AWARDED AN ADVENTURE

This August, fledgling Emory graduate Michael Coren will fly off to Cambodia to spend a year reporting on science and the environment. Coren was one of only eighteen students in the country selected as a Luce Scholar, a program that provides stipends and internships for young people to live and work in Asia. The purpose of the scholarships is to increase awareness of Asia among future American leaders.

Although he has never spent time in Asia (a basic unfamiliarity with the region is a stipulation of the Luce program), Coren is no stranger to journalism, and science reporting in particular. Four internships at daily newspapers and the experience of editing “Hybrid Vigor,” an on-line Emory science publication, have helped him bring together his two passions: science and journalism. But in keeping with the scholarship criteria, Coren found time to exhibit student leadership in various organizations and also received several scholarships and academic honors, including the United States Naval Science Award Scholarship.

The Luce Scholarship will help Coren follow another of his dreams: travel. Although he won’t be able to return to the U.S. at any point during his stay in Cambodia–another of the program’s requirements–Coren is unfazed by the thought of being so far away from home. Instead, he says, “I’m slowly checking all the continents off my list.”–P.P.P.