Jill Woelfer (2011-2012) Fulbright Scholar

Jill Woelfer (2011-2012) is an American Fulbright Scholar who just received the University of Washington Graduate School Medal for her research on homeless youth and their access to personal digital technologies. The Graduate School Medal is given to one Ph.D. candidate annually, whose academic expertise and community awareness are integrated. Jill’s commitment to helping homeless youth made her an ideal candidate for the award. In an interview with the University of Washington, Jill states, “I cannot think of a better way to spend my life. It is an honor to be recognized by the UW Graduate School for my work.”

Jill is currently on her Fulbright exchange at the University of British Columbia, and is working on her dissertation research which engages 200 homeless young people. She plans to share data with a study at the University of Southern California, which will cover technology use, risk-taking behaviors, mental health, and musical preference. Jill states that “Like all young people, homeless young people use personal technologies, such as mobile phones and music players, and information systems such as MySpace and Facebook. But the role of these technologies is not understood by agencies that assist them. Consequently, agencies often restrict use or access to these technologies.”

Music and technology have always interested Jill, and have provided inspiration for her dissertation – a comparative study of the role of music in the lives of homeless young people in Vancouver and Seattle. Jill plans to collaborate with homeless young people in these cities to develop public exhibits of design drawings and stories created as part of her dissertation research. Through these exhibits, the youth will remain anonymous while speaking directly to people in their communities about the role of technology and music in their everyday lives.

The combination of academic research and community involvement is also apparent in other projects Jill has initiated. Jill completed her Master’s of Science in Information Management at the UW Information School (iSchool), where she worked with David G. Hendry, an associate professor at the iSchool, to create a community technology centre. She partnered with Street Youth Ministries, and received a $35,000 state grant. The community centre offered computer-related life skills classes that educated street youth on using technology to find employment. This center inspired a new project, funded by the National Science Foundation, where Woelfer and Hendry are currently working to develop the social and technical aspects of a system that will help homeless young people find and keep jobs.

Visit the University of Washington website to read more about Jill Woelfer.

Joanna Si (2005-06) addresses the United Nation on the Status of Women

On March 6, a group of Shearman & Sterling associates led a workshop at the United Nation’s 56^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.  Developed as part of the firm’s pro bono relationship with Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB), the presentation, “Rural Empowerment through Modern Consensus Building Strategies,” was attended by representatives from NGOs and other non-profits from around the world, including Somalia, Sudan, and Taiwan.

The group included Killam Alumnae, Joanna Si (2004-05),  who worked with LWOB to adapt a training module aimed at teaching people, who work in rural areas, the methods necessary for effective negotiation and mediation. The training materials are based on the children’s book, Click, Clack, Moo – Cows That Type, about a group of farm animals that negotiate various demands with a farmer.

Joanna says that, “while it may have only taken me about 5 minutes to skim through the book thinking, cute children’s book, it quickly became apparent in the subsequent discussions with my colleagues at Shearman, and the Lawyer’s Without Borders team, that there was more complexity hidden in the catchy illustrations and fun storyline.”  The story of the cows, ducks, hens and the farmer provided examples to discuss position and interest-based negotiations, leverage and coalition building, and the importance of neutrality in mediation.  The workshop also included real-world examples of women who relied on such skills to make a difference.  Joanna recalls that “one example that really sticks out is of the women in Eastern Nigeria whose coalition building efforts eventually resulted in effective legislation to protect widows against prior customary practices – practices that included forcing a widow to drink water from her husband’s corpse!”

The team also created a training manual to accompany the presentation including additional exercises and further details on the various skills involved in consensus building.  ”We are working with LWOB on expanding the training manual to be provided to individuals in Cuba and the materials are currently being presented to test groups for feedback.”

Sandy Ng (2011-12) with her team of Stanford students and her sponsor Dr. Calvin Kam (far right)

Dr. Sandy Y.M. Ng, a member of the inaugural class of the new Fulbright NEXUS Scholar program, has just returned from her exchange.  A professor at Queen’s University, Sandy took up her Fulbright award at Stanford University in 2011-12. Her project, in the area of public health, was entitled “Sustainable Cities, Better Health and Better Future.” It examined the health indicators of an aging population and attempted to measure and predict geographically-specific health trends and develop a strategy for needs-based planning for sustainable cities. Sandy relays her experience as a Fulbright NEXUS Scholar.

