“I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time,” said San Martin. “I saw this as an opportunity to step back and soak up knowledge, for the first time in my life, really.”

San Martin hopes to use her time at Harvard to study the history of conflicts, the emergence of post-turmoil societies, and America’s role in development and the effects of globalization.

“I’m hoping to use the opportunity for really delving into the issue of conflicts. In simple terms, trying to understand from the ground up why war happens and how nations move on,” she said.

Cathy Grimes, an education reporter with the Walla Walla, Wash. Union-Bulletin and another newly minted Nieman Fellow, said yesterday she became interested in the fellowship when she started looking at the educational opportunities offered by Harvard.

“I went online and started looking at the course catalogs, and found lots of classes that would dovetail on what I write about,” Grimes said. “The idea of actually spending time talking to experts and taking classes in these things was extremely appealing.”

“It’s like being a kid in a candy store,” she said.

The Nieman fellowships, which have been handed out annually since 1938, can have a great impact on the careers of the journalists who receive them. “It had a great effect on mine,” said Giles, who was promoted to City Editor at the Akron, Ohio Beacon Journal after completing his fellowship.

—Staff writer Adam Goldenberg can be reached at goldenb@fas.harvard.edu.