Philipstown resident sees program frozen

If things had gone as planned, Sophia Ptacek would be making the final arrangements for her Fulbright fellowship, a nine-month stint working on industrial decarbonization and air pollution reduction for a Colombian government ministry.

But because the Trump administration paused funding for her program, the 28-year-old is living with her parents in Philipstown and checking her email.

"I'm holding on to hope that it could still happen," said Ptacek, who grew up in Garrison and Cold Spring and attended the Poughkeepsie Day School. "But I am in limbo. It's sad."

Ptacek last year completed a dual master's program at Yale University in environmental management and public health. She also was selected for a Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship, part of a U.S. State Department international exchange and education program suspended by the White House in February. Founded in 1946, the Fulbright program typically awards 9,000 scholarships each year to promote international cooperation and an exchange of ideas.

"The freeze on State Department grant programs threatens the survival of study abroad and international exchange programs that are essential to U.S. economic and national security," said Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, based in Washington, D.C. "Halting inbound and outbound exchanges shuts the United States off from a vital flow of ideas, innovation and global understanding and influence, creating a vacuum that could easily be filled by competing nations."

Ptacek wants to help reduce air pollution in Colombia. "There's quite a lot of manufacturing and heavy industry, and as a result, a lot of air pollution that has public health impacts for communities near these plants," she said.

The details of her fellowship were still being confirmed, but Ptacek was scheduled to travel to Bogotá to work for the ministry of health, environment or energy and mines. Last month she received an email telling her to "pause making travel arrangements" because of "ongoing administrative issues affecting the transfer of funds from the U.S. State Department to Fulbright implementing partners."

Last week she received a second email informing her of layoffs at the Institute for International Education, the organization that administers her program.

As to what happens next, "I have no clue," said Ptacek.

Because of the uncertainty, she has taken a job with Turner Construction helping clients figure out how they can implement energy-efficiency measures, electrification and building decarbonization, she said. She'd also like to work in maritime decarbonization, moving ships and ports away from fossil fuels to mitigate climate change and reduce air pollution.