Grantee

Jack Noble is a researcher in technology ethics and a graduate of Wesleyan University, where he majored in the College of Social Studies and Environmental Studies. His academic work examines how digital platforms shape social and political life, including his senior thesis on algorithmic recommendation systems and political discourse.

With his Fulbright Study/Research Award, Jack investigates how Tibetan Buddhist monastic institutions navigate the challenges of the digital attention economy. Through interviews, surveys, and screentime data, his project explores how monks balance mindfulness with digital connectivity. Jack hopes his research will bridge Buddhist and Western approaches to the ethics of attention in a rapidly digitizing world.

Anya N. Fineman, a 2025 graduate of Pitzer College with a degree in Human Biology, will spend ten months in Nepal as a Fulbright Study/Research grantee. Building on her previous work with the Tharu community in Chitwan, her project explores how conservation policies influence the intergenerational transfer of ethnobotanical knowledge and supports community efforts to revitalize traditional medicinal practices.

Anya’s interdisciplinary research background includes neuroscience and epigenetics, and her previous work has been supported by the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the Napier Fellowship. She has presented her findings at the 2025 International Congress for Conservation Biology in Brisbane, Australia, and remains dedicated to community-based research that promotes cultural resilience and environmental justice.

Anjalee Bhuyan, an M.D. candidate at Drexel University College of Medicine (Class of 2027), is a 2024–2025 Fulbright–Fogarty Public Health Fellow in Nepal. Her research evaluates chronic health risks from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure among brick kiln workers in Bhaktapur, building on a collaborative project between Johns Hopkins University and Tribhuvan University.

Anjalee has previously conducted maternal and child health research in The Gambia and the Dominican Republic and has engaged in ophthalmology research in Nepal. Through her Fulbright project, she seeks to improve understanding of air pollution’s health impacts while strengthening links between environmental and public health. Outside her research, she enjoys exploring Nepali festivals, culture, and cuisine.

Amy Szacilo is a Fulbright–Fogarty Public Health Fellow in Nepal (2025–2026), conducting research in collaboration with the Jevaia Foundation and Dhulikhel Hospital/Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences. Her project examines how the Basic Package of Oral Care (BPOC) can strengthen rural oral health systems and expand access to essential care.

A former dental hygienist with ten years of clinical experience, Amy is pursuing her Ph.D. in Public Health at the University of Montana. Her research focuses on strengthening health systems, community-based interventions, and integrating oral health into primary care. Passionate about equitable care, she has worked on outreach programs both in Nepal and across the U.S., bringing preventive services to underserved populations.

Brenna Rose Prevelige is a Ph.D. candidate in Integrative Biology at Oregon State University, where she studies the medicinal Ganoderma mushroom complex under Dr. Dee Denver. As a Fulbright Study/Research Award recipient, she will conduct ethnomycological and genomic research in the Nepal Himalayas, combining molecular biology with ethnographic fieldwork to explore how Buddhist philosophies inform local understandings of medicine.

Her work, featured in Contemplative Currents, bridges science, spirituality, and culture. Drawing on prior collaborations in Nepal, Brenna uses Oxford Nanopore sequencing to connect genomic data with lived experience. Passionate about transdisciplinary education, she plans to teach abroad after completing her Ph.D., continuing to integrate scientific inquiry with cross-cultural learning.

Anooj Bhandari is an artist, educator, and community organizer whose Fulbright project explores art, ecology, and survival narratives in post-earthquake communities in Nepal. In collaboration with the Open Institute for Social Science, he will document how artistic expression fosters healing and resilience in the aftermath of crisis.

A faculty member at Marymount Manhattan College, Anooj’s work has appeared in the Teaching Artist Journal and Visual Inquiries. He is a MacDowell Fellow, a 2025–2028 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and the Deputy Director of Community Practice for New York’s Restorative Justice Initiative. A member of the New York Neo-Futurists theater company, he integrates puppetry, storytelling, and performance to explore themes of belonging, identity, and transformation.

Amrit Tamang is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Born in Nepal’s Langtang Valley and raised in the United States, he bridges academic research and community engagement to study Indigenous labor and tourism economies. A dual Fulbright U.S. Student Research and National Geographic Explorer awardee (2025–2026), he partners with Kathmandu’s Center for Tamang Studies to advance Indigenous-centered scholarship.

His Fulbright project investigates how Tamang porters navigate trekking tourism and its intersections with kinship, livelihood, and global mobility. Drawing on ethnography and visual storytelling, Amrit’s work honors the communities that shape his research while highlighting the resilience and aspirations of Nepal’s Indigenous peoples.

Divya Chauwan, a graduate of SUNY Brockport with a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies, is a 2025–2026 Fulbright U.S. Student Researcher in Nepal. Her research explores barriers to girls’ education in rural and urban communities, examining how gender, geography, and policy intersect through data collection and personal narratives.

A dedicated advocate for social equity and civic engagement, Divya has worked with nonprofits in Rochester and Washington, D.C., and co-founded BreakFree, a refugee-led organization that supports women navigating domestic violence and resettlement. Inspired by her mother’s journey as an immigrant woman, her Fulbright project reflects her commitment to amplifying marginalized voices and advancing education access and social justice.