> Engineer-turned-journalist receives Fulbright prize
Engineer-turned-journalist receives Fulbright prize
Contact:
Rhiannon Coppin, 347.591.8377 (cell); rc2454@columbia.edu
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.4323
Rhiannon Coppin, 347.591.8377 (cell); rc2454@columbia.edu
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.4323
September 4, 2008
An SFU honors graduate in engineering now hooked on investigative reporting is the recipient of a prestigious Fulbright award.
Rhiannon Coppin, who graduated from SFU in 2004, will use the $15,000 award to complete a year-long masters degree program in journalism at Columbia University in New York.
The award is designed to foster relations between Canada and the U.S. and encourage exchanges.
Coppin, whose initial interest was biomedical engineering, was drawn to journalism while in her final year at SFU, while participating in the university’s Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue.
“Our topic for the semester focused on the urban experience, so a lot of our discussion fell to city hall politics and the news of the day, says Coppin, who also became a volunteer writer at The Peak, SFU’s student newspaper. After graduating she began to pursue freelance writing.
Among her first projects was an in-depth piece for the Vancouver Courier on the tearing down of the city’s heritage structures and what a heritage designation means, using the example of an old city landmark – the library and convent at her high school, Little Flower Academy.
Her second investigative piece for the Courier – on a new fad called geo-caching – a virtual hide and seek treasure hunt game that is increasingly attracting professionals – netted her a gold award from the B.C. and Yukon Community Newspapers Association (2006).
After a brief post at the Yukon News, she spent the past year at the Vancouver Sun with its online paper, editing videos and posting breaking news.
But pulling together myriad elements of a story is what attracts her most. “What really appeals to me is that there is a kind of science - a problem solving aspect - to writing investigative pieces,” says Coppin, whose masters project will entail crafting an 8,000 word piece on a subject related to the New York area.
An avid cyclist and hiker, Coppin hopes to eventually return to the West Coast to pursue her interest.
Meanwhile, SFU biologist Inigo Novales Flamarique will be the 2008-09 Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Neurosciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As visiting chair he will teach, collaborate and conduct research.
Alumnus Joel Zylberberg was earlier named a recipient of the international Fulbright Science and Technology award. See the release here.
Backgrounder
The Fulbright program is named after former U.S. Senator William J. Fulbright, who envisioned an international education and exchange program more than 60 years ago.
The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program is designed to engage the brightest minds in academic exchanges and enhance mutual understanding between the two countries. Award recipients examine a wide range of subjects that are critical to the relationship between the two countries.
The Fulbright program operates in more than 150 countries worldwide. The Canada-U.S. Fulbright program is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the United States Department of State.
Rhiannon Coppin, who graduated from SFU in 2004, will use the $15,000 award to complete a year-long masters degree program in journalism at Columbia University in New York.
The award is designed to foster relations between Canada and the U.S. and encourage exchanges.
Coppin, whose initial interest was biomedical engineering, was drawn to journalism while in her final year at SFU, while participating in the university’s Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue.
“Our topic for the semester focused on the urban experience, so a lot of our discussion fell to city hall politics and the news of the day, says Coppin, who also became a volunteer writer at The Peak, SFU’s student newspaper. After graduating she began to pursue freelance writing.
Among her first projects was an in-depth piece for the Vancouver Courier on the tearing down of the city’s heritage structures and what a heritage designation means, using the example of an old city landmark – the library and convent at her high school, Little Flower Academy.
Her second investigative piece for the Courier – on a new fad called geo-caching – a virtual hide and seek treasure hunt game that is increasingly attracting professionals – netted her a gold award from the B.C. and Yukon Community Newspapers Association (2006).
After a brief post at the Yukon News, she spent the past year at the Vancouver Sun with its online paper, editing videos and posting breaking news.
But pulling together myriad elements of a story is what attracts her most. “What really appeals to me is that there is a kind of science - a problem solving aspect - to writing investigative pieces,” says Coppin, whose masters project will entail crafting an 8,000 word piece on a subject related to the New York area.
An avid cyclist and hiker, Coppin hopes to eventually return to the West Coast to pursue her interest.
Meanwhile, SFU biologist Inigo Novales Flamarique will be the 2008-09 Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Neurosciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As visiting chair he will teach, collaborate and conduct research.
Alumnus Joel Zylberberg was earlier named a recipient of the international Fulbright Science and Technology award. See the release here.
Backgrounder
The Fulbright program is named after former U.S. Senator William J. Fulbright, who envisioned an international education and exchange program more than 60 years ago.
The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program is designed to engage the brightest minds in academic exchanges and enhance mutual understanding between the two countries. Award recipients examine a wide range of subjects that are critical to the relationship between the two countries.
The Fulbright program operates in more than 150 countries worldwide. The Canada-U.S. Fulbright program is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the United States Department of State.