CLEMSON – Three Clemson University students and two alums are preparing to travel abroad to various countries after being awarded Fulbright U.S. Student grants. A news release from the university said the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between United States citizens and its 140 participating countries. Student recipients – which include recent college graduates, graduate students and early career professionals from all academic backgrounds – use their awards to pursue graduate study, conduct research or teach English abroad. The release said the program is a highly competitive scholarship program that facilitates cultural exchange, learning, research and service opportunities between American students and communities across the globe.

During the application process, students decide which country they would like to apply to and what type of grant they want to pursue. Of Clemson’s five recipients, two were awarded English teaching assistantships, two will conduct research and one is enrolling in a graduate degree program.

MEET THE RECIPIENTS Christian Blackburn, a senior Wildlife and Fisheries Biology major and management minor from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was awarded an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) in the Czech Republic. As an ETA in the Czech Republic, he hopes to inspire personal growth and self-discovery in his students through the learning process.

Audie Cherry, an agriculture Ph.D. student from Clay, Kentucky, was selected for a research award in the Philippines. Cherry plans to teach agricultural courses at Cebu Technological University-Barili during his two semesters, while also focusing on agricultural education and youth development through research and extension. He will also be collaborating with local farmers to improve sustainable agricultural practices. Alexandra Colwell from Elgin, South Carolina, was a political science major with Russian area studies and legal studies minors at Clemson and graduated in 2023. The summer before her graduation, Colwell spent six weeks studying abroad in the Balkans, with much of that time spent in Serbia. She plans to apply what she learned in that role to her ETA in Serbia where ETAs work with university-level students.

Calvin Paulsen, a biomedical engineering major from Summerville, South Carolina received a research award in Germany that will allow him to work at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine. He has already been working online with a researcher at the institute conducting stem cell research, with their project having the potential to uncover new targeted therapeutics for epithelial-derived cancer and aging. Shreya Tellur from Simpsonville, South Carolina, was an Honors student and psychology major at Clemson who graduated in 2023. Her Fulbright University of Stirling Award will help cover cost of living expenses associated with graduate study in Health Psychology from the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom. While she’s there, Tellur hopes to volunteer at the Stirling Community Hospital to explore behavioral, physical and mental well-being changes in women during different stages of pregnancy, in order to help improve childbirth health care outcomes.