Rafea Rea Awarded P.E.O International Peace Scholarship

The Graduate College is pleased to announce that Rafea Rea, master’s student in integrated agricultural sciences, has received the P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship (IPS). The IPS provides up to $12,500 for women from other countries to study at the graduate level in the United States and Canada. Members of P.E.O. believe that education is fundamental to world peace and understanding.

Rafea is from Bangladesh, where she completed her undergraduate degree in agriculture from Bangladesh Agriculture University in 2015. She was awarded the National Science and Technology Fellowship in 2015 from the Ministry of Science and Technology in Bangladesh. She was also awarded the Japan-Asian Youth Excellence Fellowship in 2016 from the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

Her research interests are soil health and plant nutrition, and her current project focuses on the improvement of soil health using eco-friendly materials.

Rafea says potential applicants should be tenacious in the application process and make a consistent and persuasive story in their essays. Receiving this scholarship has encouraged her to continue her higher education in the U.S. She also believes this will help her accomplish her long-term goal, which is to be an agro-based entrepreneur and work for women’s empowerment.”