Graduate student Jason Davis has been awarded $13,351 from the Pacific Rim Research Program; a multi-campus program established to encourage Pacific Rim research at the ten campuses of the University of California. It sponsors a competitive grants program that provides funds for University of California faculty and graduate students who do research on Pacific Rim topics in a variety of disciplines. Its priorities are: (1) comparative investigation across national, cultural, linguistic and/or regional boundaries; (2) focus on interactions, flows, or major issues affecting the Pacific Rim region and specific to it; and (3) collaboration of scholars in different countries and, where appropriate, different disciplines. Almost $800,000 per year is available for Pacific Rim grants. Four categories of grants are awarded: (1) Research grants, averaging $18,000 per year; (2) Workshop and Planning Grants, in amounts up to $15,000; (3) Faculty Development Grants in amounts up to $10,000; and (4) Mini-grants, available twice a year in amounts up to $3,000.
Jason will use the funding to attempt to determine the effect that U.S. remittances sent by Guatemalan migrants have on fertility rates in Guatemala rural communities. Professor David Carr, who nominated Jason, points out that “this grant is quite selective. It is a UC-wide competition, and I am quite certain that Jason is the first in our department and only one of a handful campus-wide to receive this grant.” Well done, Jason!
