DeKalb, IL – NIU Professors Melissa Lenczewski and Ricela Feliciano have both recently won Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards.
NIU Professor Melissa Lenczewski
Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious and competitive fellowships that provide unique opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research abroad. Fulbright scholars also play a critical role in U.S. public diplomacy, establishing long-term relationships between people and nations. Alumni include 61 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 76 MacArthur Fellows and thousands of leaders and world-renowned experts.
The benefits of a Fulbright Scholar Award extend beyond the individual recipient, as Fulbright Scholars raise the profile of their home institutions as well.
Lenczewski, a professor in the Department of Earth, Atmosphere and the Environment, will conduct research in Cambodia and Thailand for four months beginning in February. She will be taking a Khmer language course at NIU this fall to provide her with basic skills in the language.
“Our Center for Southeast Asian Studies has numerous connections in this part of the world in fields such as political science, anthropology and language studies,” Lenczewski said. “I’m hoping to build research relationships in environmental studies, with one goal being to create collaborative processes and research opportunities for our students.”
Lenczewski, who formerly served as director of NIU’s Institute for the Study of Environment, Sustainability, and Energy (IESE), also will conduct research on the effect of urbanization on groundwater and water quality near the capital cities of Phnom Penh and Bangkok. Her collaborators will include faculty with the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
NIU Professor Ricela Feliciano
“I’m very excited,” she said. “Because I’ll be there for a significant time period, I’ll be able to develop stronger relationships and research ties and get to know the people better. Living in a culture makes a big difference.”
Feliciano, an assistant professor of mathematics, traveled to Colombia this month and will visit the South American country again from May 1 to June 30. She is conducting research on mathematical learning in rural Colombian secondary schools along the Caribbean Coast near Barranquilla.
“During my first visit, teachers are being offered free in-service sessions on designing culturally relevant mathematics curricula,” Feliciano said. “On my second visit, I will assess how teachers and students are progressing with the community-based pedagogy.
“The exchange will benefit underserved secondary school students and their teachers,” she added. “In the process, the project will advance my research agenda and build a link between NIU and the Universidad del Atlántico.”
Feliciano will collaborate on her research with NIU’s Kevin Palencia, an assistant professor of Mathematical Sciences; Mariana Ricklefs, an NIU assistant professor of Curriculum and Instruction; and a faculty member at Universidad del Atlántico.
Media Contact: Tom Parisi
About NIU
Northern Illinois University is a student-centered, nationally recognized public research university, with expertise that benefits its region and spans the globe in a wide variety of fields, including the sciences, humanities, arts, business, engineering, education, health and law. Through its main campus in DeKalb, Illinois, and education centers for students and working professionals in Chicago, Naperville, Oregon and Rockford, NIU offers more than 100 areas of study while serving a diverse and international student body.
