Lupton Receives Fulbright Award

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (April 16, 2009) – Mount Holyoke College crew team member Caitlin Lupton has been awarded a fellowship by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The senior will travel to Columbia during the 2008-09 academic year to study ecotourism collaboration between indigenous communities and the Parques Nacionales Naturales de Columbia. Her selection was announced by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

“The Fulbright fellowship will allow me to use my experience as a reference for future endeavors,” she said. “It will also allow me to compare the comparison between the collaboration, treatment and recognition of indigenous populations in Colombia with that of the United States. After returning from my study in Colombia I will enroll in a sustainable development program, one in which I can gain skills to do ecological and economic development with specific indigenous groups.”

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The Fulbright Program, America's flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 286,500 people --108,160 Americans who have studied, taught or researched abroad and 178,340 students, scholars and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar activities in the United States -- with the opportunity to observe each others' political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas and to embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world's inhabitants. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Lupton is one of more than 1,450 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2008-2009 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. While in Columbia, she will conduct ethnographic research within the Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia’s Central Office in Bogotá under the direction of Julia Miranda Londoño. In addition to helping the organization to effectively evaluate perspectives on the level of advancement and impact within ecotourism projects, she will also study and collect data regarding the viewpoints of those who create and are locally affected by these projects.

While abroad, Lupton will also be affiliated with the Facultad De Estudios Ambientales y Rurales at Universidad de Javeriana in Bogota. She will be meeting with the faculty of Ambientales and Rurales department at Javeriana to specifically look at the work that they are implementing in terms of rural development in the spaces of indigenous communities. She will examine if they are pursuing projects in addition to ecotourism and evaluate how these alternative projects are working.

Since studying American National Parks during her junior year at Mount Holyoke, Lupton has been intrigued by the fact they are now recognized as environments that no longer focus on people. She feels that they have especially forgotten those indigenous peoples who were once an integral part of the ecosystem.

“Why has the history of our parks been one that has set aside the interests, cultures, and experiences of the first peoples of the land in which they live?” she wondered. “Many questions arose when I began learning of the ecological and sustainable nature of such indigenous groups as the Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians, and the Mayans of the Yucatan.”

Upon her initial visit to Colombia in the summer of 2008, she was alerted to the fact that Colombia holds 10% of the world biodiversity and is home to over 50 national parks. Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia and el Ministerio del Ambiente recognize the indigenous groups of the country as a crucial element of the environment and work to incorporate their input into the conservational management and economic growth of the parks. Since the 1991 Constitution, indigenous communities have been recognized as the public authorities of respective lands. The parks system is legally mandated to settle and discuss environmental agreements and activities with the indigenous authorities of every park. This collaboration enhances relations between the parks service and the indigenous communities and brings an informed cultural lens to the forefront. It also recognizes the diversity of cultures and helps save important heritage.

Ecotourism within the parks is a program driven by the Colombian government to create local employment, increase the demands of local services, raise local income and strengthen education in rural and isolated areas. To a large extent, the national parks administration is concerned with bringing a new level of environmental education to the peoples of these regions. These programs, the organization hopes, will steer indigenous communities in the regions away from actions such as illegal planting and hunting, meanwhile introducing an alternative source of income through tourism.

“My study of ecotourism collaboration between indigenous communities and the Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia will not only help preserve indigenous societies but also will make a positive contribution to environmental management practices and environmental studies approaches in the Unites States,” said Lupton. “Indigenous peoples have something to teach us about environmental studies and how to develop sustainable communities.”

Lupton has been a four year member of the Lyons crew program. Her experiences with the team played a critical role in preparing her to apply for and receive a Fulbright Award.

“Being on the crew team has given me the opportunity to have a leadership role,” she said. “As a senior this year, many of the younger novices have asked me for advice and looked up to me as role model. I have to carry myself in a way that they respect me. The experience of being a varsity athlete over the past four years has led me to become more confident in my ability as a rower and as a student. The support of my teammates and coach (Jeanne) Friedman helped me apply for this award and made me believe that I could in fact strive to do great things. When I am in season, crew also helps me balance out my life and helps me stay organized. It helps me have a set schedule of when I have to get all my work done, and it allows me to have the time in the afternoon to work on my academics, because we practice in the morning.”