We are pleased to announce that GRI Chief Technology Officer Mark Patterson has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to Canada as the Research Chair on Advancing Transdisciplinary Research on the Changing North at the Université Laval, Québec. Patterson will conduct research and lecture at the Université Laval in Québec City as part of a project to understand food security of first nation peoples dependent on kelp beds in the Canadian Arctic. Patterson will work with scientists at Sentinel North and Institut nordique du Québec (INQ) on mapping the distribution and abundance of kelp beds using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles that he has developed.

 

As a Fulbright scholar, Patterson will share knowledge and foster meaningful connections across communities in the United States and Canada. Fulbrighters 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 institutions, labs, and classrooms, in the United States, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad. As Fulbright Scholar alumni, their careers are enriched by joining a network of thousands of esteemed scholars, many of whom are leaders in their fields. Fulbright alumni include 60 Nobel Prize laureates, 88 Pulitzer Prize recipients, and 39 who have served as a head of state or government.