Meembo Changula, a graduate student in Urban and Regional Planning, has attracted attention in her homeland of Zambia for her academic work at the University of Iowa. The United States Embassy in Zambia learned about Changula’s participation in the Field Problems in Planning course after a story about the class appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette on Oct. 23rd.

Twenty-eight second-year master’s degree students began working this fall in Anamosa, Columbus Junction, Decorah, and Wellman to develop sustainability plans for the Iowa communities during the yearlong outreach project.

The Gazette story quotes Changula, who is working with six other students in the Anamosa group, and is posted on the embassy's website (scroll through the stories on the left side of the page). The story also is linked to the embassy’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/usembassyzambia.

Changula is attending the UI on a Fulbright scholarship. “I was the only one selected for master’s study from Zambia in 2008, so I guess they are really excited that the scholarship is paying off, both for the U.S. and my country,” said Changula, who is from Lusaka, Zambia.