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Three students win Fulbright grants for next academic year

By Amy Gage
April 4, 2003

Seniors Paul Menzel, Katherine Nygaard and Alex Potter have been named Fulbright Program scholars for the 2003-04 academic year.

The prestigious Fulbright program, founded in 1946, is designed to increase cross-cultural understanding through study and research abroad.

"I congratulate these students for this very significant accomplishment," said Professor of French Wendy Allen, adviser to the Fulbright program.

St. Olaf students have been named Fulbright scholars for each of the past four academic years.

Student honorees

Paul Menzel, a biology major from Champlin, Minn., will spend the next academic year in Norway, where he will study the evolutionary ecology of bark beetles -- researching the phylogeography of bark beetles and other timber borers and studying the effects of extreme inbreeding and outbreeding on them.

Dr. Lawrence Kirkendall of the University of Bergen will supervise the project.

Kate Nygaard, a double major in Norwegian and economics from Franktown, Colo., has been named a grantee to Norway. Her project, "The Economic Situation of Immigrants in Norway," includes university-level coursework in demography and immigrant issues along with independent research.

Nygaard will explore the differences between immigrants coming from western and non-western countries in average income, occupation and education. Her knowledge of Norwegian language and culture will allow Nygaard to conduct interviews with members of various ethnic groups.

Alex Potter, from Minnetonka, Minn., has a double major in biology and Asian studies with a concentration in environmental studies. He will spend the next academic year in the People's Republic of China investigating China's rural energy development and environmental policy.

Potter will study environmentally sound energy development in rural China by compiling an annotated bibliography of articles written in Chinese and others written in English. His work will be supervised by Professor Zhang Shiqiu of Beijing University.

Along with Allen, members of the Fulbright advisory committee at St. Olaf include Richard Allen, mathematics and computer science; Carolyn Anderson, sociology and anthropology; Richard Bodman, Chinese and East Asian languages; Bruce Dalgaard, economics and the Center for Experiential Learning; Luyen Phan, admissions; Charles Wilson, religion; and Solveig Zempel, Norwegian and associate dean for interdisciplinary and general studies.

About the Fulbright

The Fulbright Program was established at the end of World War II, to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries, through the exchange of people, knowledge and skills. Participating governments and host institutions contribute financial support through direct cost-sharing, tuition waivers, university housing and other benefits.

Grants are made to citizens of participating countries, primarily for university teaching, advanced research, graduate study, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.