Little did doctoral candidate Kainen Bell know in 2013 when he was an undergraduate studying abroad in Brazil that the country would play a major role in his future dissertation research. Since his first trip, he has returned to Brazil multiple times, even completing a Fulbright study and working for a community-based organization in the country. Now, Bell is preparing to return again, this time to spend ten months conducting research as a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship.

With his Choctaw and Muscogee Creek heritage, PhD student David Eby has a personal connection to his research, which seeks to blend Indigenous knowledge with quantitative data practices. Eby, who is a member of Native American House at University of Illinois, is also interested in analyzing online community identity and representation.