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Fulbright-winning faculty share, gain knowledge worldwide

Brian Inouye

Over the past 12 months, Florida State University faculty in biology, public policy, human sciences and education have received Fulbright scholarships to teach and conduct research at universities overseas to promote leadership, learning and understanding between cultures.

As Florida State's newest Fulbright Scholar, biologist Brian D. Inouye will use his 2010-2011 award for research in Sweden with European scientists at the University of Stockholm.

"I'll be working on how to predict changes in the abundance of species at large geographic scales, based on experiments done at small spatial scales," said Inouye, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Science. His research will focus on native insect species associated with the plant Purple Loosestrife.

"We will seek to understand why the abundances of these insects change so much from north to south in Sweden, using field experiments that we can manage in fairly small plots," Inouye said. "Purple Loosestrife is a wetlands plant that is native to Europe, but it has spread invasively in the United States, where it can squeeze out other wetlands species. Beetles that feed on Purple Loosestrife in Sweden have been introduced to our country in an effort to control its populations here, so understanding populations of these insects in their native European habitats may also help to guide control efforts here at home."

Frances Berry

2009-2010 Fulbright Scholar and public policy guru Frances Berry is back on campus armed with new knowledge and perspective after teaching and conducting research for three months at the University of Taipei, in the Republic of China (Taiwan).

A professor in Florida State's Reubin O'D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Berry spent much of her time in Taiwan studying the ways in which the national and local governments handled climate change issues.

"We surveyed local governments to assess what policies and initiatives they were using related to green jobs, energy conservation and other sustainable development issues," said Berry, a recognized expert on state and intergovernmental administration. "We also studied how these policies have been integrated into the normal strategic planning and budgeting processes of local governments."

Elizabeth Goldsmith

Meanwhile, College of Human Sciences Professor Elizabeth Goldsmith — an expert in personal and family finance, consumer behavior and domestic life in the White House — has been named a 2010-2015 Fulbright Specialist. It's a distinctive honor typically reserved for those who have previously won Fulbright Scholar awards, as Goldsmith did in 2005.

As a Fulbright Specialist, she will spend up to six weeks at each of two overseas universities, where she'll serve as an expert consultant on curriculum and faculty development. While "specialist" status permits recipients to schedule their work overseas at any time within five years of their award date, Goldsmith hopes to visit Malta in 2011. There, she plans to work with university faculty and administrators focused on personal finance and consumer economics.

"Becoming a ‘Fulbrighter' represents a lifelong commitment," Goldsmith said.

She should know. Now both a Fulbright Scholar and a Fulbright Specialist, Goldsmith has served three times on the Fulbright National Screening Committee and, since 2006, has been an appointed member of the Florida State University Student Fulbright Committee.

Frederick Jenks

A 2010 Fulbright Specialist award also went to College of Education Professor Emeritus Frederick L. Jenks, who is now deceased. Jenks was the founding director of Florida State's Frederick L. Jenks Center for Intensive English Studies, which was named in his honor last spring. As professor emeritus of Multilingual/Multicultural Education at Florida State University at the time of his death, Jenks had an international reputation as a leader in the field of Teaching English as a Second Language. He was a 1993 Fulbright Scholar. During his distinguished academic career he taught in Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic, the former Yugoslavia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Zaire and many other nations.

By Libby Fairhurst
22 December 2010

"Becoming a ‘Fulbrighter' represents a lifelong commitment."

Elizabeth Goldsmith
Florida State University College of Human Sciences