Greetings from Brazil Gateway Director
Greetings from São Paulo and your Ohio State Brazil  Gateway! Tudo bom?

It is my pleasure to share with you the first edition  of the Brazil Gateway newsletter.

The Ohio State University has a long history of  collaboration with Brazil, and the Brazil Gateway builds upon the university's more than 50 years of partnership and strategic engagement with Brazil. The Brazil Gateway's four key areas of focus are students, research, alumni and partnerships. We serve as  an embassy for Ohio State in Brazil to foster connections and facilitate opportunities across our focus areas.

The Ohio State University's collaborations and exchanges  with Brazil are rooted in agriculture and, have since, grown over the decades to encompass a diverse range of disciplines including medicine, art, engineering, music, business, languages, biological sciences, humanities and many more.

The Brazil Gateway is located in the city of São  Paulo, with reach throughout the entire country of Brazil. The third of Ohio State's Global Gateways, following China and India, we launched in 2014.  The Brazil Gateway is currently staffed with two team members: Luke Barbara, director, and Jane K. Aparecido, a cademic relations and alumni community manager. 

Through this Brazil Gateway newsletter, we look  forward to sharing more about our work to strengthen Ohio State's existing collaborations with Brazil and foster new initiatives.  

Feel free to get in touch! Contact us if we can be helpful in  anyway or if you have any ideas or opportunities to share with us. If you find yourself in São Paulo, please come visit the Brazil Gateway office. Seja  sempre bem vindo!

Muito obrigado!
Luke Barbara
Brazil Gateway Visits Ohio State Campus
The Ohio State Brazil Gateway team visited Columbus for their first 2017 bi-annual visit to campus in February, alongside the other Global Gateways representatives from China and India.

Luke Barbara, director, and Jane K. Aparecido, academic relations and alumni community manager, participated in strategic meetings with the Office of International Affairs, Global Gateways leadership and the faculty advisory group. They also had meetings with colleges/departments' leadership, faculty and staff. The visit also served as an opportunity to get in touch with and reunite Brazilian students, faculty, alumni and friends of Brazil at events and meet-ups hosted by the Brazil Gateway in Wooster and Columbus.

"It was a great opportunity to share what the Brazil Gateway has been doing in its four focus areas (students, alumni, research and partnership) to raise awareness about Ohio State in Brazil and to foster collaborations," said Aparecido. "It also helped us learn what to focus on during 2017 and make it a big year for Ohio State in Brazil and for Brazil at Ohio State." 

While on campus, Barbara and Aparecido also stopped by the Office of International Affairs to sign the "Buckeye Love" poster and show their support for the university's commitment to value diversity and embrace all international students and scholars.

The Brazil Gateway team will be on campus again around September this year. Follow the Brazil Gateway social media for updates and plans. 
Wooster Lunch Event
On February 14, the Brazil Gateway team visited the campus in Wooster to host a luncheon at the Fisher Conference Room. Students, visiting scholars, faculty and staff interested in and involved with Brazil attended the luncheon and enjoyed Brazilian-style food and snacks.

Luke Barbara, director, and Jane K. Aparecido, academic relations and alumni community manager, presented updates about the Brazil Gateway. The group discussed how to develop more collaborative efforts within the Wooster campus through research and partnerships with Brazil. Jason Owens, an international coordinator at the Wooster campus, shared the opportunities he has been working on for engagement.

Brazilian students were extremely helpful by pointing out ideas and sharing information regarding their experience in Wooster. Cecilia Chagas de Freitas, PhD candidate in the Department of Plant Pathology said, "I am glad we can connect with the Brazil Gateway, and I am willing to help Brazilians interested in coming to Wooster with information and tips about campus."

Wooster campus has departments of the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), such as the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) that are strategically important for the collaborations with Brazil.

"The Ohio State University's Brazil Gateway builds upon Ohio State's more than 50 years of partnership and strategic engagement with Brazil and it all started with Agriculture," said Barbara.
Associate Professor and Graduate Studies Chair in the Department of Entomology at Wooster, Peter Piermarini, attended the luncheon. Piermarini recently visited the University de São Paulo (USP) to talk to researchers in the area because of his FAPESP Grant (São Paulo Foundation for the Support of Research), this joint funding mechanism between Ohio State and FAPESP is an example of fruitful engagement with Brazil.

The Brazil Gateway team is planning to organize a large conference on agriculture in Brazil this year. If you are interested, want to support or share ideas about it, contact the Brazil Gateway.
Brazilian Student Roundtable
Brazilian undergraduate and graduate students, visiting scholars and friends gathered at Hagerty Hall on February 14 with the Brazil Gateway team. The group shared their experiences as international students in Columbus, discussed how the Brazilian community could engage on campus and how to reactivate the Brazilian Student Association (BRASA) that has been dormant since the end of the Sciences Without Boarder program of the Brazilian government.

The Brazil Gateway team wanted to know from Brazilian students how they like to engage, what types of opportunities they are looking for and how the Brazil Gateway could better interact with them and support their efforts.

"It is very good to reunite with Brazilian students, some of them I had met and others I had only had conversations by email when they were preparing to come to Ohio State, so it is an opportunity to get in touch and follow-up," said Aparecido, academic relations and alumni community manager at the Brazil Gateway.

