3rd Class, 2005-2007
Field Placement: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Accra, Ghana
Nate Heller was based in the FAO regional office for Africa where he conducted research on existing and potential applications of information and communications technologies (ICT) in agriculture and rural development in Ghana. He developed five case studies focusing on the ways in which information is used for rural development by local governments, agricultural research and extension officers, and producer and trader organizations. He was also involved in several projects related to rural ICT, including a workshop to sensitize local government officials to the potential of ICT and a web portal for rural internet centers.
Policy Placement: Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy
Nate spent the first six months of his placement at FAO headquarters in Rome, working with FAO’s World Agricultural Information Center to development its Bridging the Rural Digital Divide rural information systems program. He also participated in the FAO delegation at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis. Nate spent the second half of his policy year translating his field research into policy applications.
Pre-Fellowship Education/Experience:
Nate received an MA in International Relations and International Economics with a focus on Social Change and Development from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He served as West Africa Regional Representative, based in Senegal and Ghana, for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, an international NGO focused on transportation and urban development. Nate also spent two years in a village in Senegal as a Peace Corps agroforestry volunteer. He is fluent in French and Wolof and conversant in Spanish and Italian.