Skip to main content

Hobbs, Sills Win Global Awards

Dr. Heidi Hobbs and Dr. Erin Sills won NC State’s inaugural Outstanding Global Achievement Awards for international research and scholarship. The awards, presented at the International Engagement Expo April 26, include a $500 travel grant for each recipient to continue international work.

Hobbs, director of NC State’s Master of International Studies program, has helped develop a study abroad program in Prague, Czech Republic; a dual master’s degree program in Surrey, United Kingdom; and a Master of Development Practice program with TERI University in India. She directs international programs in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Hobbs has written a soon-to-be-released textbook on international studies that was highlighted during the poster session at the expo.

Sills, an associate professor of forestry and environmental resources, was honored for research on the impact of reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation across five countries. Her project models the impact of iron ore mines on tribal livelihoods in Orissa, India, examining the relationship between poverty and deforestation across the Brazilian Amazon. Sills incorporates global viewpoints into her curriculum, drawing on environmental experience in Costa Rica, Brazil and Indonesia. She has taken students to Ghana, Chile and Mexico.