Seniors Drew Fulton and Rebecca Selden were among the 50 students nationwide selected as recipients of the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, a unique program that provides graduating seniors grants for a year of travel and study.
Fulton will spend his year in Australia, working on his project titled, "Of Emus and Fairywrens: Photographing Australia's Endemic Birds." He hopes to track down and photograph as many of the 330 birds unique to Australia as he can. Fulton is currently photo editor of the Orient.
Selden's project, "Sea Turtle Ecotourism: Impacting Human and Turtle Populations," will also bring her to Australia, as well as the Cayman Islands, Brazil, and Sri Lanka. She will study the impact of humans on turtle populations, with particular attention to the attitudes of local communities toward turtles and the methods used by conservation groups to protect them.
The self-stated mission of the fellowship is to provide its recipients with the opportunity for "purposeful exploration and travel outside of the United States in order to enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership and to foster their humane and effective participation in the world community."
The fellowship, first offered in 1968, currently provides its recipients with a $25,000 stipend for their year's travels.