R&A international adventures!
From left to right: Jana Tauschinski, Alex McMaster, Merlin Hetherington, Emily Elderfield, Silvia BusThree teams are planning exciting philanthropic projects this summer as part of the R&A International Scholarship programme for 2018–19. Established by a generous gift from The R&A in support of the University’s 600th Anniversary campaign, the Scholarships are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, designed to fund up to a year of international travel. The Scholarships are available for Junior or Senior Honours students who wish to pursue projects that allow the recipients’ to broaden their minds and allow them to learn from and interact with different communities.
Alex McMaster, studying for a BSc in Biology and Geography and Merlin Hetherington (BSc Medicine 2018) will ride a tandem cycle from Cairo to Cape Town to introduce the Arclight tool(developed in the School of Medicine as a low-cost method of detecting preventable blindness) at grassroots level in 13 African countries. The University of St Andrews Sports Centre and the Scientific Exploration Society are supporting Alex and Merlin throughout their venture.
Emily Elderfield (MA French and Russian 2018)will travel through Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa volunteering, researching and working with local NGOs to promote community-driven sustainable change and to help girls and women out of the cycle of poverty through educational empowerment.
Finally, Silvia Bus (MA Management 2018) and Jana Tauschinski (BSc Psychology 2018)will travel to a series of food-related projects and charities across Europe – each providing a different, forward-thinking approach to issues of sustainability and hunger. Silvia and Jana will share their insights throughout their travels by creating a travelling podcast about activism and sustainability in the food world.
Good luck to them all! We will keep you posted about the progress of each project.