Fellowship Experiences
Sharon P. Murray
1999-01 AAAS Diplomacy Fellow
U.S. Agency for International Development
When Hurricane Mitch struck Central America last year,
I was finishing my dissertation. Suddenly, the tapping
of my keyboard was accompanied by stark images of human
suffering and natural devastation on the television
screen. As the crisis unfolded before me, it fired my
urgency to leave the halls of academia and put myself
into the active practice of public service.
Not too long afterward, I heard about the AAAS fellowship
programs from a Diplomacy Fellow at the U.S. Agency
for International Development in Washington, DC. I knew
that this would be a great next step for me. The fellowship
would be a perfect opportunity to take the skills and
insights I had gained from my Ph.D. program in Wildlife
Resource Science at the University of California ? Berkeley,
and apply them to real-world development.
After applying and being interviewed in Washington,
I was awarded a Diplomacy fellowship for 1999-2000.
I started the year with an already-strong commitment
to the field of environment and development practice.
In that sense I felt that my work at USAID would be
consistent with my skills and interests to date. At
the same time, I did not expect to be doing exactly
what I had focused on in the past. In fact, the fellowship
assignment was not in my field of specialization, but
it provided me with challenges and learning opportunities,
and allowed me to broaden my skills. At the same time,
I didn?t feel as though my lack of experience in this
area hurt my ability to be a valuable member of the
USAID team.
During my first year as a Fellow, I was fortunate to
encounter a tremendous variety of tasks and responsibilities.
I was exposed to environment and development work on
several scales and throughout many regions of the world.
My work included consulting with local Mexican non-governmental
organizations to organize a planning workshop for a
new bi-national Mexico-Belize coalition for management
of shared coastal resources. For several months, I also
collaborated with the USAID Mission in India to strategically
plan for a new program initiative related to water and
energy management in that country. Finally, within the
domain of international policy, I was involved in numerous
multi-donor and interagency activities surrounding water
issues, including participation in the official U.S.
delegation to the Second World Water Forum and Ministerial
Conference in The Hague.
A USAID Diplomacy Fellowship isn?t like an academic
post-doctoral position, or a research assignment, or
even a ?regular? government job. At its best, it represents
an opportunity to mix a deep scientific interest with
the demands of public policy and government practice.
The AAAS fellowship may also represent a departure from
previous work experience. For me, it was a homecoming
and the culmination of the professional and academic
path I had followed for many years. Whether it serves
to open new doors and provide profound changes in life
direction, or is the avenue to deepen an existing path,
the Diplomacy Fellowship can be an important catalyst
for the expansion of professional capabilities, skills
and knowledge, as well as overall personal growth. It
is, finally, an opportunity to serve society in the
United States and abroad. For anyone who believes that
these pursuits are worthwhile, applying for a Diplomacy
Fellowship is a great way to go.
The author has renewed her 1999-2000 Diplomacy
Fellowship at the U.S. Agency for International Development
for another year. Her fellowship will end in September
2001. She has a Ph.D. in Wildlife Resource Science from
the University of California at Berkeley.
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