies.

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Kefiana Wairimũ wa Kabati, of Worcester, is a graduate student in the College of Education studying bilingualism and second language acquisition. Kabati will participate in an intensive domestic Swahili language program over the summer, and then travel to Tanzania to further her Swahili studies. The Boren Fellowship will advance her work in bilingual literacy development, while also allowing her to explore decolonized and futuristic ways and systems of knowing. For the federal service commitment attached to the fellowship, Kabati hopes to work on international education projects through the U.S. Agency for International Development or make an impact in multilingual education through the U.S. Department of Education.

The national awardees have been supported by the university’s Graduate School and Office of National Scholarship Advisement (ONSA) and the advising work of Mujtaba Hedayet, ONSA advisor, and Heidi Bauer-Clapp, associate director of the Office of Professional Development.

The Boren National Security Education Program was founded by the National Security Education Act of 1991, which created the National Security Education Board, the National Security Education Program, and resources to provide undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships and institutional grants. It is guided by a mission that seeks to lead in development of the national capacity to educate U.S. citizens, understand foreign cultures, strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness and enhance international cooperation and security.