Record Number of International Scholarships

This year's Conference will feature a record number of international scholarship recipients. Twenty-one (21) recipients from eleven developing nations have been awarded paid travel expenses to the U.S. to share knowledge and experience in WASH projects. For many of these travelers, this will be their first trip abroad and/or their first trip to the United States.

Scholarship recipients from the 2011 WaTER Conference are shown with Dr. David Sabatini (center), Director of the OU WaTER Center.

The diverse mix of recipients includes 10 females and 11 males who represent universities, NGOs, and governmental posts. In alphabetical order, the following persons have received scholarships to attend this year's Conference:

   Abaire, Bekele; Catholic Relief Services (Ethiopia)

   Bandaranayake, G.M.; University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Sri Lanka)

   Butler, Lauren; Engineers in Action (Bolivia)

   Cabero Ugalde, Mariel; Engineers in Action (Bolivia)

   Campos, Maria; University of the Philippines Open University (Philippines)

   Chitwood, Derek; Partners in Hope (China)

   Gwala, Poonam; CSIR-NEERI (India)

   Jadhav, Asmita; North Maharashtra University / NEERI (India)

   Kagne, Srimanth; NEERI (India)

   Kpangon, Hector; Water and Sanitation for Africa (Benin)

   Labhasetwar, Pawan; CSIR-NEERI (India)

   Mengesha, Esayas Samuel; Oromo Self-Help Organization (Ethiopia)

   Naser, Abu; International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (Bangladesh)

   Nguyen, Viet-Anh; Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hanoi (Vietnam)

   Nijhawan, Anisha; NEERI (India)

   Olukanni, David; Covenant University (Nigeria)

   Paulos, Beyene; Ministry of Science and Technology (Ethiopia)

   Susheela, A.K.; Fluorosis Foundation of India (India)

   John, Viji; NEERI (India)

   Wanja Mwengi, Esther; Nakuru Defluoridation Company (Kenya)

   Wanjiku, Nancy; Nakuru Defluoridation Company (Kenya)

Lauren Butler works with Engineers in Action (EIA), a non-profit organization that builds partnerships with in-country engineers to work towards sustainable solutions in Central America. (Photo: EIA website)

We look forward to both the educational and cultural exchange that these participants bring to the 2013 University of Oklahoma International WaTER Conference!