Contact:

Sarah Ray

802-443-5794

sray@middlebury.edu

Posted: May 22, 2002

MIDDLEBURY,

VT- For the fifth year in a row, three Middlebury College students

were awarded Thomas J. Watson Fellowships. Julie Hand of Manchester Center,

a member of the class of 2002 who graduated in March of this year; senior

Dane Springmeyer of Bellevue, Wash.; and senior Kelly Jewell of Woodinville,

Wash., are the recipients of the 2002 fellowships. Each student will receive

$22,000 to travel outside the United States and explore a topic of his

or her own design.

Watson Fellows are chosen in a two-step process that requires nomination

from one of the participating 50 top liberal arts colleges in America,

followed by a national competition. After more than 1,000 students applied

to the first round of selection, 60 Watson Fellows were chosen.

Hand, who will travel to Vietnam, Madagascar, Mexico and New Zealand,

has titled her project “Chinese Festivals Overseas: Motherland Celebrations

and Hostland Inclusions.” An international studies joint major in

East Asian and Latin American studies, she will study Chinese festivals

in countries outside of China. The project will incorporate her interests

in a variety of areas-music, dance, design, writing and travel. Hand said

she is interested in how Chinese culture joins together with its host

community, changes its traditions, or isolates itself during Chinese festivals.

She plans to dance in street parades, cook, play instruments and design

festival costumes, becoming a full participant in the festivals rather

than just an observer.

Springmeyer’s

project, titled “Following Flyways: Exploring Global Raptor Migration,”

will take him to Spain, Egypt, Madagascar, Mongolia and Zimbabwe. A joint

major in environmental studies and geography, he will study and record,

with regional scientists, the migration and breeding habits of raptors

in countries situated along global raptor migration “flyways.”

Springmeyer

will also study the larger cultural relationships between raptors and

people by focusing on eco-tourism, primarily in Spain and Madagascar.

In all places where he travels, he will seek to learn more about the role

of international environmental organizations, conservation management

practices, and local communities through case studies in which raptors

are critical or flagship species.

“The

project is a crystallization of my environmental concerns, a reflection

of my interest in and awareness of other cultures, and an expression of

my fascination for migratory bird life,” said Springmeyer.

Jewell, whose project is titled “The Exotic Threat: Conservation

of Native Species in Island Environments,” will study and travel

in Ecuador, Spain, Mauritius and Australia. A double major in biology

and Spanish, she was inspired to study the relationship between native

and invasive island species because, Jewell said, “It is generally

recognized that invasive species are one of the biggest current environmental

problems and will increasingly be so.”

She

plans to explore, first with professional researchers and conservation

groups, the effects of invasive species on native ecosystems and the current

protections and controls for these threats. Her project may include work

such as rehabilitating native species, monitoring species populations,

and assisting with breeding programs for species with dangerously low

populations.

“I

think [Middlebury’s] interdisciplinary teaching and international focus

draw students who seek an opportunity to explore an interest of personal,

cultural, artistic or societal importance in countries outside the United

States following graduation,” she added.

The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program was begun in 1968 by the children

of Jeannette K. Watson and her husband Thomas J. Watson, Sr., the founder

of IBM, to honor their parents’ long-standing interest in education and

world affairs. The Thomas J. Watson Foundation selects students based

upon each nominee’s character, academic record, leadership potential,

willingness to delve into another culture, and the personal significance

of the proposed project.

In the history of the foundation, more than 2,200 Watson Fellows have

taken this challenging journey. They have gone on to become college presidents

and professors, chief executive officers of major corporations, politicians,

artists, lawyers, diplomats, doctors and researchers. “We look for

extraordinary young men and women of extraordinary promise, individuals

who have the personality and drive to become the leaders of tomorrow,”

said Norvell E. Brasch, the executive director of the Thomas J. Watson

Fellowship Program and a former fellow.