Grantee

Dr. Nabin Malakar is an associate professor in the Department of Earth, Environment, and Physics at Worcester State University, Massachusetts, U.S. As a Fulbright Specialist Program 2023 Grantee, he will be hosted by the Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS), where he will be organizing a series of workshops and training researchers about the utilization of low-cost sensors, remote sensing techniques, model development, data analysis, and the art of communicating research.  

Prior to joining Worcester State University, he was a postdoctoral research scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he developed algorithms for interpreting satellite remote sensing data in thermal bands. With extensive research experience in the field of environmental remote sensing, topics such as air pollution, urban heat islands, and data analysis techniques, at present, he is engaged in the investigation of air pollution and urban heat island phenomena.   

Dr. Malakar is involved in various communities, holding the position of Vice President at the Association of Nepali Physicists in America (ANPA), Board Member of Aldrich Astronomical Society, one of the oldest amateur astronomy clubs in the United State, and Ambassador at the NASA JPL Solar System.   

Rosemary O’Leary is a Fulbright Specialist at Kathmandu University, School of Management, working on a project titled “Institutionalizing Public Policy and Management Education.” She holds the position of Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of Kansas, home to the top local government management program in the United States. Rosemary earned her PhD in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, along with both the Law degree and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Kansas. 

 Previously, Rosemary held positions at the two highest-ranked Schools of Public Affairs in the United States: the Maxwell School of Syracuse University (as the Inaugural Phanstiel Distinguished Professor of Strategic Management and Leadership) and the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Bloomington (as a professor). 

 Rosemary has authored or edited thirteen books and contributed to over 135 scholarly articles and book chapters focused on public management and public policy. Her contributions have earned her 13 national research awards and two international research awards. Additionally, she has received 11 teaching awards, two of which are at the national level. 

Joanne D. Fahey serves as the Director of Research Communications at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana (USA). There she leads the award-winning Research Communications Team and oversees all research communications strategies and tactics, including branding, web, social media, storytelling, video, print, events, and more. Joanne is a 2003 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, with a bachelor’s degree in political science and peace studies. She also holds a Master of Science in environmental science from Trinity College Dublin and has completed a higher certificate in public relations from the European Institute of Communications. Before returning to her alma mater, Joanne spent 11 years in Ireland, serving in a number of senior communications roles in the higher education and environmental sectors.

Michael H. Glantz is a political scientist. In the early 1970s, Glantz shifted his research from wars of national liberation to understanding climate’s impact on society and society’s impacts on Climate. While at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, he headed the Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG). He was NCAR’s only Senior Social Scientist in its 60-year history. In 2008 he then moved to the University of Colorado as director of the Consortium for Capacity Building (CCB).

During his 50+ years studying climate-related issues, he has had the opportunity to lecture on climate, water, and weather issues including various “creeping environmental problems” in Central Asia, East and Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. He has written and or edited a total of 30+ published books about desertification, fisheries, El Niño, La Niña, droughts and floods, early warning systems and disaster risk reduction (DRR).

Throughout his career he has sought to bridge meteorological and hydrologic science communities with the social sciences and humanities around the globe to increase awareness among political leaders and the public about the interactions of climate, water, weather, and society. In 2019 he published “One Belt One Road: China’s Long March Toward 2049.” His most recent work is focused on preparing for and coping with the impacts of El Niño-related hydro-meteorological hazards and disasters in a changing climate, especially in emerging economies. His most recent edited volume, “El Niño Ready Nations and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)” (a 19-country impact study) was released in April 2022. His top concern now is enhancing Youth and Young Professional involvement in DRR in the face of a global warming of the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surface.

Mary Battenfeld is a Clinical Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the American and New England Studies Program at Boston University. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland College Park. Prior to coming to Boston University in 2018, Dr. Battenfeld was a Professor of American Studies and Chair of General Education at Wheelock College. The numerous courses she has taught and developed include African American Literature, American Identities, Work and American Culture, American Women’s History,  Native American and Indigenous Studies, Civil Rights and Education, and a seminar on critical race theory. She is a co-author of Notable Books, Notable Lessons: Putting Social Studies Back in the K-8 Curriculum (ABC-CLIO, 2017), and editor of the revised edition of the adoption classic Helen Doss’s The Family Nobody Wanted.  Her current research focuses on 19th century Black lawyer and abolitionist Robert Morris, who brought the first school desegregation case in the U.S, Roberts v. City of Boston.