“During my 2 month exchange at Stanford University, I led a team of five students to identify the information, technological transformations, and policy tools required to enable evidence-based urban planning, towards a sustainable and healthy community for aging. In addition to case studies demonstrating the use of technological innovations to identify areas of high need, we initiated the development of an Age Friendly Community Scorecard, transforming high level WHO recommendations on Age Friendly Cities into actionable items.  We planned and hosted a well-received workshop on March 2, entitled “Sustainable Cities, Better Health, Better Future”, designed to engage experts and disseminate our findings. ”

According to Sandy, the Fulbright NEXUS Program taught her many things. “The exchange was an invaluable learning opportunity, allowing me to think about health research from a completely different perspective. The program’s heavy emphasis on knowledge transfer and implementation trained us to always think strategically from a policymaker’s standpoint. The dissemination workshop was a deep-dive training on effective facilitation and communication to gain stakeholders’ buy-in. ”

The NEXUS program is designed to generate knowledge-based, policy-oriented solutions with immediate and practical implementation.  The 2012-13 competition is now open, please visit our website to apply.

On March 18, American Fulbright student Jenny Montgomery put on a bilingual play called Uprooted/Déraciné at La Balustrade du Monument-National à Montréal. Created from interviews with refugees, Québécois, and people “in between,” Uprooted/Déraciné  explores themes of cultural belonging, identity, and concepts of “home”. The objective of this five-year long project has been to collect and disseminate the interviews of 500 persons who have found a new home in Montreal.

To pay tribute to these interviews, Montreal Life Stories organized Rencontres, which took place at various locations throughout the city of Montreal during the month of March. Rencontres included an international academic conference, a press conference, exhibitions, a multimedia installation, round table discussions, various artistic displays and performances and workshops.

Visit Jenny’s Podcast. It has excerpts from the reading as well as interviews with the audience and the cast.
http://histoiresdeviemontreal.ca/fr/home-accueil

Lister chose to study with Dr. Wohl for two reasons, namely because Dr. Wohl is a senior researcher in psychology who is investigating factors that prevent gamblers from seeking treatment; and because of the unique aspects of the Carleton University Gambling Lab. The CUGL houses computer-based virtual casinos allowing participants to gamble like they would in real-life casinos. This allows Dr. Wohl and David Lister to study the psychological processes related to slot machine play.

The project investigates cognitive, motivational, and emotional factors that may influence risky forms of slot machine play. A portion of the data related to gambling motivations and decisions will serve as the basis of Lister’s dissertation, while other portions will be written up collaboratively for publication. Data collection is estimated to be finished by the end of the academic year, after which Lister will begin analyzing the findings. In addition to this project, Lister will be part of a collaborative presentation this spring at one of the preeminent Canadian gambling conferences in Banff, Alberta. Lister plans to extend his Canadian residence beyond the grant period, to work through the summer on other projects taking place at the Carleton University Gambling Lab.

Carleton University Gambling Lab

http://http-server.carleton.ca/~mwohl/Dr_Michael_Wohl/Gambling_Lab.html

Center for Gambling Studies (Rutgers)

http://socialwork.rutgers.edu/CentersandPrograms/CenterforGamblingStudies.aspx

• Filtering and absorbing stormwater and reducing stress on sewer infrastructure
• Improving air quality through the addition of grass, trees, and shrubs
• Providing a safe community space where residents can socialize and recreate, increasing social capital of a neighborhood
• Encouraging residents to exercise by providing a local, safe green space
• Creating a pedestrian- and bike-friendly network that connects homes, businesses, stores, and neighborhood resources through a local greenway
• Reducing urban heat temperatures through the use of reflective surfaces and vegetation
• Reducing illicit activities by engaging residents in alley beautification efforts and community events

Chicago’s green alleys, like this one under construction, have proved successful in reducing stormwater runoff  by absorbing rainwater through their permeable paving. 

owever, also named among the severe threats in the Johannesburg Declaration is armed conflict, which is not once mentioned in the Zero Draft. This must change. Armed conflict is a critical issue for sustainable development and should be a critical issue for Rio+20.

The need for action is rendered particularly vivid when considering the unique vulnerability of children to the various adverse economic, social and environmental consequences of armed conflict. In 2008, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the protection of children affected by conflict ‘a moral call that deserves to be placed above politics and requires innovative and fearless engagement by all stakeholders.’

