MELANIE ALEMAN
Melanie worked with The Nature Conservancy in Jakarta, Indonesia doing research on an educational center for corporate engagement in environmental conservation. For the feasibility report, Melanie conducted surveys, interviews and identified strategic partners for the initiative. This Center of Environmental Excellence is expected to launch in 2016 and help train Indonesian business employees on the value of conservation and sustainability, along with more specified and technical knowledge, adapting to the given industry and environment.

 PAULITA BENNETT-MARTIN
Paulita spent three months with Oceana Belize, contributing to grassroots campaigning and community outreach. During this time, she also conducted marine debris and plastic pollution mapping and identified litter and pollution prevention networks. In addition, Paulita cultivated a grassroots movement, Plastic Free Belize, bringing together local and international scientists, artists, and activists. This work led to large scale public art installations, a local symposium, and new networks in marine conservation, and gained public popularity when Paulita was featured live on the national TV Open Your Eyes. ​ 

 VICTORIA CHUONG
Victoria's practicum focused on corporate social responsibility. Through a partnership with the Universidad de Los Andes she joined a team in Colombia that was contracted to do a baseline assessment of employee engagement for the Bavaria Brewery's sustainability program (known as "Prosper"). Victoria identified the program's strengths and weaknesses and made recommendations to better integrate Prosper in the organizational culture, with the intent of securing the future sustainability of the company.  

 AMELIA CONRAD
Amelia worked in Ethiopia with a Global Health Institute team focused on gender-based violence. Collaborating with the Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ESOG), Amelia and her team reviewed nearly 3,000 medical charts at two of Ethiopia's first sexual assault response clinics located in Adama and Hawassa. In addition, she assisted the local organization Enhancing Child-Focused Activities (ECFA) in updating their mission and vision, creating a new organizational profile, designing a strategic planning process, and producing a grant proposal.

 MARIO COREA
Mario traveled to Paraguay as a member of a Global Health Institute team this summer. Their objective was to develop local culturally and linguistically appropriate adaptations of three evidence-based adolescent sexual and reproductive health interventions for use in the Bañado Sur community of Asuncion, Paraguay. His role involved conducting trial runs of the ProMundo Program H: Working with Young Men intervention, which has a unique approach to engaging young men and boys on issues of gender equality and masculinity. 

 FALLON FRAPPIER AND TANYA WITLEN
Tanya and Fallon spent the summer in Bisate, Rwanda working with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (DFGFI).  They implemented a story contest to investigate the current knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Bisate students surrounding water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) issues. The contest acted as a non-intrusive, culturally appropriate, and motivational research tool. Over 500 students were invited to participate in this year’s contest. Research analysis is assisting DFGFI in improving their current WASH curricula in Bisate schools.

 JESSICA FRYE
Jessica worked in Senegal with Sightsavers International, an international NGO focused on eliminating preventable blindness. Partnering with the Ministry of Health, she conducted mixed methods research to determine trichiasis rates in the region of Diourbel. The goal of the study was to assess current operational and management systems of Senegal’s National Trachoma Program. She produced a report and recommendations that are being used to develop a monitoring and evaluation protocol for trichiasis surgeries and patient follow-up.

 KATE GROENEVELT
Kate worked for The Nature Conservancy in Tanzania, on their integrated population, health and environment (PHE) project on Lake Tanganyika. Located adjacent to Mahale Mountains National Park, the project is designed to minimize communities’ dependence on natural resources by reducing population growth and developing alternative income-generating activities. Kate worked on the Model Household Initiative, which promotes positive PHE behaviors at the household level. She also worked with a young adult drama group that designs and acts out plays to promote healthy-seeking behaviors.

 KATIE HIEBERT
Katie spent ten weeks in Burkina Faso working with a consortium of organizations, Association Minim Song Panga and Association Nourrir Sans Detruire and the Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles on a project that promotes farmer-led agroecology innovations to improve soil nutrient management and water retention. She conducted an evaluation of this project by conducting focus groups and interviews with farmers. Katie also spent time working with Djigui Espoir, an association of handicapped women empowering themselves through production of soy- and cereal-based products.

 TYRELL KAHAN
Tyrell served with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International in Rwanda. He worked with a Global Health Institute team in areas surrounding the Volcanoes National Park to determine whether humans and gorillas share the same species of intestinal pathogens. The findings will inform efforts to protect the gorillas while promoting development in the communities in and around the park. Later in the summer, Tyrell traveled to Uganda to work with Vets Without Borders-US collecting surveillance data on tuberculosis, brucellosis and human African trypanosomiasis in humans and livestock.

