Compton Environment and Sustainability Fellows

IDCE with funds from the Compton Foundation continues to support Environment and Sustainability Fellowships for master’s level graduate students whose studies focus on the environment and sustainable development.

Compton Environment and Sustainability Fellows receive $10,000 at the end of their first year of study to enable them to conduct research for their masters research paper, participate in an internship directly related to their work on the environment, or to otherwise gain practical experience.  Fellowship funds may be used to support research or participation in an internship, living costs while completing their master’s research paper, and tuition. The exact use of the funds will be negotiated between the degree candidates and IDCE. Each selected candidate will also receive a tuition remission award from IDCE that is equal to at least 50 percent of tuition.
           
Eligibility. Environment and Sustainability Fellowships are designed support early to mid-career professional from sub-Saharan Africa, Mexico, and Central America.

Fellows are selected by an interdisciplinary committee consisting of faculty from a variety of Clark graduate programs and selected in line with Compton’s goals of finding candidates who intend to return to their home regions to work in fields that contribute directly to the capacity of their countries to make informed policy and resource management decisions based on principles of sustainability and sound science

Contact: William Fisher, Director of IDCE
Tel: 508-421-3767
Fax: 508-793-8820
Email: wfisher@clarku.edu

Contact: David Ian Bell, Coordinator of the Compton ESD Fellowships
Tel: 508-793-7568
Fax: 508-793-8820
Email: dbell@clarku.edu

Anne Murenha (IDSC) has been awarded a Environment and Sustainable Development Fellowship from the Compton Foundation, administered through IDCE. The award will enable her to carry out a research project on a theme related to integrating environmental management and sustainable development.

Read Anne Murenha's winning Compton Graduate Fellowship proposal.

Other IDCE recipients of the Compton ESD Fellowship include:

Rukaya Mohammed (IDSC/MA ‘06) worked with NewEnergy and Oxfam Market Access Program as a micro credit officer and MIS officer respectively. As part of an Oxfam/Great Britain team, Mohammed used the Policy Analysis or Participatory Poverty Alleviation (PAPPA) tool to collect baseline information from focal development partners in 27 communities in northern Ghana.

Mary Ofori (IDSC/MA ‘05) worked for Village Aid Project and as a field coordinator for the Ghana Organization of Volunteer Assistance. She mobilized 20 youth groups and trained them in income-generation and forest conservation, plus served as a facilitator of Clark’s Policy Analysis or Participatory Poverty Alleviation (PAPPA) Program in the village of Dzekiti in eastern Ghana. Her master’s research addressed “Poverty, Youth, and HIV/AIDS: A Case Study in the Manya District of Eastern Ghana.”

Sulley Sumani (IDSC/MA ‘05) was the National Coordinator for Disaster Preparedness and Response for the Ghana Red Cross Society for eight years. He had experience in planning and implementing emergency programs for disasters affecting displaced persons from conflicts and natural disasters. His final paper examined “Exploring the Differential Impact of Trade Liberalization on the Livelihoods of Women in the Shea Industry in Northern Ghana.”

Illona Kodjo-Wayo (IDSC/MA ‘05) worked as a project officer in Accra office of GOVA. She worked on PAPPA/PRA community capacity building projects with Professor Richard Ford in Ghana and conducted an evaluation of the PAPPA process in the village of Bamaenase. Her master’s research centered on examining the “Chronology of the Ghanaian Debt.”

Saeed B. Abubakari (IDSC/MA ‘04) was a project manager for Village Aid in Tamale. His studies at IDCE focused on the “The Role of Participatory Approached in Strengthening Sustainable Development: A Case of Peasants’’ Struggle for Empowerment in Northern Ghana.”

Shukri Abdillahi (IDSC/MA ‘04) researched the role of Somali women in peace-building as a Compton Fellow. Abdillahi traveled to Dararweyne, Somaliland, to evaluate the progress of the community development and peace-building program that she and a team led by Professor Richard Ford had initiated the previous winter.

Kisco Sinvula (GISDE/MA ‘02) presented a report, “Comparative Analysis of Vegetation Indices in the Dominican Republic,” at the Association of American Geographers (AAG) annual conference in Los Angeles, CA in March. Mang Lung Cheuck (GISDE/MA ‘02) and Kisco collaborated on this project that examines the applicability and suitability of five vegetation indices. Vegetation indices are spectral measures of the presence of vegetation on the ground. The students used geographic information systems techniques such as mathematical operations and visual comparison to derive the conclusion.

Salifu-Samson Danse (IDSC/MA ‘01) worked with GOVA and Village Aid Project as a country program manager for its Ghana Programme. His master’s research centered on “Integrating Local Scientific Knowledge, Industrial Science and State Policy: Towards an Effective Environmental Resource Management and Policy Approach in Ghana.”