Meet Our Student Ambassadors:
Guiding the Present, Shaping the Future
From Trailblazers to Torchbearers: Celebrating our past ambassadors and inspiring our current ones.
Nureen Anisha, Oregon State University
Comprehensive Social Media Outreach: There are existing resources (database, videos, website etc.) about responsible traveling that should be easily accessible to travelers coming to the US. But they definitely are not explored by the travelers much. Nureen’s project idea is to have active social media accounts in several platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to raise awareness about the existing resources. Different types of contents (pictures, videos, animations, cartoons etc.) to be created to convey the message. The contents can be shared with other traveling groups, travel agencies, travelers, university groups, student organizations etc.
Daniel Arisa, Park University
Daniel Arisa is an international student from Nigeria studying psychology at Park University, Missouri. Daniel is working to compile web data to find trends in people packing search terms, to better direct people to the DontPackaPest.com website.
Rainey Campbell, Appalachian State University
Guten Tag! My name is Rainey Campbell, and I am a first-year undergraduate student at Appalachian State University. Currently. I am on track to becoming an international business major, but luckily I have plenty of time to figure out the best career path for me. I have interests in sustainability, environmental science, and wildlife rehabilitation, so I feel that the Don’t Pack a Pest student internship is a perfect fit for me. Working to educate and inform students on how to travel safely is an excellent way to gain professional experience while also enabling me to experiment with several fields of interest. I first became fascinated with the idea of studying abroad during my sophomore year of high school. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do foreign exchange at that time due to Covid. However, with the support of my school and the experience I will be gaining through this partnership with Oregon State, I am excited to say that I will be studying abroad this summer. I am super enthusiastic about having an opportunity to share my knowledge during a study abroad trip to Rome, Paris, and Italy!
Tzu-Yi Chang, Oregon State University
Tzu-Yi Chang is a PhD student in Material Sciences at Oregon State University. As an Academic Traveler Student ambassador Tzu-Yi utilized her artistic skills to create beautiful social media posts about our love for food around the holidays.
Aaron Ho, Oregon State University
Aaron Ho is an international student from Singapore studying Engineering. As an Academic Traveler Ambassador, Aaron supports the development of a database of food and handicraft items that are popular to bring into the USA from overseas.
Oscar Lee, University of California, Riverside
Oscar Lee is a student at UC Riverside, where he is getting his MBA with a concentration in information systems. As an intern for the Academic Traveler program, Oscar is developing a database of popular food items that people love to travel with. In his free time, Oscar likes to build and modify cars.
Minji Kim, Oregon State University
Minji is an international student from South Korea studying Marketing. As an Academic Traveler Ambassador, Minji was able to apply her Marketing training at OSU. “I’ve created social media accounts and contents like posters and short videos. Also, my manager is very supportive to use my knowledge and skills related to marketing field and gave me some deeper insights of my research. I’ve developed our marketing analysis, including external and internal environment factors, such as industry analysis, PESTEL, SWOT, consumer trends, brand identity, value proposition, competitive differentiations, and comparison of possible solutions and expected outcomes."
Quincey Pittman, Oregon State University
Quincey is a domestic student with study abroad experience and is studying Sustainable Horticulture Production at Oregon State University working with the Don’t Pack a Pest Program. Her project is focused on research and outreach to the study abroad communities at Oregon State University. She is creating a method of analyzing items commonly brought to and from host countries from the United States by study abroad students, and evaluates the potential risk factor these items represent to the U.S.A. and host countries. The data analysis and methodology will then be integrated into study abroad curriculum beneficially impacting study abroad programs and their academic travelers. This will lead to raised awareness regarding invasive species and the potential threat of academic travelers bringing pests with them.
Tam Tong, Oregon State University
My project is a social media channel, Instagram particularly, that allows Academic travelers to get access to useful information related to the DPAP program. The social media content focuses on promoting the DPAP program, specifically items that are allowed or prohibited to bring to the US, and educating about the potential pests and diseases associated with those items. I am also creating targeted marketing strategies for our Academic Travelers DPAP Instagram platform focusing specifically on engaging posts for our targeted audience.
Tync (Tyn) Phung, Oregon State University
Tyn is an international student from Vietnam studying Chemical Engineering at Oregon State University working with the Don't Pack a Pest Program. Her project is a pop-up questionnaire that displays questions related to the Don't Pack a Pest Program campaign and travel packing information. This project is designed to reach to the right people at the right place at the right time. The targeted audiences are travelers/ tourists or anyone who is planning to travel soon. The program will be established and published to audiences via travel services websites or transportation Wi-Fi connection screens.
Sarah Vojnovich, Oregon State University
Michael Whidden, Miami University
Michael Whidden, a political science major at Miami University, is taking the lead to integrate the Don't Pack a Pest for Academic Traveler program as part of the Study Abroad Program at Miami University. Working with fellow student Gracie Limaro, Michael and Gracie shared information with 70 study abroad students about what to pack for a trip to Luxembourg and included information about Don't Pack a Pest. In 2022 Michael plans to present Don't Pack a Pest to Environmental Science Classes at Miami University. "I think Environmental Studies students will be particularly interested in learning how invasive pests and diseases can damage things we care about, like clean water, clean air, and healthy fruits and vegetables and other crops that we depend on", said Michael. Michael is working under the leadership of Dr Ryan Dye, Director of Study Abroad at Miami University, as part of the Study Abroad Ambassadors program.
Michael Xu, Oregon State University
Michael Xu is an international student from China. He works with the Academic Traveler team to help develop social media posts and conduct research on popular food items students bring from other counties.
Andra Yahya, Oregon State University
Andra is an international student from Indonesia studying at Oregon State University working with the Don't Pack a Pest Program. His project is an animation advertisement that targets travelers and international student, depicting how important it is to declare agricultural items and checking resources such as the Don't Pack a Pest website before traveling. The main character in the animation advertisement is the mascot beagle dog of the Don't Pack a Pest Program.