The Amazon rainforest is often referred to as the world’s lungs. This dense and magical tropical forest, which spans nine countries in South America has become a symbol of nature’s powerful yet delicate balance.

For decades, however, the forest has been suffering from severe deforestation, which threatens its existence and has the potential to harm ecosystems across the planet.

Today’s guest has been using high-end technology to help tackle this issue. Rayane Pacheco, who is originally from the Amazonian state of Pará, in Brazil, was part of the first cohort of the Fulbright Amazonia program and her research touches on reforestation in private lands, as well as on supporting compliance with the Brazilian Forest Code, amongst other things.

Click here to read one of Rayane's celebrated articles.

Presenting: Gabriele Jimenez

Audio Editing: Anike Lamoso

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply:  https://fulbrightprogram.org/

Have you always dreamed of becoming a Fulbrighter, but didn’t really think it was something you could achieve? Or perhaps you have already been granted a Fulbright Award, and now you would love to see other talented people in your life applying for it as well. Or maybe you are in the process of applying for a grant right now, but are unsure about what constitutes a great application…Well, then worry no more: this episode of the Fulbrighter podcast is exactly what you need!

We’re celebrating our 10th episode with a special treat for all of the many aspiring Fulbrighters out there. Today, we have the honor of hosting the amazing people at the Institute of International Education, the IIE, who make sure the Fulbright program continues to thrive worldwide.

On this episode we interview Jordanna Enrich, IIE’s Senior Director for the Fulbright Scholar and Student Program, Kristina Stulic, IIE’s Director of Academic Placement and Lora Seery, IIE’S Director of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. 

In this conversation you'll learn about

• Best practices for people who are applying for a Fulbright Award, whether they are in the U.S. or elsewhere;
• The Fulbright Scholar and Student programs;
• Personal tips from other Fulbrighters on what has helped them when applying for a Fulbright Award.

Presenting: Gabriele Jimenez

Audio Editing: Anike Lamoso

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply:  https://fulbrightprogram.org/apply/

What if the most meaningful part of your next vacation wasn't the resort, the food, or the excursions but reading with a child in a classroom?

Today's guest has spent 30 years crossing that line between tourist and traveler. Aileen Hale has been awarded two separate Fulbright grants in Colombia and another one in Belize, holds a doctorate in international education, and has built a career helping people travel in a way that actually changes them.

She's also the host of the Travel With Purpose podcast, where she interviews nonprofits doing meaningful work around the world.

In this conversation we will talk about:

• What it really means to give back when you travel;
• How she’s built a consulting company that designs service trips for families and groups, and
• What 30 years of working in other countries has taught her about human connections.

For more on Aileen's work, check out her website: https://www.create-connections.net/podcast

Presenting: Gabriele Jimenez,

Audio Editing: Anike Lamoso

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply:  https://fulbrightprogram.org/apply/

On today's episode we have a conversation with Thatcher Warrick Hess, a trilingual multimedia journalist, historian and linguist from California who reports on multilingual communities, mainly those that speak Portuguese and Spanish.

He's obtained a master’s in Bilingual Journalism at the University of Arizona and was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Brazil, in 2022. Thatcher has also been to 32 countries, mostly interested in language acquisition, language policy and identity.

In 2021 he started a podcast company called "the Obscurity Podcast Network", where he attempts to return antique objects back to the families that once owned them. He’s also directed and filmed over 15 packages, short films, and feature length documentaries, focused on making educational and informative snapshots of History.

Apology Times, one of his latest works, focuses on the Japanese community in Sao Paulo, Brazil. You can find out more about the film here: https://apologytimesfilm.com/the-film

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://fulbrightprogram.org/apply/⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Audio editing by Anike Lamoso.

On today's episode of the Fulbrighter podcast our guest is Brian McCarty, a photographer, art director and producer from the U.S. who has been a Fulbright Specialist in China and Hong Kong in 2017. He has 20 years of experience working in the toy industry and is a board member for the International Toy Research Association, as well as the Executive Director of War Toys, a nonprofit arts & media organization with a toy division.

Founded in 2019, the organization collaborates with war-affected children in the field to produce artwork and other materials that are used in exhibitions, educational programs, media outreach, and advocacy campaigns. On top of that, it works with the largest manufacturers of inexpensive, generic toys to foster small but impactful changes to enduringly popular toys, like plastic soldiers and baby dolls, so that millions of children have access to toys that better support their development and society as a whole.

Click here to learn more⁠ about his unique work.

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://fulbrightprogram.org/apply/⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Audio editing by Anike Lamoso.

Did you know people with anxiety wait an average of 20 years before getting their first appointment with a psychologist? For depression, it's 5 to 10 years. For phobias — sometimes a lifetime.

Brazilian psychologist André Faro decided that wasn't acceptable.

In this episode, André shares what five years of tracking Brazilian mental health data through the pandemic actually revealed — including a surprising return of peak anxiety levels in 2024 that his team is still trying to explain.

