Each year, the Fulbright Program selects students and scholars from across the United States to pursue research, graduate study, and cultural exchange around the world. Applicants spend months developing detailed proposals. Being named a Fulbright semifinalist is a major milestone in the highly competitive process, recognizing students whose ideas and experiences show strong potential for international impact.
This year, several Miller Center Lewis Family Fellows were named semifinalists for the Fulbright Program. For three Santa Clara University seniors, the recognition reflects months of preparation and years of experiences that inspired the projects they hope to pursue around the world.
Blending Environmental Justice with Documentary Filmmaking
Shivani Glynn is an Environmental Studies and Communications major with an emphasis in film, and proposed creating a documentary on the long-term impacts of the flooding in Valencia, Spain. She’s moved by the stories from catastrophic environmental episodes such as the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and is inspired by the work of Rachel Carson, Spike Lee documentaries, and National Geographic storytelling. Shivani intends to blend environmental justice with documentary filmmaking and hopes to highlight the often-overlooked mental health impacts of climate disasters on vulnerable communities, using film to tell their stories and bridge lived experience with global awareness. As she puts it, “documentary filmmaking is a great way to highlight the effects of current issues on outside communities. I want to put my skills to use on an issue I’m passionate about.”
Shivani was a Miller Center fellow in the summer of 2025, working with Rutopía in Mexico City. This valuable experience inspired her to take on the Fulbright after making meaningful connections with local people fighting the climate crisis through genuine conversations. These conversations revealed the modern struggles the community was facing as a result of the climate crisis, which they were not responsible for contributing to, but still experiencing the devastation of. “Hearing how they had to deal with all of those externalities, it feels important to get their stories out in order to motivate people who can create meaningful change.”
What is something you took away from your fellowship experience that you think will stick with you long term?
“It stressed me out a little bit, sometimes, knowing that the fellowship was such an awesome opportunity, but it was different from what everyone else was doing for summer internships. But I wouldn’t change it for anything. It gave me such a great network of people who genuinely wanted to support me. Knowing that within this type of work, there are just really interesting, dedicated people who are so cool to talk to, and who didn’t have any reason to help me other than just wanting me to succeed.”
Ultimately, she says that her Miller Center fellowship experience helped her understand that “it’s not as hard as it seems to do something ambitious on your own. I know that I want to continue along this route of working abroad in other countries to generate positive social change, while also representing the US as a more positive influence, despite our country’s reputation right now.” The Fulbright scholarship is her next step on the path to being a positive leader and role model internationally.
Restoring Marine Ecosystems Through Innovative Coastal Research
Grace Falci, a senior Environmental Science major, had long kept the Fulbright Program in the back of her mind as her passion for marine science grew. Now a Fulbright semifinalist, she has proposed a research project based in Sydney, Australia, studying eco-engineered coastal infrastructure through the Living Seawalls project. Inspired by her junior-year study abroad in Australia, where she connected with the professor who now sponsors her proposal, Grace hopes to return to continue being a part of the region’s uniquely innovative marine research opportunities. Her project would examine how 3D modular panels attached to seawalls and port structures can restore marine habitat by creating microenvironments for marine life, and whether these designs successfully support native species. The opportunity would combine her love for marine science with her enthusiasm for experiencing new cultures abroad, giving her the chance to grow academically and professionally while learning in a new environment.
For her fellowship in the summer of 2025, Grace worked with Grupo PROMESA in Mexico City. One of her biggest takeaways was the importance of truly engaging with the communities you work alongside. As she explains, “the biggest impact comes from going the extra mile to really get to know the people and community you’re working with. I think that really makes a difference in your experience and the lessons you walk away with.”
Grace says these experiences also shaped how she thinks about environmental leadership. Seeing how different communities experience and respond to environmental challenges broadened her perspective on possible solutions. Seeing how other communities confront environmental challenges, she says, offers lessons that can help shape more informed solutions in the United States. As Grace reflects, “I think there’s so much to learn from each other, and we get too blindsided by our own narrow set of experiences…It’s really important to widen our perspectives.”
What advice would you give to other Miller Center Fellows considering the Fulbright?
“I would say it’s definitely worth it. No matter what, it’s something worth throwing your hat in the ring for. I really do think experiences like the Miller Center Fellowship and the Fulbright Program are incredibly rewarding. You learn so much and come back with so much to teach others. I feel like I couldn’t be more grateful for having had these opportunities and really just hope more students will too.”
Shaping Refugee Policy Through Global Governance
For Saron Weldemariam, applying to the Fulbright Program felt like a natural next step as she continues to build a career focused on global policy. As an International Studies minor, the program had long been on her radar as a way to expand her work onto a global stage. For her Fulbright application, she has proposed pursuing a master’s degree in International Studies at the Hertie School in Berlin, Germany. Her interest in Germany stems from its role as one of the largest hubs for refugees in Europe, where policy decisions often have global ripple effects. She sees the country as a place where she could engage directly with organizations working on immigration and refugee policy.
Saron’s Fulbright proposal builds directly on her experience as a fellow with Miller Center, where she worked with Inkomoko to support refugees in East Africa. She says, “It was exactly what I needed to give me that light to realize that, oh, this is what I’m supposed to do.” Beyond the professional exposure, the fellowship also held personal meaning. Having been born and raised in Eritrea, returning to East Africa and interacting with communities there created a powerful sense of recognition and belonging. For Saron, being in that environment and seeing people who “look like me” reaffirmed that she was on the right path.
“There is a world outside of our world,” she says. Refugees and immigrants represent only a small percentage of the US, while many other countries confront these challenges on a much larger scale. Through Fulbright, she hopes to continue developing the perspective and education necessary to make a meaningful global impact. “I already know what I want to do and whose lives I want to impact,” she explains. “It’s just working backwards, and it just so happens that Fulbright fits into the steps it will take to get there.”
If you could describe the Miller Center Fellowship in one sentence and how it prepared you for what’s next, what would you say?
“There’s a pipeline from Miller Center to Fulbright,” she says. “Global leaders are starting to be shaped in Miller Center, and then they move up to the Fulbright…The Miller Center Fellowship opened the door for me to see an outside perspective and an outside world. Looking back now, that’s all I needed. It was Miller Center that got me there and believed in me to take the next step.”
While the final Fulbright decisions are still ahead, being named a semifinalist is already an impressive achievement. For Shivani, Grace, and Saron, the journey reflects how experiences through Miller Center for Global Impact can inspire students to pursue ambitious global opportunities. Their projects highlight the power of combining academic curiosity with firsthand engagement in communities around the world.
No matter the outcome, these fellows have already demonstrated the spirit of global leadership the program seeks to cultivate. The Miller Center community congratulates them on reaching this stage of the process and wishes them the very best as they continue pursuing their goals, building their futures, and creating positive impact around the world.
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Photos:
Shivani Glynn ‘26 Rutopía
Grace Falci ‘26 Grupo Promesa
Saron Weldemariam ‘26 Inkomoko
