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Boynton Beach resident and 51�Թ� Senior Angelina DiMauro will study STEM courses in Merida, Mexico and Monteverde, Costa Rica on a full-scholarship provided by the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE).

Salem State’s study abroad coordinator Lauren Prema said that CIEE is fully funding DiMauro’s travels and will cover all expenses for the experience, including foreign tuition, travel, most meals, weekend excursions, and room and board in both locations.

Prema said, “CIEE has awarded many scholarships to Salem State students, but this is the first time they have awarded full-scholarships.”

The study abroad coordinator found that CIEE’s new program model, which follows the American university three-credit course system, allows for more flexibility and opportunities for STEM students studying at Salem State.

“It is often difficult for students in STEM fields to find programs where they will be able to fulfill degree requirements,” Prema said. “STEM students are future doctors, researchers, engineers and scientists,” Prema said. “The skills and growth that students gain from an international experience cannot be taught in a laboratory or classroom.”

DiMauro plans to take many STEM courses, which will be taught in English, including Mayan to Modern Astrology and Cosmology; International Agriculture; and Biostatistics and Field Methods.

A geography major with a concentration in environmental sustainability, DiMauro will travel first to Monteverde, Costa Rica in mid-August where she will spend 6 weeks studying at the Monteverde CIEE campus.

“I wanted to study in Monteverde because of Costa Rica’s unique geography, its biodiversity, and for its many active and dormant volcanoes caused by the convergent boundary beneath them. The Cocoa plate is subducting under the Caribbean Plate, so it is causing a lot of tectonic activity. It’s really exciting.”

An earth science minor, DiMauro will then travel to Merida, Mexico where she will spend 6 weeks at the Merida CIEE campus before traveling back to the Monteverde campus for a final six weeks of classes until late December 2019.

DiMauro said, “Merida is in in the Yucatan Peninsula, which is the location of the Chicxulub Crater.  The crater was made by the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, so I’ve always wanted to go there. Not to mention Merida is known for its ancient Mayan ruins and is only an hour away from one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Chichen Itza.”