Johns Hopkins has always been a top producer of Fulbright scholars, but this year, the university reports the largest number of scholars chosen— 26 students and alumni—in a single application cycle since the program's inception just after World War II.
This year's group of scholars includes Mashoud Kaba, who earned a master's degree in international health from Johns Hopkins this past May. Kaba will travel to Guinea to work with community members and local researchers to better understand social barriers to reducing rates of female genital mutilation/cutting, which involves partial or total removal of female genitalia.
Kaba, who immigrated to the U.S. from Guinea 17 years ago, says that many people in her home country view FGM as an initiation rite, despite its being declared a human rights violation by the United Nations.
"Many parents in Guinea are misguided and see the practice as being a prideful tradition and don't realize the health implications," Kaba says.
As a native of Guinea, Kaba hopes to shift the cultural norms and conversations around the practice.
"Criminalizing the practice causes it to go underground," Kaba says. "To fully end FGM, we need to focus on harm reduction and educating about the health effects of the practice."
Emily Sperring, a 2024 graduate with a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering, has won a Fulbright research grant to work with Gunnar Luderer, a professor and deputy head of the research department at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Potsdam, Germany. Sperring will explore the social and economic impacts of different decarbonization pathways, or ways of lowering CO2 emissions.
Sperring hopes her research will have implications for other countries as they decarbonize.
"Decarbonization of the global energy system is essential to mitigate the effects of climate change," Sperring says. She says her interest in sustainability and environmental activism started at a young age.
"I remember hearing how penguins were in danger because the polar ice caps were melting," says Sperring, who learned how reductions in greenhouse gas emissions could help save the penguins.
After she completes her nine-month research project, Sperring hopes to continue her work in sustainable development by landing a job with a global company.
The Fulbright program supports approximately 9,000 merit-based scholarships in the United States and 160 countries for accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program supports roughly 2,000 recent graduates, graduate students, and early-career professionals each year who pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English abroad.
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