I am a professor of social studies in the School of Education, City College, part of the City University of New York, here in New York City.  My wife and I have lived in NYC, she since the 80’s, me since the 70’s.  Our daughter is a rising senior at Clarke University.  I have been teaching at progressive schools in New York City for fifty years now, most notably for thirty years at the Bank Street School for Children and in the Bank Street graduate programs.  In 1992 I went to Kathmandu, Nepal with a Bank Street colleague to help the fledgling Rato Bangala School to launch.  The school was to be a progressive alternative for families of Kathmandu, similar in character to the Bank Street School, and my colleague and I were there to help train teachers.  Thirty years later, Rato Bangala is a thriving K – 12 English-medium school with it’s own publishing arm, teacher training programs, and a wide reputation among educators in South Asia.  I have worked for Rato Bangala as a consultant and staff developer over the years, and now, as a Fulbright specialist, I am planning to work with teachers from Rato Bangala school as well as teachers from all over Kathmandu Valley and beyond.  I look forward, as well, to working with the Kamane Academy and other government and private schools in the area of Hetauda. I’m excited to be working with so many Nepali teachers, 120, in all, from so many schools on this trip.

Daris is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Music. As a Fulbright Scholar and recipient of awards such as Outstanding Achievement in International Education, Presidential Award for Excellence in Service, and Outstanding Service to Residential College, Daris is an innovative teacher creating engaging educational experiences and expanding students’ scope for success. Beyond teaching music performance, she has also created two study abroad programs and an award-winning online course, elevating our core curriculum course, Introduction to Fine Arts. 

Daris is a passionate advocate for music education, performing for thousands of Texas children, commissioning and recording new children’s pieces, producing children’s albums, and working with an Emmy award-winning children’s TV show. With the Institute of International Education, she promotes programs to professors across the USA, showcasing her commitment to international education. Her research has focused on international composers and their universalization of indigenous music.  Ask Siri to stream Daris’ performances.

Dr. David Rettinger is a “utility infielder” of academic integrity. He has taught psychology at the college level for over 20 years, including over 15 at the University of Mary Washington where he holds the title of Professor Emeritus. During that time he served as Procedural Advisor to UMW’s student-run honor system and has published frequently on the psychology of academic integrity. With a PhD in Cognitive Psychology, he is also well versed in the basic principles of learning science that underlie excellent teaching. He is currently Visiting Professor of Psychology at the University of Tulsa.

His academic research interest is in academic integrity behavior, having published research on the psychology of cheating in Theory into Practice, Research in Higher Education, Ethics and Behavior, and Psychological Perspectives on Academic Cheating. His research has demonstrated the importance of students’ attitudes toward school and beliefs about peer behavior in determining whether students will cheat.

He has presented on topics relating to pedagogy, policy, and practice in academic integrity around the U. S. and internationally.  His collaborations include partnerships in Nepal, Chile, Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand, and Ukraine and is currently on the Fulbright Specialist Roster as a consultant on issues of academic integrity.  He has appeared in numerous media outlets like the CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Inside Higher Education, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Rettinger is President Emeritus of the International Center for Academic Integrity, an organization founded to combat cheating, plagiarism, and academic dishonesty in higher education. In addition, he leads the organization’s efforts in assessment and survey research, continuing the McCabe academic integrity survey.

He earned a Ph.D. (1998) and an M.A. (1994) in psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, after receiving a B.A. (1991) with high honors and distinction in psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Since his professional debut 1987, Stevens has been an international opera singer, performing in more than 20 countries and in 12 languages. This has included leading performances with theatres and with symphony orchestras around the world, from Teatro alla Scala in Milan to the Metropolitan Opera, Barcelona’s Gran Theatre del Liceu, Dresden’s Semperoper, Valencia Symphony, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He was the Artistic Consultant, Producer, Leading Tenor, Vocal and Language Coach for the Albanian absolute national premiere of any opera by Richard Wagner; Tannhäuser. He was honored to portray the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg, in an opera of the same name, during the National Celebration of 100 Years of Independence, a unique collaboration at the level of international diplomacy. He co-produced and performed in the remarkable international collaborative production of Douglas Cuomo’s Arjuna’s Dilemma in Katmandu, Nepal, with One World Theatre. Since 2018, he has been the General Director of Opera Modesto in California. He and his wife, Annalisa Winberg, have also inspired the educational lives of more than 600,000 students across the United States, through their renowned educational program, AmazingVox School Residencies. Stevens is honored to have been named a Fulbright Specialist Candidate 2022-25 and Fulbright Specialist Grantee for Nepal. He looks forward to returning to this beautiful country, working with and collaborating such wonderful artists in the unique fusion production of Macbeth Massacre with One World Theatre.