Help Daouda fulfill his Fulbright goals!

Bula Vinaka (Hello) everyone,

This past April I was awarded a Fulbright fellowship for the academic year 2023-2024 in Fiji. Fulbright program is an international educational exchange program sponsored by the United States Government. This prestigious program is awarded to those who show both high academic merit and leadership capability. It gives those awarded the chance to go abroad to teach, conduct research, and exchange ideas with international communities. This fall your Philly boy is off to Fiji to study sea grass meadows for 10 months! During my time there, I will perform independent research with Fijian Professors to see how sea grass meadows can help fight against climate change by storing carbon underground and being natural barricades, weakening the effects of storm surges on coastal communities. During my stay I also will learn about the life, history, language, and culture of Fijians can not only learn about seagrass but also Fijian culture and Life! While the Fulbright provides a stipend it covers housing and transportation to my assigned country. I fear I will not be able to complete my research without using my housing stipend. That's why I will use any funding raised here to fund my research as well as participating in outreach programs in Fiji. Any donations received will go towards purchasing research equipment for collecting sea grass and sediment cores, paying translators, field guides, transportation, and 3-d modeling software to map out seagrass beds. The funds will also be used to send collected samples abroad to be analyzed for carbon content and other analysis! Lastly, I want to use the remaining funds to learn more about Fijian culture, such as attending classes in my affiliate university to learn Fijian!

!Optional side quest!

I also want to crowd source a memory bank for those days I miss everyone. If you have any pictures of us together (family appropriate please) send them in. I'd love to create a memory bank of my adventures.

Upload photos to google drive: here

About me

For those that don't know me well I come from Philly, and I've floated around this city my whole life. It wasn't until after I entered Drexel University in 2017 that I left Philly and want abroad to study endangered primates on an island in Equatorial Guinea called Bioko in 2019. There I realized not only how big and beautiful the world is, but how much I loved being in conservation science. To me this discipline combines everything that has been taught to me since a child, "Be a good neighbor". This discipline utilizes community-based practices to help manage and protect natural resources. Since that life changing trip, I have had many opportunities to be a part of conservation focused research. This includes monitoring sea level rise in salt marshes across east coast United States 2021-22 and performing freshwater fish surveys with Academy of Natural Sciences and Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program (BBPP) in Equatorial Guinea in 2023. While working on these projects I have participated in mentorship programs, mentoring highschoolers in Women in Natural Sciences (WINS), and undergraduates in Drexel’s Coop program. I have also developed skills in photography and scientific illustration to aid in my ability to communicate science to the public. I know that Fulbright will continue to allow me to grow both professionally and personally to become a global citizen and a GOOD NEIGHBOR!

Thank you for your support in advance!

Check my work here if you’re interested:

personal website: daoudanjie.com

Photography here:

Instagram: @daouda_njie