Jocelyn Muller, a second-year Ph.D. student in Tufts' biology department, has been named as one of the winners of a competitive environmental studies scholarship from Annie's Homegrown, an environmentally-conscious organic pasta company.
The scholarship, which was awarded Apr. 10, recognized 10 students across the country for their dedication to sustaining the earth's environment.
For Muller, that dedication manifested itself hundreds of miles away in the African country of Niger, where she served with the Peace Corps for three years.
While in Niger, Muller received training as a botanist, and soon became fascinated with the interaction between the local Nigerian population and the plants on which it subsisted.
"I saw the overlap of how people influence the environment, so I started reading everything I could about it," Muller said.
Muller began studying the local population, which consisted mainly of the Nigerian Zarma ethnic group. She said this research was unique because of the nature of the Zarma people.
"It's an illiterate population, so there were some methods we couldn't use," she said. "A lot of the research involved interacting with the community for things like group interviews."
Despite such obstacles, Muller knew that she wanted to continue her research after she left the Peace Corps. She looked for graduate programs in ethnobotany, which she described as "the study of how people use plants."
According to Muller, there are very few schools with such a program in the United States, and Tufts is not one of them. But she chose Tufts because of its commitment to interdisciplinary studies.
"I've always been interested in languages and cultures, but my strength, academically, has always been in the sciences," she said. "Tufts promotes this kind of interdisciplinary research, so it gave me a home even though it doesn't have a specific program in ethnobotany."
At Tufts, Muller studies with Assistant Biology Professor Astier Almedom, an anthropologist. She said working with Almedom has given her the freedom she needs for her research.
"[Almedom's] role allows me to be in the biology department, but to do interdisciplinary research in anthropology, which is exactly what I wanted," Muller said.
Although she is currently occupied with intense study, Muller plans to return to Niger "in the immediate future" to continue her research.
"I'll be working near a national park and studying how people's use of plants affects their views of the environment," she said.
"My goal is to - over the long term - promote community-based environmental management by helping the community influence park policy," she added.
Though her first goal is "finishing my research and getting done," Muller said she hopes to eventually find a professorship that will help her get funding for her research, which would allow her to continue studying in Niger.
"I probably won't end up living there [Niger] forever," Muller said. "But I like to think of this as the beginning of a long-term partnership with the Nigerian people."
