Alumni Directory Display

Alumni Update:

Following her fellowship, Victoria stayed on with the IRC Kenya program for an additional year and a half supporting their urban protection programming. She then moved to South Sudan with the IRC and managed both urban and emergency protection programs. As of October 2014, she moved to Southern Turkey, where she is the Protection Cluster co-lead (hosted by the IRC) for the cross-border Syria response.

Fellow Bio:

Victoria Shepard graduated from Colgate University in 2008 with a degree in Peace and Conflict studies, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa. Originally from San Francisco, Victoria has been based out of New York City since graduation, working for NGO International Crisis Group. Having spent six months in Cape Town, South Africa, Victoria is thrilled to be spending the next year (or more) in Nairobi, and is especially looking forward to photographing it all!

Alumni Update:

Since her fellowship, Tisamarie has been enrolled in a joint MD-PhD program at Harvard Medical School in Boston. In 2012, Tisamarie completed her PhD in Health Policy, and in the summer of 2014 she will graduate from medical school and begin her residency training in Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston!

Fellow Bio:

Nina ’10 is a College of Social Studies major from Baltimore, Maryland. During her time at Wesleyan University she was involved in a student led trip to Ahmedabad, India where she wrote grants and taught English at a local NGO SPRAT. She also studied abroad in Mali, which sparked her interest in West Africa. This past year she co-taught a student forum on international volunteerism and local NGOs in the developing world. In her free time, Nina participated in West African as well as Indian dance performances. She loves to dance and looks forward to learning more West African dance while in Cote d’Ivoire. She also looks forward to an exciting year of travel and adventure and is excited to meet great people!

Philile graduated with a BA in Global Affairs and French. She speaks French, Intermediate Mandarin Chinese, siSwati and Zulu. She was born and raised in Swaziland, and intends to return to work in education policy or the non-profit sector in southern Africa. Through various fellowships at Yale, she has been able to travel to Paris, Beijing, Shanghai and London for intensive language study and research. She has previously interned for the Alliance Française office in Mbabane, Swaziland where she tutored French students. She has also volunteered as a language and reading tutor in various care centers in Swaziland such as the SOS Children’s Village. She has most recently interned at Africa Health Placements in Johannesburg, South Africa as an Educational Entrepreneurial Project Initiator where she drafted a business model and training program for a new education initiative that was launched at the beginning of 2016. Philile is thrilled to be joining the African School of Economics in Benin where she will be a research assistant, and she looks forward to learning more about Francophone West African culture and speaking lots of French.

Alumni Update:

After his fellowship ended in June 2014, Fritz moved to Moscow, Idaho where he is completing his first year of medical school at University of Washington School of Medicine. This summer, he will be implementing small-scale global health initiatives within a longitudinal cardiovascular study in Nepal. This fall, he will move to Seattle, WA to start his second year of school.

Fellow Bio:

Fritz is from Boise, ID and graduated with degrees in biochemistry and philosophy. While at Whitman, Fritz was the volunteer coordinator at a free health clinic, CFO of Whitman’s student government, a starter on the club rugby team, and an avid wearer of topsiders. Also while at Whitman, Fritz led two Spring Service Trips to New Orleans, rebuilding houses destroyed by Hurricane Katina.  This past year, Fritz has been working as a medical scribe in the Emergency Department back in Boise. He also started his own tutoring company and interned at the Boise Basque Culture Museum. Having never been to Africa before, Fritz is looking forward to just about everything during his fellowship. As an aspiring physician with an interest in pediatrics, he is especially looking forward to working with kids in Botswana and hoping he can match their energy!

Stefanie is an Anthropology major from Connecticut, with certificates in African Studies and Dance. She has spent the past three summers traveling and working in Morocco, Spain, Tanzania, and Kenya. In Kuria West District, Kenya, she implemented a magnet theater program to tackle risky health behaviors in the community. Last summer, Stefanie interned at the Mpala Research Center as a Conservation Club teacher, where she designed and implemented lesson plans, experiments, and field activities for seven primary schools in the Laikipia region. In her free time, Stefanie enjoys choreographing, dancing, and drawing. She looks forward to returning to the Mpala Research Center and the neighboring schools, improving her Swahili, and maybe finally seeing an aardwolf.

Zoe is passionate about understanding the intersection of human and environmental systems. Originally from the Big Island of Hawaii, she graduated from Princeton University in 2017 with a concentration in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and certificate in Environmental Science. At Princeton, Zoe received the Smith-Newton Fellowship, a selective two-year undergraduate research fellowship, to conduct a research project investigating the impacts of pollution on coral reef ecosystems in Bermuda. She presented her findings at the 2016 International Coral Reef Symposium, where her poster presentation received an award from the International Society of Reef Studies. Prior to her work in Bermuda, Zoe contributed to a Ph. D research project studying the role of nutrients in the rainforest ecosystems of Costa Rica. This work culminated in a presentation at the 2015 Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation Annual Meeting, and was recognized with a Faculty of 1000 student award. Throughout college, Zoe also ran Division I cross-country and track for Princeton and served as a team Student-Athlete Wellness Leader. When she’s not trail running or doing science, Zoe also enjoys nature writing, poetry, and yoga. She is thrilled to work at Mpala and learn about Kenyan culture and savannah ecosystems.

Alumni Update:

2014 was an eventful year! After helping Medair transition into the “new” South Sudan context following the start of a conflict in December 2013, Shelly left South Sudan to take a brief hiatus from aid work. In August she married a wonderful man named Kelly Doley and they moved to Berkeley, CA for what they plan to be a two-year stay. She is now studying theology at the Jesuit School of Theology and Kelly is working in San Francisco for an IT non-profit called Inveneo. They have been lucky to befriend several folks with international and even South Sudan specific aid experience and are enjoying the community that comes with those connections.

Fellow Bio:

Shelly is a religion major who also earned a teaching certificate in secondary mathematics from the teacher preparation program. Originally from Sugar Grove, VA, Shelly came to Princeton as a member of the varsity women’s basketball team and played for four years. In addition to basketball, she was an active member of Athletes in Action (an interdenominational Christian ministry), the Student Volunteers Council, and Colonial Club. Shelly enjoys riding horses and looks forward to learning Swahili and to playing the guitar. In the long term, she would like to work abroad (in an NGO or as a missionary) or do ministry work within the US.