PhD candidate, Paula Dalcin Martins, said, "The meeting was great not only for us to meet other Brazilians at OSU but also for us to identify ways to make the transition from Brazil to the United States a bit easier for the new students. In addition, it was nice to know that the Brazil Gateway helps Brazilians coming to OSU, supports them during their time here and fosters internship and job opportunities for the future."

Tim Sword, president of the Greater Columbus Sister Cities International (GCSCI), also made an appearance to talk about the Sister City Curitiba Committee. Columbus is a sister city of Curitiba, in the state of Paraná. GCSCI has an internship program and, currently, a Brazilian Buckeye is an intern, so they wanted to share the opportunity with other Brazilian students who are interested in making the most of their time in Columbus.

Are you a Brazilian student or visiting scholar and could not make it to the roundtable? Please, contact the Brazil Gateway to be added to the email list and be informed of the next Brazilian Student Roundtable and other events!
Brazil Gateway and Sister Cities Happy Hour
Social engagement and in-person contact are very important to foster opportunities and collaborations, maybe even more if you are dealing with Brazil! As a result, the Brazil Gateway partnered with the Greater Columbus Sister Cities International Curitiba Committee to host a happy hour and networking event on February 15.

"The Brazil Gateway Happy Hour in Columbus has become a tradition for when the Brazil Gateway team visits campus," said Jane K. Aparecido, academic relations and alumni community manager.

"The event helps us build the Brazilian community at Ohio State, raise awareness about the Brazil Gateway, share our goals and plans for 2017 and provide an opportunity for attendees to connect with the Brazil Gateway team in-person," said Luke Barbara, director.

More than 50 people from Brazil or involved with Brazil gathered and enjoyed the evening, including Ohio State students who will travel for education abroad programs, athletes who participated in the Greater Columbus Sister Cities International (GCSCI) Marathon Exchange in Brazil, faculty involved in research with Brazilian institutions, and business representatives looking for information on Brazil. There was even an opportunity for a Brazilian group to share information about their Carnival event that happened in February.

"The happy hour was fantastic!  We were joined by a good number of members of the Brazilian community in Greater Columbus, and thanks to the partnership with the Brazil Gateway, we were also joined by OSU professors and students from Brazil and other countries. It was a great opportunity to connect and celebrate the Brazilian culture.  The Brazil Gateway is an essential point of connection between Brazil and Greater Columbus.  We look forward to more events like this!" said Kessia Cericola, chair of the Sister City Curitiba Committee, GCSCI.
Education Abroad Opportunities in Brazil
A group of 16 Alpha Zeta Partners tour Southeast Brazil every spring semester to develop leadership skills and learn about agricultural growth and sustainability in one of the world's leading agriculture powerhouses.

Alpha Zeta is a professional fraternity for men and women with an interest in the field of agriculture and its advancement, and each year students selected into the Alpha Zeta Partners Honorary participate in this education abroad program and spend six weeks in Brazil. These College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences students study historical, cultural, environmental, social, institutional, organizational and individual leadership perspectives of a foreign society.

"This program has given me a refreshed perspective of the influence of the United States and the mechanics of the world economy and the agriculture industry," said Matthew Klopfenstein, a sophomore majoring in food, agriculture and biological engineering.

The program is offered at the University of São Paulo's Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz" (ESALQ), located in Piracicaba, in the state of São Paulo. Students, however, not only learn material in class, but also through industry visits, scenic tours and homestays. In their first weeks, they visited the regional John Deere headquarters, the Brazilian company, Ecoflora, the city of Holambra, the Equine Therapy Center and the São Paulo Zoo.

Ultimately, the goal is for students to gain knowledge and insight into transformational leadership in the global market through formal and informal dialogue and teaching.
Testimonial: Cindy Lin - "My Experience as an Intern in Brazil"
My name is Cindy Lin, a junior student at The Ohio State University. For the past summer, I went on a Global Entrepreneur program to Brazil through AIESEC at Ohio State.

AIESEC is an international non-governmental not-for-profit organization that provides young people with leadership development and cross-cultural global internship and volunteer exchange experiences across the globe, with a focus to empower young people so they can make a positive impact on society.

I applied for this internship program online at the end of April, got the interview one week later and then got accepted. The internship program I did is called SMARKETING. I worked for an NGO in the city of São Carlos (in the state of São Paulo). The project aimed to improve NGOs in general, making them more important for their community and increasing the impact in São Carlos. I had five working partners from four different countries: Ecuador, Mexico, Columbia and India. During six weeks, we helped to organize a few events and did marketing promotion for two fundraising events: one ARRAIR event, one recycling project and one Festa Junina party.

This was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I was exposed to a variety of issues that I was not aware of, but after that, I became a solution-oriented person. I was involved with a group of people that completely shaped my worldview, I became open-minded, more willing to learn and I met many awesome people. Even though it's only a six-week programs, I got a chance to deeply explore this amazing country and experienced the local culture. I do really love this country, and thanks for everyone who showed me kindness and helped me out whenever I needed help. I really appreciate everything I had there.
 
Cindy has also started taking Portuguese classes! If you want to learn more about AIESEC and its projects in Brazil, please, contact AIESEC at Ohio State or the Brazil Gateway.
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