Shrewsbury Student Receives Boren Scholarship

From Lafayette College:

EASTON, PA (08/29/2016)-- Lafayette's Steven Berube '17 of Shrewsbury, MA (01545) has won the coveted Boren Scholarship, an award that will support eight weeks of intensive study of the Russian language in the Tian Shan Mountains. The scholarship is sponsored by the National Security Education Program, a federal initiative designed to deepen the pool of U.S. citizens with foreign language and international skills.

Berube, who is pursuing a dual degree with a B.S. in civil engineering and an B.A. in international studies, is anxious to cut down language and cultural barriers to help the Central Asia region. He has taken interim trips to Tanzania and Russia and will use the funds from the Boren Scholarship to defray costs as he studies among the snowcapped peaks of the Tian Shan Mountains. He will live in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for the summer.
Berube's study at Lafayette has helped him realize the region's troubles in accessing water, and securing nuclear facilities left vulnerable after the collapse of the Soviet Union, aren't engineering quandaries alone. In fall of 2015, he worked with Kristen Sanford Bernhardt, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, on an independent study that examined water management in Central Asia's Fergana Valley.
Berube believes the regional cooperation required to solve water issues could do more than quench thirsts. It could also stem the rise of ethnic tensions and religious extremism in the area and ultimately promote stability for the region.

Image via Shutterstock.