Thao Nguyen, a master’s student in International Studies and Environmental and Natural Resources, has received a Fulbright grant.
The grant will enable Nguyen to travel to Indonesia for ten months starting in September, to further her research comparing environmental management in two protected marine areas.
“My interest in Indonesia is understanding their way of living,” Nguyen said. “How they manage their marine protected areas. How others feel when their democratic government is telling them ‘no, you can’t fish here,’ when they’ve been there for hundreds of years.”
She will examine Wakatobi and Karimunjawa national parks during her program.
Nguyen sought out applying for the program, not only because of her academics but also because of the role Indonesia will play in the future.
“With my circumstances, I felt like I had a really good chance,” Nguyen said. “My country of interest is Indonesia. I feel like Indonesia is an up and coming rising power and not a lot of people know that.”
Nguyen will study at Universitas Diponegoro in Semarang, Indonesia under Professor Hartuti Purnaweni, who is the head of the doctoral program of environmental studies.
“She has interests in costal management and understanding the same thing,” Nguyen said. “The qualitative assessment of how people feel with the effects of their local environments. My research just fits so well. It was a perfect match.”
Nguyen has previously worked with Purnaweni over the summer on her thesis.
“She helped me with my thesis work,” Nguyen said. “I was there this summer with her collecting data as well.”
Previous to working with Purnaweni, Nguyen had done a student exchange in Singapore through UW when she was an undergraduate in the political science department.
“I did a student exchange in Singapore, and I lived there for about six months,” Nguyen said.
Aside from wanting to learn more about marine environmental management, Nguyen said she sees Indoesia offering more than one place to study.
“Indonesia has some of the best marine bio-diversity in the world,” she said. “It helps because with Fulbright, they want you to stay in-country, so Indonesia is made up of 17,000 islands. I’m never going to get bored while I’m there.”
Nguyen has also applied for the Critical Language Enhancement Award. If accepted, she would spend three extra months in Indonesia taking intensive language classes to learn Bahasan, the official language of Indonesia.
The Fulbright Program enables U.S. students to visit another country while non-U.S. students can come to the US. Over 8,000 grants are rewarded annually, according to the Fulbright Program website.
Mary Katherine Scott, director of the UW International Programs Office (IPO) and a Fulbright Advisor, said she sees the opportunity as a way to promote communication along different cultural lines.
“Participating in a Fulbright program is a prestigious opportunity for UW students, allowing them to serve as cultural ambassadors for our institution, our state and our nation while they are overseas,” Scott said. “Thao is an ideal representative of this award, and her project will certainly help promote cross-cultural dialogue and understanding.”
The IPO coordinates Fulbright advising and submission for the Fulbright Student Program.
“It’s very exciting to see a Haub School student win such a prestigious award as the Fulbright Student Grant,” Emilene Ostlind, Haub School Communications Coordinator, said. “We at the Haub School are thrilled that Thao will expand on the research she started as a grad student here at UW when she goes back to Indonesia this fall. We look forward to following Thao’s work over the coming year and beyond.”
Nguyen said she wanted to thank the Political Science department, the Center of Global Studies and Haub School for their help.
“They care enough about me that they found ways to fund my interests,” Nguyen said. “They encourage me to do more than what I thought I was capable of.”
