Students Earn Fulbright Scholarships

Two Westmont seniors, Aria Hamann and Jarrett Catlin, both Monroe Scholars, have been awarded Fulbright Scholarships to conduct research and teach English outside the U.S. next year.

Hamann will conduct hydrology research at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. She will be working with Dutch professor Boris van Breukelen to undertake an independent research project to simulate Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR). MAR is a promising method of securing a consistent freshwater supply for subsequent recovery or environmental benefits. The result of the project will be to create efficient and accurate computer models of MAR, allowing for greater complexity and flexibility in simulations.

Hamann has been accepted to the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science doctoral program, which she hopes to defer until fall 2017 to continue hydrology research in the Netherlands.

“I applied for the Fulbright because of the combination of research and cross-cultural experience,” says Hamann, who was unable to study abroad at Westmont due to her double-major. “I am craving the fresh insights that come when spending time in a new culture.

“I developed the Fulbright project as a response to a societal need. Since water resources are often overexploited, polluted and at risk due to many factors including climate change, securing a consistent fresh water supply is crucial. Previous research has already established the immense potential of MAR, but complex surface and groundwater interactions are still poorly understood. I hope my project will help enable some long-term water solutions.”

At Westmont, Hamann founded the Garden and Sustainability Club in 2013 to facilitate greater student involvement in the ongoing campus garden project. This led to cooking farm-to-table meals with classmates and touring local gardens and farms. “My weekly manual labor, cultivating fruits and vegetables, makes my Westmont experience both rich and unique,” she says. “It is truly refreshing to get your hands dirty doing something physical, when most of your energy is funneled into intellectual pursuits.

“Coming to a liberal arts college has allowed me to take a variety of classes with many stellar professors. I have loved the intellectual diversity in my schedule and the connections that diversity provides.”

She has conducted research, “Nuclear Physics: Isotope Separation of Exotic Neutron-Rich Nuclei,” with Warren Rogers, Westmont professor of physics.

She earned the George Bate Scholarship for 2012-2013 and the David K. Winter Servant Leadership Award in 2015. She played the French horn for the Westmont Orchestra in 2012.

“I made the right decision in coming to Westmont; that has been continually affirmed,” she says. “This assurance is largely due to the people I have bonded with, including my housemates and several faculty members. I also struggled with major medical issues my first year, and I was safe and supported at Westmont. It’s clear that God intentionally brought me to a place where I could learn to cope with people who could speak into my situation.”

Catlin, who serves as an assistant with the Westmont in Istanbul Program, has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Turkey. He is waiting on the specific location of his assignment in the country.

Catlin, a political science major with a minor in mathematics, studied abroad in 2014 with Westmont in Istanbul. “I wanted to learn more about the Middle East, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he says, “and I really admired and trusted the couple who led the trip, Jim Wright and Heather Keaney. It changed me in so many ways, and is the cornerstone/backbone of my college experience. It led me to change my major from mathematics to political science to develop some of my close friendships at Westmont, and to meet two of my closest mentors in Jim and Heather.

“More than anything, the experience left me with a clearer ambition to understand the world. It expanded my horizons of how big the world is and stoked my curiosity, which continues to fuel my decisions.”

Catlin, who played trumpet in the Westmont Orchestra, worked with Tom Knecht, associate professor of political science, analyzing governance structures of local water districts to determine possible avenues for reform. “We did this for an informal local group wanted to improve water management in Santa Barbara County,” Catlin says. He also delivered an overview of American primary elections with Knecht at a college screening of a GOP debate.

Catlin and 19 fellow Westmont students, led by Susan Penksa, professor of political science, received the Distinguished Award at the National Model United Nations Conference in New York City, where they represented Kazakhstan. The award was based on the students’ overall performance on remaining in character, participating in the committees, and making proper use of the UN rules of procedure.

He created a club, Convergence, which hosted events to talk about divisive political issues in a civil way. In March 2015, Catlin served on a student panel that interviewed world-renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin in front of more than 1,000 people at Westmont convocation.

Last summer, Catlin interned at United Way of Santa Barbara County on the fundraising team.

“My Westmont education was an intensive experience that allowed me to examine the world and see how I fit into it,” he says. “At Westmont, I found a chance to mature in my thought and personality and am now emerging with not only a greater awareness but also a passion for understanding the world. My four years were spent stoking my curiosity and strengthening my passions, which leaves me with bigger questions and the confidence to explore them.”

Catlin recalls a lesson by Jesse Covington, associate professor political science, who said ultimately the question at the end of the day is: who gets the glory? “As I leave college, I am much less concerned with trying to discern what single path God has called me on, as I believe he works in much bigger ways,” he says. “Rather, I am seeking to develop and excel in what I do with the singular focus of bringing glory to Christ with my life.”