Students
SFHC hosts both students and interns. Current students and interns working with the project are:
Mary Ollenberger (MSc student, soil science, Michigan State University) Mary is doing her research on climate change modelling, and will be applying an agricultural simulation model using Malawi climate data to explore aspects of sustainable intensification with legumes, specifically focusing on the impacts of climate variability and climate change, and the relationship between climate and the ecosystem services provided by legumes, including grain yield, soil fertility benefits, and food security. Mary’s supervisor is Dr. Sieglinde Snapp. She visited Ekwendeni in July 2011 for a preliminary visit and hopes to return in 2012.
Mary Parr (PhD student in soil science, North Carolina State University) Mary will be conducting research with Ekwendeni SFHC farmers on soyabeans, trying to determine what is leading to poor nitrogen fixation and growth in the Ekwendeni region. She will be in Malawi as of September 2011, and is funded in part through the support of the McKnight Foundation’s Collaborative Crop Research Program.
Lauren Classen (PhD student in anthropology, University of Toronto)
Lauren did her fieldwork in collaboration with SFHC and the AIDS program of Ekwendeni Hospital, to engage youth in the catchment area in developing a framework for improving livelihoods and safeguarding the health of young people and their families. Drawing on 4 years of experience with participatory agriculture research project in north-central Honduras, Lauren’s research combines a variety of participatory and visual anthropological research approaches to explore ‘youth culture’ in northern Malawi and to understand how young people engage with, resist and shape the factors which affect their nutrition and health. Lauren is writing up her thesis results back in Toronto as of 2010.
Previous students:
Dr. Wezi Mhango (PhD, Michigan State University in Soil Science, now at Bunda College of Agriculture)
Christine Bonatsos (on maternity leave, MA in progress, University of Western Ontario, Dept. of Geography)
Liam Riley (MA, Geography, University of Western Ontario, now doing a PhD at UWO)
Interns at SFHC
Since 2001 SFHC has had interns through the Canadian Society for International Health’s (CSIH)Youth Internship Program, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency’s (CIDA) Young Professionals Placement Program, and designed to help young Canadian graduates to obtain professional experience working abroad. Interns live in Ekwendeni and work with SFHC staff for four to eight months. Placements are designed to provide interns with cross-cultural communication, leadership, and technical skills in areas such as program planning, evaluation, research, and data analysis. The interns have played an important role in research and community development activities and are greatly appreciated by SFHC.
Past interns and their current activities:
2001-2002: Tanya Trevors (works for the Canadian International Development Agency)
2002-2003 David Ryan (doing a medical degree in Ireland)
2004-2005 Laura Sikstrom (doing a PhD in medical anthropology at the University of Toronto)
2005-2006 Hinde Tizaghti (working as a consultant in France) and Liesel Carlsson (unknown)
2006-2007 Franziska Satzinger (doing a PhD in public health at the University of Toronto)
2008 Laura Swift (working for Accion Contre la Faim - ACF in the Democratic Republic of Congo)
2010 Johanna Jimenez-Pardo (working in Ottawa)
