MDP Student Awards and Accomplishments – Fall 2019

Dec. 11, 2019

In summer and fall 2019, MDP students received a number of fellowships, graduate assistantships, research funds, and other honors and awards.

Fellowships and Scholarships

  • Mary Ngugi – FLAS (Foreign Language & Area Studies) Fellowship in Latin American Studies
  • Natalia Cachora – UA Native American Student Affairs Scholarship
  • Samantha Turner – W. Wright Foundation Scholarship
  • Amata Inshuti – World Conservation Society (WCS) Fellowship
  • Jake Meyers – Esther Chepchumba Machibya Memorial Scholarship, Southern Arizona Environmental Management Society Scholarship
  • Jack DeBoerSehdia Mansaray, Robert HartwellJake Meyers, and Abdul Sigal – Coverdell Peace Corps Fellowships

University of Arizona Graduate Assistantships

  • Natalia Cachora – Native American Science and Engineering Program (NASEP)
  • Avery Julian Baker – Think Tank
  • Mary Ngugi  – Global Studies
  • Laura McCannAmata Inshuti, and Heather Altherr – School of Geography and Development

University of Arizona Local Outreach Assistantships

  • Sehdia Mansaray – National Phenology Network (NPN)
  • Jack DeBoer – Pima County Smartscape
  • Abdul Sigal – Literacy Connects of Tucson
  • Robert Hartwell – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Arizona
  • Jake Meyers – Community Foundation for Southern Arizona

Summer 2019 Practicum Funding for Research related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • Robert Hartwell
  • Jake Meyers
  • Avery Julian Baker
  • Abdul Sigal

Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC) Travel and Research Awards

  • Abdul Sigal (travel)
  • Avery Julian Baker (travel)
  • Jake Meyers (travel and research)

Coverdell Travel and Research Award

  • Abdul Sigal
  • Robert Hartwell

Other Student Accomplishments

  • Jake Meyers won a national digital storytelling competition to become a Correspondent with the online platform Planet Forward.
  • Isabella Moreno and Laura McCann were elected MDP student representatives to the Student Government Association within the School of Geography and Development
  • Robert Riley was nominated by the Dean of the UA Honors College to participate in the Academic Performance Review of the Honors College next spring.
  • Robert Hartwell is president of the UA Peace Corps Club for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs).

Recent Alumni Employment News

  • Michelle Schatz (MDP 2019) is a Case Manager for the Refugee Youth Mentoring Program (RYMP) with Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest in Tucson.
  • Amanda Hixson (MDP 2018) is Food Program Director at Del Norte and Tribal Lands Community Food Council in Crescent City, California.
  • Anna Jackson (MDP 2019) is a Technical Assistance and Outreach Coordinator of Community Development at Habitat for Humanity Tucson.
  • Kelli Williams (MDP 2019) is an Environmental Protection Specialist at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in San Francisco. 
  • Amel Lebatt (MDP 2019) is an Individual Employment Specialist with the International Rescue Committee in Phoenix.
  • Philana A. Jeremiah (MDP 2019) is a Ph.D. candidate in Geography at UA.
  • Karina Martinez (MDP 2019) is Ph.D. candidate in Arid Lands Resource Sciences at UA.

Faculty and Staff Accomplishments

MDP Director Katherine Snyder organized a panel on “Agriculture and Transformations in Rural African Livelihoods” and presented a paper on changing livelihoods in rural Tanzania at the 2019 Sustainability and Development Conference at the University of Michigan. She also co-authored an article on "’Modern’ farming and the transformation of livelihoods in rural Tanzania" in the journal Agriculture and Human Values.

MDP Assistant Director Raymond Smith published a book entitled Extending International Human Right Protections to Vulnerable Populations (Routledge, October 2019). He also recently lead authored a policy brief for the World Health Organization about engagement with the UN Human Right Council to promote global health rights.

MDP Faculty Member Stephanie Buechler co-authored an article on “Livelihoods with Multiple Stressors: Gendered Youth Decision-making under Global Environmental Change in Rural Northwest Mexico” in the journal Environment and Planning. Her course for the MDP on “Natural Resource Management in Tucson, Southern Arizona, and the Border” received support from the UA SBS Support Fund and from the Student-Faculty Interaction Fund.