The Fulbright Program

10 years ago, if you had asked me what I wanted to become, I would have told you: a cancer research scientist. I was the science girl … weirdly enough the bug girl 😭 Which is funny because my current self is terrified of bugs and basically every animal imaginable (besides dogs!). But my younger self was different. I spent middle school and high school running observational studies on crickets, mealworms, and planaria worms, testing variables like food dyes and pesticides, and presenting my findings at science fairs across New York. I won awards at the New York State Science Congress and Long Island Science Congress. Those science experiments opened doors to prestigious summer research programs I attended on scholarship. Coming from a Title I public high school, science became my way of imagining a bigger future for myself. I thought my path was set: MD-PhD → Research → Academia Business, marketing, communications? I dismissed all of it. I thought the only thing that mattered was the science itself. But over time, I realized something that completely changed the trajectory of my life: the biggest barrier is often not the technology. It’s whether people care enough to trust it, fund it, adopt it, understand it, or fight for it. And that is a communication problem!! Looking back now, I realize my superpower was never only research. It was storytelling. Sharing ideas in ways that made people feel something. Building communities around ideas. Translating complex work into narratives people could connect to. That thread existed long before I had language for it. Today we are living through a collapse of trust in institutions, public health, and research. Yet, most of that distrust does not originate from the science itself. It begins much earlier, in the communication layer. In who people trust, who explains the work, and who can make others care before they ever even interact with the research or the technology itself. Ironically, the girl who once spent hours each week alone studying worms and crickets is now building a career around helping people tell stories. And honestly, being able to practice that skill every day through connecting with my LinkedIn community has been one of the greatest gifts of my work so far!

Pluralis majestatis! Embarrassing "royal we," even for the anti-American Star. I’ve never heard a real Canadian spout that headline (unless they’ve got something lurking in their CPB/CBSA background checks). Recap 10 Possible Reasons for Fewer Canada-US Trips (besides anti-Trump sentiment: boycott, “elbows up,” “51st state” grudge,” & “TDS”): ➜ False press hype: “Increased border hassles!” ➜ Affordability crisis at home ➜ Weak Can$, increased travel costs, in the USA ➜ COVID border shutdown inertia ➜ Shifting snowbird demographics ➜ Evolving travel preferences ➜ New geographic destinations available ➜ Climate change ➜ Stronger passport power ➜ Perceived U.S. emergency healthcare costs Think critically Trust responsible research. Until multivariate studies show causality, ask, “Who profits from the biased journalism that claims X causes Y, with no evidence?” With that in mind… Read Here’s the paywalled Toronto Star editorial (most people only read the headlines of this state-funded newspaper, anyway): https://lnkd.in/gruUgEHs Interested parties What say you, Visit Buffalo , GO Buffalo Niagara , Canadian Association of New York , Consulate General of Canada in New York | Consulat général du Canada à New York , Buffalo Niagara Partnership , New York State Tourism Industry Association (NYSTIA) , New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association (NYSHTA) , Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority , & Destination Niagara USA ?