Andressa Valentin de Menezes, a PhD student in City and Regional Planning at The Ohio State University, has been named the recipient of the 2026 IELTS USA Andrea Scott International Graduate Scholarship.
At Ohio State, Valentin de Menezes will research how planning practices can address racial inequality and climate vulnerability in Brazil. Her research interests are rooted in her experiences growing up in southern Brazil and her work supporting discussions around race, space and inequality.
Valentin de Menezes founded the Encruzilhada Lab, or Crossroads Laboratory, an interdisciplinary group focused on ethnic-racial relations in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The group has created support and community for Black students studying architecture and planning.
Her research interests were also shaped by the historic 2024 floods in her home state, which disproportionately affected Black and low-income communities. The experience strengthened her interest in examining how race, space and public policy can reinforce or address inequality.
Before beginning her doctoral studies at Ohio State, Valentin de Menezes spent two years preparing for IELTS after teaching herself English as a teenager.
“I have been translating technical terms to people and communities, so I was good at reading, but I could not communicate my research,” she told IELTS USA. “I did not have the confidence to speak in English.”
Preparing for IELTS, particularly its speaking component, helped her build that confidence as she prepared to pursue graduate study in the United States.
Article written by Lexi Biasi and published by the Graduate School on September 24, 2026