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Global

Graduate student receives Boren Fellowship

Elizabeth Christenson, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in the environmental sciences and engineering department, will study Arabic in Amman, Jordan, during the 2018-2019 academic year.

The Bell Tower
Campus scenes created using a tilt-shift filter effect. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Elizabeth Christenson, a graduate student in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been awarded a Boren Fellowship to study critical languages abroad. She will be UNC-Chapel Hill’s 13th Boren fellow since 2000.

Christenson, from Charlotte, received her bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2010. She is pursuing a doctoral degree in the environmental sciences and engineering department and studying the impact of industrial hog farms on water quality in North Carolina. As a Boren fellow, she will study Arabic in Amman, Jordan, during the 2018-2019 academic year. Christenson plans to use her scientific training for community-based public health and disease prevention initiatives in the Middle East.

“The Office of Distinguished Scholarships is delighted that Elizabeth was awarded this fellowship,” said Inger Brodey, director of the Office of Distinguished Scholarships. “I’m confident that she will do important work for the security of our country as well as for global health quality.”

David L. Boren Scholarships and Fellowships are sponsored by the National Security Education Program. Boren awards provide U.S. undergraduate and graduate students with resources and encouragement to acquire language skills and experience in countries critical to the future security and stability of our nation. In exchange for funding, Boren award recipients work in the federal government for at least one year.

This year, Boren scholars and fellows will live in 38 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East. Since 1994, over 6,000 students have received Boren awards.