As part of an effort to enable the exploration of top world issues via modern media, the U.S. Department of State recently revealed the list of 2017-18 Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellows in collaboration with the National Geographic Society’s storytelling team.
This year’s winners are Toby Cox, Isai Madriz, Abby McBride, Lillygol Sedaghat, and Destry Maria Sibley. Through blogs and social media, photography and video work, the five storytellers — culled from a rigorous application process — will delve into diverse topics, with travel involved, for the purpose of documenting world cultural events and scenarios, a State Department release said.
Cox will examine religious identity in Kyrgyzstan, interviewing residents about Islam. Madriz is a scientist headed to Chile for exploring remote areas to seek rare insects and study deglaciation in Patagonia.
McBride, a visual artist, will head to New Zealand and sketch endangered seabirds and capture New Zealanders’ work to save species such as penguins, gulls and mollymawks. Sedaghat will visit Taiwan to record new developments in waste management and recycling through photography, audio recordings and Instagram.
Sibley is bound for Mexico, where she will produce a series of podcasts about Los Ninos de Morelia, a large group of children who fled the Spanish Civil War in 1937 to settle in Mexico.
“These storytelling tools are a powerful resource in building lasting ties across cultures, helping Americans and people from around the world better understand each other,” the release said.
The fellowships are a partnership between the State Department the National Geographic Society.
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