He also breaks down the global project he's building from a single lab in one of Brazil's smallest states: low-cost, culturally adapted mental health tools being deployed in Brazil, Mozambique, Rwanda, Malawi, Jordan, and Gaza — designed to work on old smartphones with spotty internet.

We also get into the AI mental health chatbot problem, what parents should actually know about teenagers and social media, and why this new generation's openness about their feelings might be the biggest opportunity in public health right now.

Whether you're a mental health professional, a curious parent, or just someone who's ever Googled "why am I so anxious" — this conversation is for you.

André is a Fulbright Scholar from Brazil at UC San Diego, a Professor at Federal University of Sergipe (UFS) and Global VP for Latin America at the World Federation for Mental Health.

⁠Click here to learn more⁠ about André's work.

🎙️ Host: Gabriele Jimenez | Fulbrighter Podcast — the platform connecting Fulbright alumni worldwide.

🌐 fulbrighternetwork.com

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply: ⁠⁠https://fulbrightprogram.org/apply/⁠⁠ 

Audio editing by Anike Lamoso.

On the fifth episode of the Fulbrighter podcast our guest is Callie Rich Neal, also known as Jo Jo. Callie, from Riverside California, has a background in dance and wellness, and has hosted 100 episodes of the podcast “Shaping a Life You Love”, where she talks about community, self growth and the many ways to find purpose, amongst other things.

Callie’s dance and wellness school focuses on movement as a way to foster connection and community building. She has also authored the book “The Voice of Dance”, a bilingual 90-day chronicle of her Fulbright Award in Medellín, Colombia, where she researched how dance is deeply intertwined in the South American country’s culture. She is now working on launching a documentary about her experience researching dance and movement in Colombia as well.

Click here to watch an intro to Callie's The Voice of Dance documentary. You can also follow her on Instagram by clicking here.

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply: ⁠⁠https://fulbrightprogram.org/apply/⁠⁠ 

Audio editing by Anike Lamoso.

On the fourth episode of the Fulbrighter podcast we talk to Lev Horodyskyj, an astrobiologist and educational innovator from Arizona, currently leading the nonprofit Science Voices, which aims at helping overlooked communities improve their science education using modern and low-cost approaches.

He earned a PhD in geosciences and astrobiology from Pennsylvania State University and has spent ten years working on digital science curricula at Arizona State University. Lev has been granted Fulbright Awards twice: first in Indonesia, in 2020, and then in Brazil, in 2022. He is currently in the country, researching stingless tropical bees and fostering a cross-nation knowledge exchange between both Brazil and Indonesia.

Learn more about his projects at sciencevoices.org and instagram.com/science.voices

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply: ⁠⁠https://fulbrightprogram.org/apply/⁠⁠ 

Audio editing by Anike Lamoso - www.instagram.com/fotosdeanike

On the third episode of the Fulbrighter podcast our team interviews Kathleen Mulligan, a Professor of Voice and Speech at the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Ithaca College.

Kathleen is the Vice President of the Central New York Chapter of Fulbright Association and has been granted Fulbright Awards in  India and Pakistan, in which she worked on different projects aimed at supporting local women as well as preserving oral history.

Every year, Kathleen puts together an art project with her students at Ithaca college in order to support the training of women who wish to become auto rickshaw drivers in Kerala, India. The website for the project is http://www.wheels4women.org/. If you wish to support it in any form, reach out to Kathleen at [email protected].

We hope you enjoy this episode, let us know how you feel by leaving a comment below!

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply: ⁠⁠https://fulbrightprogram.org/apply/⁠⁠ 

Audio editing by Anike Lamoso - www.instagram.com/fotosdeanike

On the second episode of the Fulbrighter podcast History Professor Jeffrey Lesser discusses his new book, Living and Dying in São Paulo: Immigrants, Health, and the Built Environment in Brazil, published in the U.S by Duke University Press and in Brazil by Editora UNESP.

Jeffrey is a Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of History at Emory University and his research focuses on the relationships between immigration, ethnicity, and national identity. His latest book focuses in Bom Retiro, a multi-ethnic, working class, neighborhood in the city of São Paulo, to analyze how the state creates and enacts health policies and to ask why different immigrant groups often generate similar responses to state actions.

Lesser is the author of a number of prize-winning books published in English, Portuguese, Japanese, and Hebrew and is the winner of multiple teaching awards. He has won national and international fellowships from Fulbright, Fulbright-Hays, the Social Science Research Council, the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council of Learned Societies.

Research for Living and Dying was supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Scholar Program, the University of São Paulo Institute for Advanced Studies, and Emory University’s Global Health Institute, University Research Council, and Interdisciplinary Faculty Fellowship Program.

Jeffrey's book can be downloaded for free in ⁠Portuguese here⁠ and in ⁠English here⁠.

The Fulbrighter Podcast spotlights researchers and scholars making an impact beyond borders. If you would like to become a Fulbrighter as well, head to the following link to learn more about the program and how to apply: ⁠https://fulbrightprogram.org/apply/⁠ 

Audio editing by Anike Lamoso - www.instagram.com/fotosdeanike