Marine Affairs Professor Elizabeth Mendenhall and graduate student Eliya Baron Lopez (M.A.M.A. 2021) have each been selected to receive a Fulbright Award for academic year 2021-2022. The Fulbright US Scholar program is a prestigious scholarship with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills across national borders. It is administered through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State. The Fulbright program is highly competitive, so it was a pleasant shock when both advisor (Mendenhall) and advisee (Baron Lopez) each received the award.

The pair, who have worked together on projects related to marine plastic debris, applied to Fulbright separately to pursue independent research projects. Eliya’s project, “Marine Litter Management: A South Korea Case Study” is an extension of her Master’s thesis research, which investigates the unique and significant approach taken by South Korea to deal with marine plastic pollution. While in South Korea, Eliya will work with fellow researchers at the Ocean Policy Institute of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology. Elizabeth’s project, “Iceland’s Role in the Progressive Development of the Law of the Sea,” continues her work on the role of small and medium sized states in influencing the rules and norms of ocean governance.  While in Iceland, Elizabeth will work with researchers at the University of Akureyri, and give lectures in the Polar Law program.