Source(s):
Jane Luzar 352-392-2251 ext. 234
Dennis Jett 352-392-5323 ext. 501
Adam Silagyi 352-392-3631 ext. 334
Julie Morris 352-846-0643
GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Wanted: University of Florida graduate students for three-month assignments in developing countries. Must be skilled in working with organizations and local residents to solve problems for people in different cultural environments.
“The job requirements are demanding for those who want to participate in the World Citizenship Program, and we are pleased that our students are among those selected to help people in developing countries with cultures very different from our own,” said Jane Luzar, associate dean of UF’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
“Three of our students – Adam Silagyi, Julie Morris and Rafael Reyna – recently completed work in Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan and Ecuador,” Luzar said.
Established in 2000, the World Citizenship Program is administered by UF’s International Center and has sent more than 35 graduate students from agricultural and life sciences and other disciplines across campus to work abroad, said Dennis Jett, dean of the center. UF is the first and only university offering the program, which is supported largely by the Coca-Cola Foundation in Atlanta.
Jett said the foundation recently renewed its support of the program for another three years. Also known as the Coca-Cola World Citizenship Program, the partnership involves other organizations such as World Vision International, Mercy Corps, AirServ International, The Forest Management Trust, World Conservation Union, Red Cross and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Students can apply for the international internships in the fall semester of each year. Applications are reviewed by participating organizations. After students are interviewed, those with skills the organization is looking for are offered a project and a country. Prior to their departure at the end of the spring semester, students are given an orientation session to acquaint them with the conditions they will face abroad.
The program is useful because it provides hands-on experience in a real-world setting, Jett said. Students in the program learn to use their training where resources are very limited.
“The projects can have a profound and positive effect on the communities they serve and on the students themselves. More than one student has returned with a completely different goal for their future careers,” Jett said.
He said the work of the three graduate students from the college in UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a prime example of how the program can help people in developing countries.
Silagyi, a Peace Crops veteran and student in the college’s new Doctor of Plant Medicine program, worked with native farmers in Bolivia.
“A new law in Bolivia permits tribes to own land collectively,” Silagyi said. “Tribes that have subsisted on slash and burn agriculture now have the responsibility of harvesting and selling lumber from tribal lands. In effect, these people have gone from subsistence farming to forestry, from having no income to earning thousands of dollars from harvesting trees. I helped them develop a long-range view on how to use their resources.”
Silagyi received his plant medicine degree in May 2003 and plans to work in crop health, either in agronomy or horticulture.
Julie Morris, who received her master’s degree in wildlife ecology and conservation in fall 2003, is a Peace Corps veteran and plans to work in conservation and community development.
“I wanted the experience of working in a culture and environment that was completely new to me, so I decided to work on sustainable development with the Mercy Corps in Kyrgyzstan in central Asia.”
Morris worked with community members to identify local problems and develop projects to deal with those problems. Together with other local workers, she developed training materials, work plans and business templates for those projects.
“I loved working in the field,” Morris said. “The Khirgiz people were inspiring to work with and taught me a lot. One interesting thing I discovered was how politics in the United States affect the international nonprofit world.”
Reyna, who is working on a doctoral degree in wildlife ecology and conservation, was selected by the World Conservation Union for a project in Ecuador.
“I worked to create protected areas around the Great Inca route between Argentina and Columbia,” Reyna said. “I also helped design an international workshop on monitoring world heritage sites in Latin America there are almost 100 of them. A report was presented at the World Congress of National Parks and Protected Areas in September 2003.”
Upon graduation in 2006, Reyna plans to return to Mexico to conduct research on tropical ungulates, especially about human impact on their populations.
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