Last fall UC Davis environmental toxicology professor Bob Rice traveled to Siberia to teach at the "MIT of Russia," Novosibirsk State University, while on a Fulbright exchange program grant.

And while he certainly found talented scholars and eager students at the university, during his time abroad Rice also gained an appreciation of the conditions that Russian scientists endure. Students worked without textbooks, researchers without lab equipment. Professors held down two jobs to make ends meet.

"I had to admire their perseverance to get anything done at all," Rice said.

For years, a handful of UC Davis students and scholars like Rice has participated in the international teaching and research opportunities of the Fulbright Program, a U.S. Department of State exchange, intended, in the words of its late founder, U.S. Sen. William Fulbright, "to turn nations into people."

Now, internationally savvy offices across campus want to raise the program's profile by offering the first university-wide information day devoted to the exchange. It's set for Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Memorial Union II.

International education has always been integral to UC Davis education, but since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, exchange programs like the Fulbright have become even more vital for promoting international understanding, said Dennis Dutschke, associate vice provost for international programs and the coordinator of the event.

"It is a way for UC Davis people to reach out, extend our community to the world, and return to UC Davis and share it," said Dutschke, who traveled to Japan over the summer as part of a Fulbright university administrators program. The group visited cram schools, elementary schools and universities to study the changing educational system in the country.

Doctoral student Jennifer Watts just returned from a year-long Fulbright research project at the Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR) in La Paz, Mexico. While doing fieldwork in the Gulf of California she gained valuable material for her dissertation on the environmental impacts of aquaculture. But she got her real insights into Mexican culture when her 10-year-old son, Nataan, befriended one of the families living in their neighborhood, Watts said.

Annually, U.S. Fulbright recipients receive funding to travel to more than 140 different countries to study or teach disciplines ranging from art to business administration, and environmental science to communication and journalism. In the past few years U.C. Davis recipients journeyed to China, Latvia, Germany, Israel, Argentina and Botswana, among other countries.

During the information day, administrators from UC Davis and the International Institute of Education, a non-profit agency helping administer Fulbrights, will answer questions about various Fulbright programs. They include the U.S. Scholar Program (for faculty and professional staff), the U.S. Student Program (for graduating seniors and graduate students), and the Visiting Students Program, which brings foreign scholars to campuses like UC Davis. The university is now hosting about 20 such students and researchers, Dutschke said.

Fulbright alumni like Watts and Rice, and foreign Fulbrighters currently visiting campus, will also share their stories and advice during the day. Each year about two or three UC Davis students receive a Fulbright grant. Annually about three to seven scholars from campus typically receive the award, Dutschke said.

Watts, whose first Fulbright proposal was turned down, urged UC Davis students and faculty members to keep applying for the awards if they are first rejected. She's truly appreciated the international collaboration the Fulbright offers. Her Mexican colleagues are still doing water sampling in the Gulf of California for her dissertation research. And Watts is hoping to bring a researcher from CIBNOR to conduct work at UC Davis.

"I have wonderful things to say about the (Fulbright) program," Watts said. "I truly believe I will continue the relationships I started there if I get funding for work."

For more details about the campus Fulbright Information Day, call Dutschke at 752-7071.