Graduate student assigned to Paraguay

Matthew Helt with new friends in Paraguay

Even though it is extremely hot and humid, Matthew Helt is learning to like Paraguay. Helt is a SNRAS graduate student enrolled in the Peace Corps Master’s International program. Helt is the second student from the school to participate in the cooperative master’s degree program that allows students to integrate graduate studies with international development experience.

After months of intensive Peace Corps training in Paraguay Helt is now assigned to a village of 150 people outside Ybycui. In e-mail messages to Associate Professor of Resource Planning Susan Todd, chair of the SNRAS graduate program, Helt expressed satisfaction that his village has a working farmers’ group, youth group, and women’s group. “I am truly excited to spend the next two years working on community development and empowerment in this community,” he wrote.

During his training period, Helt learned to deal with cold water showers and to request more vegetables for dinner. Even though surrounded by lettuce fields, his host family was more accustomed to serving meat dishes. Helt attended sessions on agroforestry, crops, beekeeping, and environmental education, and he went to workshops on culture, health, safety, music, religion, and learning styles. He has grafted citrus and mango, planted a garden, and worked on a tree nursery.

Helt noted that deforestation is a major problem in Paraguay, with large plantations growing cotton, soybeans, and sugar cane for export on land that used to be forests. His assignment is to work with the local farmers who only have a few acres.

On Dec. 5 Helt was sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer at the U.S. Embassy in Asuncion. “It’s not every day that one is able to do such a thing so it was rather exciting for most of us,” he said. “To put icing on the cake, at the end of the ceremony the Charge D'Affairs extended us an invitation use the pool when we're in Asuncion on business.”

Helt earned a B.A. from George Mason University before enrolling in graduate studies at UAF.

Students may pursue several areas of interest within the UAF Natural Resources Management M.S. degree, including horticulture, soil science, agronomy, animal science, forest ecology, silviculture, resource economics, land planning, parks/recreation management, and resource policy. The university provides a six-credit tuition waiver for Peace Corps Master’s International students, and allows them to maintain their active student status during their assignment. Contact Susan Todd at ffskt@uaf.edu or Tony Gasbarro ffafg@uaf.edu.