Two Watsons and a Fulbright
Three graduating seniors have been awarded prestigious fellowships
Sophie Demaisy ’24 and Leslie Villegas ’24 will each receive $40,000 from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation to fund a year of exploration and discovery and Cecily Hetzel ’24 will teach English to children in the Canary Islands after winning a Fulbright U.S. Student Program English Teaching Assistantship grant.
Demaisy, an economics and botany double major from Quebec City, Canada, will travel to Costa Rica, Brazil, Kenya, Madagascar and Indonesia to explore sustainable agriculture through coffee production.
“By using coffee as a model crop, I hope to get insight into how communities adapt to the challenges of growing crops sustainably, and investigate the practicality and economic viability of implementing sustainable agriculture on a global scale,” said Demaisy, who plans to enroll in a graduate degree program in a field related to food production following her Watson Fellowship.
Villegas, a computer science and anthropology double major from the Bronx, New York, will travel to the Philippines, Belize, Mexico, India and Japan to explore how technology can enhance diverse ways of being in the world, particularly within indigenous communities.
“I will examine how different communities integrate technology into their daily lives, how cultural values shape technological developments, and how new technologies influence cultural practices and traditions,” Villegas said. “I aspire to be an advocate for sensitive ways of developing new technologies.”
Hetzel, a psychology major and Hispanic studies minor from Libertyville, Illinois, is looking forward to immersing herself in a Spanish-speaking country.
“I believe bilingualism is an important skill that has granted me access to new perspectives and enriched my understanding of the world. As a Fulbright ETA, I want to inspire students to see language as a portal to understanding,” she said.
Following her Fulbright, Hetzel plans to pursue a career as a forensic psychologist.