Plastino Fellows 2024 | UDaily

Plastino Fellows at the University of Delaware have studied maternal and child nutrition in Bangladesh, investigated how stingless bees thrive in the Amazon, addressed healthcare reform, brainstormed how we can build more livable and environmentally friendly cities, biked across the United States, promoted pop-up entrepreneurship, and implemented school feeding programs for students in need. And that's just the beginning.

In the 17 years since the program's inception, more than 70 students have created their own experiential learning opportunities around their passions, with the goal of making profound changes in both their academic and personal lives.

The Plastino Scholars Program was started with a gift from UD alumnus David A. Plastino, who saw the impact a similar program at another university had on his daughter and wanted to give back. Not long after, the Plastino Scholars Program was born.

This year's scholarship recipients have traveled or will travel to Brazil, Tanzania, England and South Africa.

Shanea Higgin had carefully planned her Plastino Scholar research – she wanted to interview residents of Rio de Janeiro's favelas to learn their views on the influence of race, culture, poverty and politics on their education system. Favelas are a collection of unregulated and informal neighborhoods that can be home to up to 300,000 people.

Higgin, a senior triple majoring in psychology, Latin American and Iberian studies, and Spanish, became interested in favelas during a previous research project in the McNair Scholar program. But there was just one problem with Higgin's research plan – no one wanted to talk to her.

“The irony is that I ended up having to switch from a research survey to a pilot study,” Higgin said with a grin. “Whenever I presented my survey, people would say yes and open the link. And they did, but no one took the survey.”

Higgin suspects that the favela residents were concerned that their anonymity would be compromised, but the conversation flowed freely as she met with locals for coffee or lunch and asked questions.

“When you speak in person, people can see and know who you are, and they feel more comfortable,” Higgin said. “In the future, when I go back and do another survey or do a formal interview, they're more likely to do that. We've built a connection.”

This is not a theoretical wish. Higgin is applying for the Fulbright scholarship to return to Brazil for graduate studies.

The other part of her Plastino Scholar project – a computer science course – was a huge hit with locals. She taught middle school students in a community center under the auspices of the Brazilian nonprofit organization Recomaçando. Higgins' ultimate goal is to work in the field of educational technology on platforms and programs that benefit students from socially disadvantaged families.