Colorado State University is one of the nation’s top producers of Fulbright U.S. Scholars — professionals, artists and scholars who usually hold faculty appointments — according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
For the upcoming 2023-24 academic year, the Institute of International Education recently announced eight faculty members from CSU as Fulbright U.S. Scholars.
Those who participate in this prestigious program engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange.
2023-24 Fulbright U.S. Scholars from CSU
The Institute of International Education identified the following CSU faculty members as Fulbright U.S. Scholars for the 2023-24 academic year.
Assefa Gebre-Amlak
Assefa Gebre-Amlak, an extension specialist at CSU Extension and an emeritus professor at CSU, is heading to Ethiopia in October to Addis Ababa University, where he will be working on improving the quality of education in higher education systems through engagement or service-learning programs.
Gebre-Amlak, who is originally from Ethiopia, was a Fulbright Scholar in 1995 when he traveled from Ethiopia to the U.S. to conduct research at Oklahoma State University as a visiting professor. Previously a faculty member at Addis Ababa University, Gebre-Amlak is looking to help establish a service-learning pedagogy in which students not only learn in the classrooms but go into communities to solve real-world issues.
“It’s all about doing something to help people be self-sufficient and solve problems,” he said. “If the quality of education improves with the programming that I’m proposing, that will help the country to improve the livelihoods of people and achieve sustainable development.”
Abdelfettah Berrada
Abdelfettah Berrada, an emeritus senior research scientist/scholar who worked with the Ag Experiment Station, is going to Morocco in August to work with the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), a research institute working for the sustainable development of agriculture, food and the environment.
Berrada explained that he will be conducting research on hemp, which follows Morocco’s legalization of the cultivation and processing of cannabis for medical, industrial and cosmetic uses in 2021. Because of his expertise in the area, he will be working with INRA to assist with developing a research program on hemp.
“It’s an honor to be part of the Fulbright program for U.S. scholars,” said Berrada, who previously conducted research in Morocco in 2008 as a Fulbright scholar. “It’s an opportunity to learn about Morocco’s efforts to develop a legal cannabis/hemp industry and to share that experience with my colleagues in the U.S.”
Steven Fassnacht
Steven Fassnacht, professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, is taking part in the Fulbright Global Scholar Program, traveling to Chile and Spain.
In Chile, he will be at the Universidad de Playa Ancha, hosted by Professor Freddy Saavedra and Felipe Perez Peredo from the Dirección General de Aguas — both hold degrees from CSU. In Spain, he will be working with various groups, primarily with the Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME) of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).
His research will focus on sublimation from snowpack, comparing sites in Colorado, the Aconcagua River in the Chilean Andes and several watersheds in the Sierra Nevada. In Spain, he will also be looking at study basins in the Central Range and the Pyrenees. He will be using existing data and collecting field data.
“It is an honor to be selected as a Fulbright Global Scholar, and I am looking forward to strengthening relationships with researchers around the globe,” he said. “Snow and water are crucial resources; working on these topics for a Fulbright advances the international collaboration of the Fulbright program, and I am excited to be part of that.”
Claudia Gentry-Weeks
Claudia Gentry-Weeks, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, will be at the Universidad de Murcia in Spain in September. She will be examining the use of antimicrobial peptides (a natural immune response) and bacteriophages (bacterial viruses) to defend against/treat fish diseases.
Gentry-Weeks will be cloning genes that code for these antimicrobial peptides and isolating bacteriophages from fish farms. The fish industry in southern Spain is a critical part of their economy. Fish are cultivated in the ocean using large fish “farms” – gigantic nets containing fish. She explained that one of the problems with having fish together in these fish farms is that they are treated with antibiotics and this leads to antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can cause diseases that are difficult to treat.
“The Fulbright Foundation does incredible work with bringing together international communities to build collaborations and promote an understanding of different cultures and experiences,” she said. “They are extremely professional and organized and promote diversity and inclusion. I am very honored to be a part of this opportunity – it is transformative.”
Liba Pejchar
Liba Pejchar, professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, is heading to the University of Naples Parthenope in Italy in 2024.
Pejchar explained that she will work to synthesize what is known about how well various management practices enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services in perennial crops, such as orchards and vineyards. As part of this, she also will be surveying Italian farmers to assess whether these practices are feasible and cost-effective to implement. She explained that the overall goal is to identify how to overcome current barriers to adoption and provide net benefits to farmers, biodiversity and society.
“It is an absolute honor to be a Fulbright Fellow,” she said. “I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to interact with new colleagues and students at the University of Naples Parthenope, and to bring what I learn back to the CSU community.”
David Koons
David Koons, a professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, is going to Cornwall, England, on a Fulbright-University of Exeter Scholar Award in September.
Koons will be at the University of Exeter for nine months, where he will be studying the impacts of climate change on long-distance animal migrations, advancing theoretical understanding of population dynamics in non-stationary environments, and teaching workshops on Bayesian population modeling.
“As a Fulbright Scholar I have the honor of being an ambassador for enhancing intercultural competence and relations through the exchange of knowledge and skills,” he said.
Kelly McKenna
Kelly McKenna, associate professor in the Adult Education and Training program in the School of Education, is traveling to Malaysia in 2024 to partner with Asia Pacific University’s Digital Learning Hub and its director, Abtar Darshan Singh, who is an APU professor and a UNESCO chair.
McKenna explained that she will be partnering with the Digital Learning Hub and Singh to support the creation of inclusive and innovative open distance learning opportunities for APU’s diverse learner population. She also will be conducting exploratory comparative research, aligned with UNESCO’s Flexible Learning Pathways in Higher Education, focused on investigating distance education efforts by APU and developing a greater understanding of best practices in online learning for diverse student populations and in international contexts.
“I deeply value cultural exchange, and I have long had a personal and professional goal of being a Fulbright Scholar,” she said. “I am beyond honored to represent CSU, the field of adult and higher distance education, and the U.S. in cultural exchange efforts to develop and promote international understanding while supporting access for all learners to participate and succeed in higher education through the aligning scholarship.”
Derek Schutt
Derek Schutt, professor in the Department of Geosciences, is heading to Reykjavik, Iceland, in August. At the University of Iceland, he will be examining the temperature of the Iceland plume, a postulated upwelling of anomalously hot rock in the Earth’s mantle beneath the island.
Schutt explained that the Iceland plume, classified as a mantle plume, created the island. He said that researchers don’t really know its temperature, or how it interacts with the tectonic plates above it. Because of this, he is going to measure seismic velocities in the upper mantle from Greenland to Iceland to Svalbard, and then use them to infer temperature variations.
“I’m super excited,” he said. “Especially because I will get to focus on research for a whole year, to get to work with colleagues in Iceland, and to get to know the country in a way a tourist won’t.”
