This fall, two UC Davis Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship alumni were honored with the program’s 2021 Alumni Impact Awards. Selenge Chadraabal (Mongolia, 2017) and Zhong Zhao (China, 2015) received these prestigious awards for their work on sustainability projects in their home countries.

Chadraabal views poultry as the center of the solution to poverty and hunger in the eastern Dornod province of Mongolia. She works tirelessly on her family’s poultry operation. Her project, “Promote Poultry Farming in Local Communities Living in Poverty,” shows the impact raising chickens can have on the community and the region. Chadraabal is selecting six families as part of a pilot project in which she will educate and train them on critical aspects of poultry farming, such as chicken coop construction and best practices for raising chickens and eggs. Her efforts support impoverished members of the community and have a positive impact on the poultry supply chain in Mongolia, where lean meats and proteins can be scarce.

In northwest China, Zhao uses education and access to information to address climate change. His project, “Adaptive Climate Education in Rural Northwest China,” includes two parts: he seeks to create a system of education in rural areas of Northwestern China to share information about climate change, and working with two pilot villages, he will experiment with community-based carbon-neutral to find solutions for sustainability and alternative energy. In addition, Zhao will work through his organization, Green Camel Bell Environment Protection and Development Center, the first non-government protection organization in China’s Gansu Province. They will partner with CANGO and China’s Civil Climate Action Network on this important project.

Since 1986, UC Davis has hosted 30 cohorts of Humphrey fellows, each pursuing opportunities to connect with our campus and community as they contribute to a greater understanding of agricultural, conservation and environmental issues affecting our world. UC Davis has been ranked first in the U.S. for sustainability by the GreenMetric World University Rankings for the past three years and recently ranked among the top 15 universities globally in environmental sciences.

About Global Affairs at UC Davis

Global Affairs brings the world to UC Davis, welcoming more than 10,000 international students, scholars and leaders, and hosting programs that inspire global curiosity, understanding and engagement. Compelled by the valuable outcomes of thinking globally, we make transformative opportunities a reality by supporting the thousands of students and faculty learning and researching globally—and by facilitating collaborations that tackle the world’s most pressing challenges through more than 150 global partnerships.

Putting our vision of a UC Davis community that engages, thrives, and leads in this interconnected world into action, Global Affairs is in pursuit of an ambitious goal: Global Education for All. 

About the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program

An initiative of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program was founded in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter to honor the late senator and vice president, Hubert H. Humphrey, an advocate of international connections and understanding.