Fulbright Humphrey Fellows to visit OHIO for Professional Enhancement Workshop on climate change

Ohio University will host 12 Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows for a Professional Enhancement Workshop focused on climate change from March 25-29, The workshop is supported by a grant from the Institute of International Education. 

The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program is a Fulbright Exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Institute of International Education (IIE) which builds connections between U.S. and foreign leaders to advance solutions to the most pressing global challenges. The Professional Enhancement Workshops enable Humphrey Fellows to explore critical topics related to U.S. foreign policy priorities. 

“We at Ohio University are honored to be selected to host this distinguished group of professional leaders from all over the world,” shares Gillian Ice, interim associate provost for global affairs. “Their visit to Athens will be another way OHIO is advancing international connections in service to our mission to educate and make an impact as a university and a community.” 

The 12 Fellows representing 11 countries will participate in numerous workshop sessions and site visits to give them multiple ways to engage OHIO experts on climate change and related sustainability topics. These mid-career professionals hail from sectors ranging from higher education, finance, human resources, healthcare, agriculture, tourism, and beyond. They are in public and private nonprofit positions and are currently based at nine different U.S. institutions across the country for a year-long stay in the United States.  

Daily themes for workshop sessions include Climate Change: A Challenge for Us All, The Many Faces of Climate Change, From Threat to Opportunity: Communicating Climate Change, Tools for Building Resilience in the Face of Climate Change, and Adopting a Waste to Asset Approach in Tackling Climate Change. A diverse group of OHIO faculty, students, professional staff, and community members will share insights and participate in interactive knowledge-building sessions. 

“OHIO and its community partners have a prodigious amount of expertise and know-how in analyzing and responding to climate change,” says Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service Professor Geoff Dabelko.  ”This workshop provides an opportunity to share that knowledge and at the same time learn from the diverse set of experienced Humphrey Fellows visiting Athens.” 

Dabelko is part of the team that includes Ice, Gerry Krzic, director of the Ohio Program of Intensive English, and Zelalem Haile, associate professor of epidemiology at the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and interim director of the global health initiative. Program support is provided by Kate McClure, executive assistant in the Office of Global Affairs, Cara Harmon, a Voinovich Scholar who is an environmental pre-law geography major and a Cutler Scholar, as well as Teslima Jallow, environmental studies master's student.

“This Enhancement Workshop is an exciting and important forum through which OHIO will highlight the excellence and expertise of our campus and local community connections to Climate Change,” Krzic says. “We are proud to showcase the wealth of knowledge, experience, research, and dynamic perspectives that link our place in Appalachia and the climate change concerns and possible solutions worldwide. Our collective research, how we communicate those findings, and how we implement solutions alongside partners globally remains critical as we all work together to address climate change.”

The OHIO community is invited to join a welcome reception at the Kennedy Museum of Art on Monday, March 25, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. as an opportunity to connect with Humphrey Fellows and OHIO presenters. For more information, please email globalaffairs@ohio.edu.