UNESCO science scholarship awarded to Belizean

Josie Lee was not the only Belizean to be awarded for an environmental cause. According to a press release from the Belize National Commission for UNESCO, Belmopan resident Venetia Briggs is the recipient of the UNESCO-L’OREAL Fellowship for Young Women in Life Sciences. The award is worth up to forty thousand U.S. dollars for a period of two years and is given to students at the doctoral and post-doctoral level. Twenty-nine year old Briggs is currently pursuing a PhD in behavioural ecology at the University of Miami. Today member of the UNESCO Commission, Andy Palacio, told News Five that Briggs is the first Belizean to receive this high honour.

Andy Palacio, Member, Bz. National Commission for UNESCO
“It’s a very prestigious award, which is only awarded to fifteen candidates from five geo-cultural regions from around the world. Venetia applied and based on her qualifications and her academic excellence, she was one of the few selected from around the world.”

“This is the first time this fellowship has been awarded to a Belizean. Belize joined UNESCO a long time ago and as a member we qualify for a great deal of benefits and this is one of those benefits that have come our way, but it took the personal effort of Venetia Briggs to make it possible.”

Briggs plans to continue her postdoctoral research at Boston University. Her subject? Multi-sensory communication and sexual selection in red-eyed tree frogs.