With LUPE Program, NAU Hopes To Open Doors For Latin American Students

By Murphy Woodhouse
Published: Friday, November 1, 2019 - 2:03pm
Updated: Friday, November 1, 2019 - 9:50pm

Northern Arizona University just wrapped up a new international effort with students from Mexico and Argentina.

The weeklong Leaders United for Positive Energy (LUPE) program brought more than a dozen students and faculty from two Argentine universities and the Technological University of Hermosillo to Arizona in October.

Along with NAU peers, they learned about energy policy, renewable energy and the environmental impacts of mining, among other things.

“Global issues are going to need to be solved by people from across sectors and across countries and cultures,” said Kristin Allen, NAU’s program manager for strategic Latin American initiatives. She hopes to find more opportunities that make it easy for students from across Latin America to come to the United States to study or do research.

Shorter programs like LUPE can be more accessible than a semester or year abroad, according to Allen.