Fairfield University is hosting Fulbright Visiting Scholar Marcos Antonio Pedlowski, Ph.D., an associate professor and member of the Laboratory of Studies on Anthropogenic Space, one of the four research laboratories at the Center of Human Sciences of the Northern Fluminense State University (UENF) in Brazil, for the 2005-2006 academic year.

An expert on the ongoing and rapid environmental changes in the Brazilian Amazon basin, Dr. Pedlowski's Fulbright exchange with Fairfield was borne out of an ongoing partnership with the University.

Five years ago, Fairfield University joined a consortium with Northern Fluminense, Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. and the Amazonas Federal University, also in Brazil, that "focuses on the study of the relationship between the environment, economic development, and quality of life," according to Washington and Lee. This U.S.-Brazil Consortium for Environmental Studies was funded by a $208,000 federal grant.

The partners seek to integrate social sciences and environmental sciences curriculum, and to reach out to encourage students to study the connections between the two disciplines, Dr. Pedlowski said.

"We want to examine the interactions between the environment and human society," said Dr. Pedlowski, whose own research considers the causal relationships among a number of issues, from deforestation to the vast inequities in land distribution, particularly in his home country of Brazil.

"Brazil has one of the worst distributions of land in the world," Dr. Pedlowski said, noting that huge portions of the country are owned by a small minority. How do these issues intersect?

One example can be seen in the emergence of multinational farming corporations, which have driven small farmers in Brazil from their traditional livelihoods and into cities unequipped to handle the influx, Dr. Pedlowski said, causing mass emigration, the results of which are now being felt in the United States. Thus the poor, particularly in the cities, suffer from far inferior living environments, characterized by smaller space, fewer trees, less water treatment, and worse, he said.

Meanwhile, Brazil's high foreign debt prompts it to churn out as many agricultural products as possible, contributing to vast deforestation, Dr. Pedlowski said.

Dr. Pedlowski is one of approximately 850 outstanding foreign faculty and professionals the Fulbright Scholar Program will bring to the U.S. to teach and do research.  Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program's purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.

This fall, Dr. Pedlowski joined Fairfield University Associate Professor of economics Dina Franceschi, Ph.D., to teach a course in Global Environmental Regimes, which investigated the many treaties, agreements and laws that currently regulate the use of environmental resources internationally.

"Dr. Pedlowski and I have been working together for many years, most recently on a joint grant between our Nations' Departments of Education," Dr. Franceschi said, noting that they recently started some joint research projects. "We have been able to move the relationship between our Institutions forward based on the parallels he sees in our two universities.  Our co-taught class on Global Environmental Regimes brought an unmatched perspective to the classroom, not only in expertise, but also in terms of the role of the developing world.  He was extraordinarily helpful to the students as they researched their final paper topics, I think they really appreciated his input."

This spring, Dr. Pedlowski will join Politics Professor Edward Dew to teach Land Reform and Social Justice in Latin America. He will also teach a research seminar on Applied Field Research, which will teach students how to design and conduct research in real-world situations.

The Fulbright Program, America's flagship international educational exchange activity, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Over its 59 years of existence, thousands of U.S. faculty and professionals have studied, taught or done research abroad, and thousands of their counterparts from other countries have engaged in similar activities in the U.S. They are among more than 265,000 American and foreign university students, K-12 teachers, and university faculty and professionals who have participated in one of the several Fulbright exchange programs.

Recipients of Fulbright awards - both U.S. and foreign - are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields.

"Marcos Pedlowski is personable, fun, spirited, and genuinely helpful. At a moment's notice, he drops what he is doing, comes to our office, and offers an abundance of support," said Miriam Gogol, Ph.D., associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. "For Fulbright, he has met with students who are interested in applying to Portuguese-speaking countries and reviewed their applications with them, offering to mentor them, etc. He has given lectures at the University for faculty and staff. Marcos has the unusual capacity to be academically brilliant but also very savvy about the needs of students. I can't say enough good things about him, his spirit, and his most impressive representation of his native country."

Posted On: 01-17-2006 10:01 AM

Volume: 38 Number: 131