April 23, 2019

Congratulations to the latest Drexel students to be recognized by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program!

Six Drexel students have been offered prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants for 2019-20 and one has been named an alternate. As applicants, they spent significant time developing research proposals, crafting application essays, and incorporating feedback from supportive readers. They will join over 2,100 U.S. citizens who will study, research, teach, and undertake creative projects abroad in 2019-2020 through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. We are delighted they've been recognized for their hard work and potential.

2019 Fulbright Student Honorees

Candace Davis
BS International Business and Marketing '19
Fulbright Program: English Teaching Assistant (ETA) to Taiwan

Candace is a senior, double majoring in international business and marketing, with a minor in film studies.  She has focused her studies on creative marketing, public relations, and language, with a particular interest in entertainment and film marketing. She has been awarded the Intermediate Language Proficiency Certificate in French and is currently pursuing proficiency in Mandarin. Candace has spent time abroad through her undergraduate career, including a co-op in Beijing, China where she was able to learn public relations marketing and event planning for a foreign audience.

Dakota Peterson
BA Political Science '18
Fulbright Program: Study/Research Grant to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dakota graduated from Drexel in 2018 and is interested in studying U.S. foreign policy in post-conflict settings. Throughout his academic career at Drexel, Dakota has demonstrated a keen interest in research and policy centered around marginalized communities. As a research assistant to Dr. Zoltan Buzas, Dakota explored the intricacies of the World Wars to help contextualize present day marginalization and criminalization of the Roma population in Eastern Europe. He then gained practical experience at the U.S. Department of Labor working to ensure compliance with Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity policies.

With his background in research and passion for policy development, Dakota is seeking to employ his research skills in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. He looks forward to the opportunity to work with top scholars in the field and formulate new strategies to facilitate peaceful transitions. After gaining more research experience, Dakota plans to pursue a career at the United Nations, concentrating on post-conflict transitions around the globe.

Gregory Risser
PhD Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Fulbright Study/Research Grant to the Netherlands

Greg Risser is a PhD candidate in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences and Health Systems. Ever since he learned how biomaterials can help heal serious injuries, Greg has been researching biomaterial designs to increase their healing potential. Greg's proposed research in the Netherlands will examine the effects of drug-delivering microparticles on immune cells, called macrophages, which are crucial to mending injuries. This research will provide information on how to better design microparticles to alter macrophage behavior and thereby improve healing and blood vessel growth in injured tissue. When not working in the lab, Greg enjoys homebrewing, running and reading. Greg would like to thank Dr. Kara Spiller and Emily Coyle for their support and advice during the application process.

Keziah Sheldon
BS Physics '19
Fulbright Study/Research Grant to Austria

Keziah Sheldon is an undergraduate physics major with a minor in mathematics. She has been active in research beginning with her STAR project with Dr. Gordon Richards, and continues working with him on a project that explores the possibility of using quasars as cosmological distance probes, through searching for underlying trends in spectral emission parameters. This work is culminating in her senior thesis 'Can quasars be used for cosmology?'. She has been active in societies such as the Women in Physics Society (President 2017-18, VP 2018-19) as well as the Society of Physics Students, and is the coordinator for the WIPS hosted series 'Happy Science Fun Night,' an informal event (with snacks) for undergrads and grads to discuss their research. She was a SURP student for the Dunlap Institute at the University of Toronto (summer 2017) working on a quasar luminosity function cosmology project with Renée Hložek. She has presented her research at AAS 2018, APS 2015, and Physcon 2016, as well as the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (2016,2017). In addition to physics, she is also a cellist and has also been active in the Drexel Symphony Orchestra since 2014, and served as cello principal (2016,2019) as well as the winner of the DUSO 2016 Solo Competition with the first movement of the Elgar Cello Concerto. She has many other interests including coffee roasting (& drinking), writing sci-fi, and restoring manual typewriters.

Through the Fulbright, she will be working in the quantum photonics lab of Dr. Philip Walther at the University of Vienna, constructing a single-photon detector by using an entangled multi-photon system via an interferometric setup combined with superconducting nanowires. As a cellist, she will also be interfacing with the local music community in Vienna through ensemble and group performance.

Michael Cimorelli
PhD Candidate, Chemical & Biological Engineering
Fulbright Study/Research Grant to the Netherlands

Michael Cimorelli is a PhD candidate in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department studying under the advisement of Dr. Steven Wrenn. The broader strokes of his research focus on the development of the next generation ultrasound enhancing agent that is engineered for quantifying myocardial perfusion, monitoring ischemia, and detecting infarction. As a PhD candidate in the Wrenn Lab, he specializes in medical imaging techniques, surface force interactions, and developing and characterizing lab-derived vesicles. Through Fulbright, he hopes to take the skill set he’s honed in the Wrenn Lab and translate it to a new problem – developing a biomarker for kidney cancer from liquid biopsy by using Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging under the guidance of Dr. Rienk Nieuwland at the University of Amsterdam’s Academic Medical College. Upon completion of his Fulbright, Michael plans to pursue a career dedicated to helping those with life-threatening medical conditions by bridging the gap between medicine and science through effective collaboration between academia and industry partners.

Sheridan Clements
BA Anthropology '19, Honors
Fulbright Study/Research Grant to the UK

Sheridan Clements is an anthropology student minoring in German. While at Drexel they were an officer for the Anthropological Association and were involved in the Student Center for Diversity and Inclusion’s trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming student committee. Their second year, Sheridan began research as a Humanities and Social Sciences Fellowship student. They spent their co-op in Greece, working in the archives of the Historical Museum of Crete. Most recently, Sheridan has returned from a study abroad semester at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Through Fulbright, Sheridan will be pursuing their master’s degree in Celtic Archaeology at Bangor University in Wales.

*The list does not include the students who declined to have their names published online.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards funding for one academic year of self-designed study, research, creative projects, or teaching English in over 140 countries around the world. For more information please visit the Fulbright U.S. Student Program website or email fellowships@drexel.edu!

** The 2020-21 Fulbright U.S. Student Program is now open! Learn more about applying for Fulbright at Drexel.**

About the Fulbright U.S. Student Program

Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given more than 390,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Fulbrighters address critical global challenges in all disciplines while building relationships, knowledge, and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 59 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 84 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered by the Institute of International Education. Drexel students and recent alumni work with Fulbright Program Advisors in the Center for Scholar Development, a unit of the Pennoni Honors College.

For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright or contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Press Office by telephone 202-632-6452 or e-mail ECA-Press@state.gov.

For information and official policies to publicize this news, please contact please contact Kelly Weissberger, Associate Director, Drexel Center for Scholar Development.