As recipient of a coveted Fulbright fellowship, University of Colorado Denver graduate Kimberly Johnson will travel across the world in September to Azerbaijan to study under a full research grant.

Johnson designed her research proposal to investigate the efficiency of the country's State Oil Fund. In the late 1990s, Azerbaijan - the most populous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia - implemented a separate fund for oil revenue in order to stabilize the economy, build social welfare projects and develop new industries independent of oil.

"I want to see whether or not this would be an effective model for other countries," Johnson says. "I also want to see if this kind of model could be used for other economic endeavors in Azerbaijan."

The 26-year-old received her bachelor degree in political science from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Spring 2008, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA. This summer, she will be learning Azerbaijan's local language, Azeri, at the University of Indiana under a pre-grant Critical Language Enhancement Award.

"We're all coming from one cultural perspective without perhaps fully understanding someone else's culture," she says. "It's good to learn how to interact with all different kinds of people."

Johnson is no stranger to new experiences. She attended school in France for a year and a half and spent five months studying in Argentina last year.

After she returns to Colorado in August 2009, Johnson plans on attending graduate school. Eventually, she wants to earn her doctorate and perform research at a university or non-profit organization.

"Your actions on a small level really do affect how other people do things," she says. "I really want to do something that affects people for the better and try to improve society."