Lian Wardrop Wins International Institute Fellowship for Juara Foundation Internship in Brazil

Stamps student Lian Wardrop is one of fifty-two students awarded fellowships from the International Institute this year. With this fellowship, she will be going to Brazil later this month to intern with the Juara Foundation, which is associated with the Pantanal Partnership, a student organization at the University.

Pantanal Partnership is an organization that designs and offers sustainable technology to the people of the Pantanal region. This region is recognized as the largest wetland in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Ramsar site (a wetland of international importance). People of the Pantanal are important because they are the only people that fully understand their environment, however, they are leaving the wetlands for major cities in hope of better education and health care. Pantanal Partnership’s goal is to provide these people with sustainable technologies so they can continue to live their lives in the Pantanal region.

Lian’s internship supports her art and design curriculum by her participation in creating a manual for a water filter based on visuals because the literacy rate in the Pantanal is low. Along with this manual, Lian’s team has been working to improve the design of the a bio sand water filter to be highly effective while keeping costs low. ​“Design is what I am most interested in so this has been a great opportunity to relate things that I have learned so far in design to real life experiences and people,” Lian said.