Megan Bela – Brazil
Megan received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford in 2006, and is currently pursuing her Master’s in the same field. Her project involves collection of air quality measurements and modeling of ozone biomass burning emissions in the Brazilian Amazon, with the goal of improving predictability of air pollution consequences of further Amazonian development.

Fannie Chen – China
Fannie received her B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford in 2007. Her project involves assessing the sexual health education histories and needs of Chinese university students, in order to produce a culturally competent, comprehensive sexual health education program and resource center for a university that demonstrates a need and interest.

Alejandro De Los Angeles – Singapore
Alejandro completed a B.S./M.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford in 2007. His project involves dissecting the transcriptional networks of human embryonic stem cells, focusing on the mechanisms underlying pluripotency and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells.

Harris Fienberg – Switzerland
Harris graduated from Stanford in 2006 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, and a B.A. in English. The goal of his project is to identify the pattern of inheritance of genes conferring immunity to a bacterial parasite in the water flea Daphnia magna; to isolate D. magna of the three, distinct immunological types and to create a gene library, allowing for the eventual sequencing of the genes responsible for immunity.

Benjamin Fohner – Australia
Benjamin graduated from Stanford in 2006 with a B.A. with Honors in Human Biology. His project focuses on the development and commercialization of Australian biotech innovations. He will conduct coursework and research at the Melbourne Business School.

Robert Gaudet – European Union
Robert received his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 2002. His project focuses on the ability of class actions to increase private enforcement of E.U. laws with particular emphasis on group actions filed in Sweden and a proposed law in Denmark that would similarly permit group actions. He will return to private practice as an attorney with special emphasis on class action litigation upon completion of his project.

Maya Guendelman – Chile
Maya graduated in 2007 with a B.A. in Psychology, with Honors. Her project focuses on investigating smoking prevalence among Chilean youth, aged 13-15. The project will merge qualitative, longitudinal, and quantitative data to study the psychosocial and life-course factors associated with the initiation of tobacco consumption among Chilean youth.

Leena Her – Laos
Leena is a Ph.D candidate in Education and Linguistic Anthropology. She also holds an M.A. in Social Science in Education from Stanford, and a B.A. in Anthropology from UC Berkeley. Her project will explore learning contexts that are created within rural, urban, tourist, and commercial locations in Laos, through ethnographic study.

Gideon Lewis-Krause – Germany
Gideon received B.A. degrees in Comparative Literature and American Studies from Stanford in 2002. His project will compare the roles of American and German novelists in their respective public spheres by examining issues of urgency and engagement in postwar German literature, with emphasis on younger novelists.

Joshua Meisel – Australia
Joshua will graduate this June with a B.A. in English, a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a M.S. in Biological Sciences. He will conduct research on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef aimed at protecting the reef ecosystem from global climate change, focusing specifically on oxidative DNA damage and repair processes in corals and their symbionts.

Omar Shakir – Syria
Omar graduated from Stanford in 2007 with a B.A. in International Relations. His project will study the state of economic reform in Syria through classes at the University of Damascus, independent research, and interning with The Syria Report.

Alexander Sigman – Netherlands
Alexander will obtain is a Stanford Ph.D. candidate in Music. Alexander will enroll in a one-year program at the Institute of Sonology in the Hague, focusing on courses in such fields as acoustics, sonology, and computer music composition. He will also conduct performances in The Hague and Amsterdam.

Nathan Sachs – Indonesia
Nathan received his B.A. in Philosophy from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Stanford. His project will explore political mechanisms for fostering cooperation among individuals in Indonesia. His research design includes interviews, ethnographic fieldwork and behavioral economic tolls in selected regencies across Indonesia.

Steve Shelton – Netherlands
Steve graduated in 2007 with a B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering. His project focuses on the effect of an optical spacer on solar cell performance, with the goal of boosting solar cell efficiency, but will also analyze the effect on other figures of merit.

Angela Steele - China
Angela received her B.A. in Cultural and Social Anthropology from Stanford in 2006. Her project will explore the production and proliferation of Hip Hop culture in Mainland China. She will research and document Hip Hop art, music, and dance in numerous cities.

Elizabeth Thornberry – South Africa
Elizabeth is a Ph.D. candidate in History, and holds an M.St. in Historical Research from Oxford University and a B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard University. Her project focuses on research into the history of sexual violence in South Africa’s Eastern Cape during the second half of the 19th century.

Douglas Wilson – Denmark
Douglas received his B.A. in Digital Humanities from Stanford in 2006, and his M.S. in Computer Science in 2007. In Denmark he will study videogame theory and new media design at IT University of Copenhagen. Throughout the year he will conduct research and work with fellow students on a team design project.

Yani Zhai – Germany
Yani received her B.A. in Psychology and her B.S. in Physics from Stanford in 2007. Her project is to elucidate basic electronic structure and properties of graphene by observations of induced excitation phenomena in nano-structures by using the emerging technique of terahertz spectroscopy.

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