Department welcomes Brazilian Exchange Students

At its first faculty meeting of the semester, geography faculty members welcomed three new participants in the US-Brazil Consortium on Urban Development (UBCUD). From left, the students are Paulo Vela from UDESC, Isabel Rekowsky from UFRGS, and Ana Franco from UDESC. They are surrounded by (l-r) Dr. Domingo, Dr. Rao, Dr. Hellstrom, Dr. Hayes-Bohanan, and Professor Pannuto. The department also welcomes Professor Bob Pannuto, who brings years of experience with the National Weather Service to his teaching of physical geography this fall.

The department is in its four year of the consortium, which also includes geography departments at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), Universidad do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC) and Univesidad Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Students from all four schools are able to attend semester-long exchanges in international exchanges, with support from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) of the U.S. Department of Education and CAPES, its Brazilian counterpart. The prestigious exchanges were established by an agreement between President Clinton and President Cardoso in the 1990s.