 JULIE KEDROSKE
Julie worked with CARE International- Sri Lanka on the expansion of a private sector program called WEAVE. The WEAVE program operates in post-conflict districts in the North and seeks to empower women heads of household by providing technical and design skills in handloom weaving as well as training in business management. Julie helped to launch the program and produced a baseline report and an analysis of the handloom industry in Sri Lanka. These outputs are being used to establish links to private sector partners and to expand the market for handloom products in the country.

 NATHAN KENNEDY AND JILLIAN KENNY
Nathan and Jillian joined the The Nature Conservancy's Papua New Guinea Forest Programteam this summer. The program works with local communities to protect the rainforests of the Adelbert Mountains in Papua New Guinea. Jillian and Nathan designed and implemented a social impact evaluation in five villages to measure changes resulting from a Fair Trade cocoa-cooperative. They specifically looked at changes in social capital, social inclusion and gender, conservation awareness, and land-use and livelihood decisions. Their work is being used by The Nature Conservancy to inform similar programs in the region.

 ERIN KIM
Erin served in South Korea with Yeomyung (YM) School, an alternative high school for North Korean defector youths in Seoul which aims to promote education and academic opportunities among the newly arrived. Erin designed the curriculum and directed the summer school program, which was aimed to develop math and English proficiency as well as to promote post-secondary education. Erin also initiated a project to empower the voice of the marginalized youths using PhotoVoice, a YM Summer School report based on the research was published in fall 2015 by the Yeomyung School.

 VICTORIA PHOENIX
Victoria worked with United Methodist Communications (UMCOM) in the Philippines. She designed and wrote a communications and disaster management protocol for the three episcopal areas in the Philippines. Victoria wrote two $20,000 grants for a ham radio program to accompany the communications protocol in addition to developing training tools for effective implementation of the new technology. By visiting sites and interviewing leaders in the community she was able to contextualize and adapt the protocol, which will be distributed throughout the Philippines. 

 LAUREN REEF
Lauren spent her summer working in Villa Guadalupe, a former trash picker community in Managua, Nicaragua. Lauren was on a Global Health Institute team which conducted a health needs assessment and evaluating a nutrition program in coordination with a small nonprofit called Manna Project International. Lauren and the team used house-to-house surveys, interviews and focus groups to collect data and provide evidence-based recommendations to improve the organization's programming. 

  TSEWANG RIGZIN
Tsewang Rigzin worked as a research fellow at Tibet Policy Institute in Dharamsala and conducted independent research which resulted in a report titled Exile Tibetan Community: Problems and Prospects. Initially considered as an internal document of Central Tibetan Administration, the report received high praise from many, including secretaries from private office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Library of Tibetan Works will publish the report in book form in October 2016. It will be available in English and in Tibetan.

 HAYLEY ROBINETT
As part of a multidisciplinary Global Health Institute team in partnership with the US Virgin Islands Department of Health Communicable Diseases Division Hayley worked on HIV/AIDS and STI research in the US Virgin Islands. The goal of the study was to better understand HIV/AIDS in the USVI, including knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of at-risk individuals. The data are being used to inform Department of Health staff on current HIV trends, how to improve community access to HIV/AIDS resources, and to complement the USVI HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report and Epidemiological Profile.

 BARRETT SMITH
Barrett joined the work of Grassroots Jerusalem in Palestine. GJ is confronting Israel's military occupation in Palestine and invigorating Palestinian society by fostering the development of a grassroots movement in Jerusalem, the rest of Palestine and around the world. Barrett's work included helping design, revise and author the English version of their new website, preparing an e-version of Wujood - the grassroots political guide of Jerusalem, supporting the launch of community-based political tourist centers, and streamlining and strengthening GJ's social media presence.

 LARA WAGNER
Building on her experience as a consultant, Lara spent her summer performing a follow-up evaluation for WayFair, a social change consulting firm based in London. Lara traveled to the United Kingdom and Ethiopia where she to engaged in a qualitative evaluation of Engendering Change, an Oxfam Canada gender equality program implemented by WayFair which focuses on rural smallholder farmers. The data from those evaluations were used by both Oxfam Canada to fine-tune their program implementation and WayFair to contribute to the firm's communication materials.

 HELENA WORRALL
During the summer, Helena conducted research in Kenya for the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Helena carried out focus group discussions and farm visits with smallholder dairy farmers in rural Nandi to better understand the role of gender and social differentiation in feeding and manure management practices. Her final report contributed to ILRI's wider Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)  project on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Kenyan dairy sector, which has the dual aim of improving smallholder productivity and efficiency.