Read the rest of the article at stakeholderforum.org.

Jill Woelfer, Fulbright Scholar

I am a PhD Candidate in Information Science at the Information School here at the University of Washington. My field is human-computer interaction, also know as HCI. I investigate the socio-technical aspects of information systems, for example the experiences that people have with mobile phones or with applications like Facebook.

Prior research with homeless young people

Homelessness among young people, up to age 30 is a pressing problem with lasting social and economic consequences in the United States and Canada. Although counting homeless people is fraught with difficulty, experts estimate that up to 3 million young people are homeless each year in the U.S. and 50,000 – 60,000 young people experience homelessness annually in Canada. In order to better understand how technology might help improve the welfare of homeless young people, since 2007 I have engaged in research, service and design projects with homeless young people in Seattle along with my PhD supervisor David G. Hendry. In one of these projects, I helped co-create a community technology center for homeless young people, where I volunteered as an instructor and worked with nearly 100 young people. You can find out more about this project on the University of Washington website.

Collaborations in on-going research in Canada

I received a 2011-2012 Fulbright award to Canada and I have been living in Vancouver, BC since September. My Fulbright project is the basis for my PhD dissertation research – a study which will investigate the role of music in the lives of homeless young people while also considering the ways that location and policies may influence homeless young people’s access to technology. Participants in this research will include homeless young people in Seattle and Vancouver, BC. This research is supported by a number of collaborations, including sharing data with a research team at the University of Southern California. Additionally, there are three important collaborative elements with people and institutions that cross the border between Canada and the U.S.

First, while in Vancouver, I am affiliated with the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS) at the University of British Columbia. My adviser at SLAIS is Lisa Nathan, a PhD alumna of the UW Information School who joined the SLAIS faculty in 2008. Prof. Nathan and I share a common interest in the social aspects of technology and meet regularly to discuss research.

Second, I have established collaborations with youth service agencies and I am exploring the possibility of collaborating with public libraries. I have formed collaborations with two agencies that provide assistance to homeless youth, one in Seattle and one in Vancouver, BC. These agencies will be the research sites for my study, and findings will be shared with both agencies. Additionally, after seeing a presentation that I gave in October 2011 at Simon Fraser University in Surrey, BC, one of the members of the Community-Led Libraries Committee which meets regularly at Vancouver Public Library became interested in hearing more about my research. Subsequently, I gave a presentation in January to introduce the committee to my dissertation research and to talk about potential implications of my study.

Finally, I have also begun conversations with researchers in youth homelessness in Vancouver, BC, facilitated by Prof. Chris Richardson at the UBC School of Population and Public Health. I met with Prof. Richardson and others in January to discuss research and intersections between public health and HCI.

As my time in Canada continues, I look forward to meeting more people and taking part in discussions about future directions and shared projects.

Dr. Sandy Ng received one of the first Fulbright NEXUS awards in 2011

After a very successful inaugural year, which saw two Canadian scholars participate (Dr. Patrick Feng and Dr. Sandy Ng), and which saw one American scholar (Dr. Laura Forlano) visit Canada, the 2012-13 Fulbright NEXUS Program will be hosted by Canada!  The NEXUS Program brings together a network of junior scholars, professionals and mid-career applied researchers from Western Hemisphere nations for a series of seminar meetings and a Fulbright residential exchange experience. Through international exchanges, seminars, and collaborative research, up to 20 Fulbright participants (1/3 from the United States, 2/3 from Canada and other countries of the Western Hemisphere) will engage in collaborative thinking, analysis, and problem-solving with a focus on improving the quality of life for communities in the region.  Fulbright NEXUS Scholars will conduct individual and team-based research projects designed to generate knowledge-based, policy-oriented solutions with immediate and practical implementation potential at the local, national, or regional levels.

The NEXUS program is organized around the following themes:
Science, Technology, and Innovation;
Entrepreneurship; and,
Sustainable Energy.

Projects focusing on climate change adaptation strategies, and/or public policy focused research ventures thatexamine strategies to cope with climate variability, including extreme events, are particularly welcome. Projects should also come from a wide range of disciplines, and could include, for example, those in thefields of public health and engineering and design, addressing issues such as changes in air quality, thepredominance of water- and food-borne diseases and/or weather-related injury or death, and disaster andemergency preparedness.

You can read more about the Fulbright NEXUS Program on our website.