Two students at Texas Tech University received scholarships from the U.S. Fulbright
Scholarship program.
Noe De La Sancha, a graduate student in the Department of Biology, and Leland Turner,
a doctoral candidate in the Department of History, were two of 1,300 recipients of
a scholarship through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
In July, De La Sancha traveled to Paraguay to study how deforestation has affected
small mammals in the Paraguayan Atlantic Forest.
"The Atlantic Forest of South America is a major biodiversity hotspot with levels
of native species only greater in the Amazon Forest," he said in a description of
his work. "In the past 40 years, the Paraguayan Atlantic Forest has experienced extreme
deforestation, which has created a natural laboratory to study the effects of habitat
fragmentation on small mammal fauna."
This August, Turner traveled to the Australian National University in Canberra to
finish his research and dissertation. In January, he will continue his research at
University of Queensland in Brisbane.
"Popular culture has merged the cowboy myth with the bush ethos in Australia and contributed
to the growing Americanization of Australian culture," Turner said of his research.
"Without doubt, the pastoral cultures of the Outback and Southwest left frontier legacies
that inform and advance regional myths and contribute to national identities in rapidly
globalizing societies."
Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional
achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.
The Fulbright Program, America’s flagship international educational exchange program,
is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs.
Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately
279,500 people – 105,400 Americans who have studied, taught or researched abroad and
174,100 students, scholars and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar
activities in the United States – with the opportunity to observe each others' political,
economic, educational and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas and to embark on
joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world's inhabitants.
CONTACT: Jane Bell, Fulbright program advisor, (806) 742-2974, or jane.bell@ttu.edu