|
July 16, 2007
Ryan Ferrell visited China's most sacred mountain and is studying the avian flu virus in Beijing. Young Chun is using the world’s most powerful electron microscope in Osaka, Japan, and recently got lost among Kyoto's ancient temples. April Deibert works in the office of an Australian senator after doing conservation work in the Outback. Also in Australia, Michelle Di Fiore is working on drug development while touring Melbourne's sights. These four UCSD students agreed to act as foreign correspondents for This Week@UCSD this summer, filing dispatches from the field every two weeks or so. Here are their stories.
April Deibert
Australia
 In the past six months, April Deibert got caught up in a flood during a cyclone on Australia’s east coast, was offered a job as a ranch hand in northern Queensland, took part in a conservation project for the South Australian government in the Outback and interacted daily with local Aboriginals. She works for Senator Natasha Stott Despoja in Adelaide. Deibert also studies international relations as an exchange student at the University of South Australia. She has been in the country since January. When she is not hard at work, she practices the motor sport of drifting. She also helped herd sheep by motorcycle once. More
|
Ryan Ferrell
China
 Ryan Ferrell filed his first piece from a seedy Internet café in rural China. The UCSD junior is doing research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the nation’s capital. He is taking part in UCSD’s Pacific Rim Undergraduate Experiences program, launched in 2004 with support by the National Science Foundation. PRIME provides students with the opportunity to participate in international research and cultural experiences that will better prepare them for the workplace. Ferrell studied Mandarin in China last summer. He said he hopes this three-month stint will allow him to improve his knowledge of the country. More
|
Young Chun
Japan
 Young Chun studies at the Cyber Media Center at Osaka University in Japan, home to the world’s largest electron microscope.The bioengineering major also is a student in UCSD’s Pacific Rim Undergraduate Experiences program. Her team works to create precise 3-D models of muscle cells, known as myocytes. They also got to visit ancient temples in Kyoto and the coast of the Sea of Japan. Chun’s Japanese is basic, but she said she hopes it will improve this summer. She plans to become a doctor. More
|
Michelle Di Fiore
Australia
 This summer, Michelle Di Fiore took an 18-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean to Melbourne, Australia, with four other UCSD students. Her research at Monash University involves three computer programs, which calculate the properties of organic molecules and proteins used in drugs. Di Fiore plans to become a doctor. She writes that this opportunity to be a part of advancing medicine gave her the courage to pack her suitcases and head down under. More
|
|
|
