Rachael Butterfield is a senior nursing major, University Honors student and Honors-in-Major student from Richmond, New Hampshire. With the support of her UNH mentors, Gene Harkless and Carol Williams-Barnard, Rachael received a 2010 International Research Opportunities Program (IROP) grant to travel to India, a country she had long desired to visit. Although things didn’t always go according to plan, Rachael “learned to be extremely flexible and do everything the best I could with the time given.” Inspired by her IROP research experience, Rachael plans to pursue global public/community health after graduating with a bachelor’s of science in May 2011 and hopes to someday return to India.
Gene Harkless, DNSC, ARNP, is an associate professor in the Department of Nursing. A family nurse practitioner who has taught at UNH since 1985, Dr. Harkless is a frequent mentor and enjoys working with students such as Rachael as they take on international endeavors. “For past IROPers, it has been life-changing. They create a whole new lens through which to see the world,” she says. “Students grow to understand their own academic abilities, to ask a question and search for answers and perspectives outside of expert text materials.”
Carol Williams-Barnard, PhD, RN, has been an associate professor in nursing at UNH for the past 33 years. She also serves as an Honors-in-Major coordinator. She specializes in both teaching and psychiatric mental health nursing and has been a mentor to numerous undergraduates since 1989. “It has been terribly exciting to see students grow into their potential as people and nursing professionals,” says Williams-Barnard.
Rachael’s foreign mentor was Achiamma Singh, the Principal of the Tehmi Grant Institute of Nursing Education in Pune, Maharashtra, India. A professor of obstetrics and gynecological nursing, Mrs. Singh has taught for 28 years and also serves as a research guide to graduate students. This was her first time mentoring an international student, and she enjoyed the experience. “I wish Rachael all the success in this endeavor,” says Singh.
Read Rachael Butterfield’s commentary Colorful Perspectives: Caring for Sick Children in Pune, India >>
