Three Oregon State University faculty were named Fulbright U.S. Scholars for 2026-27, receiving opportunities to research and learn abroad in the country of their choice.
And with the upcoming Sept. 15 deadline for the 2027-28 cohort, OSU Global Affairs encourages interested faculty members to submit applications and is equipped to help with any questions or concerns they may have during the process.
But, back to this year’s winners.
Mindy Crandall, head of the Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management in the College of Forestry, will study the impact of changing forest management policies in Finland. Jessie Uehling, associate professor of botany and plant pathology in the College of Agricultural Sciences, will study plant-beneficial fungi in Australia. Adria Buncal, international scholar advisor in the Office of International Services, will attend a Fulbright International Education Administrators seminar in Germany.
“We are excited to see three OSU faculty on Fulbrights this year and would love to see more in the future,” said Julianna Betjemann, associate director of Global Affairs and the OSU liaison to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar program.
The U.S. Scholar program provides a variety of supports to applicants including a named contact person for each award, regular office hours, webinars on how to put together a strong application and a detailed process overview. At OSU, Betjemann can help applicants connect with previous Fulbright awardees and share examples of successful past applications.
There are nearly 400 awards listed on the program website, with multiple filters and search terms to help faculty find an opportunity that’s a good fit.
As a Fulbright Scholar awardee, Crandall is already on duty in Finland, with her term going from mid-August to mid-March. She proposed a research project to better understand how timber-dependent Finland is navigating increasing pressure from the European Union to meet various sustainability targets. She will spend her term doing document analysis and interviewing Finnish forest policy experts.
“I would say the application process was fairly straightforward – once I attended one of the information sessions,” Crandall said. “My advice to other faculty is to really comb through the Fulbright website and read the specific grants. The terms of award are quite different for each grant, so it pays to really read through all the information carefully to make an application that fits the grant and is compelling.”
Uehling is also a Fulbright Scholar awardee and will be working in Melbourne, Australia, from January to May 2027. Her project will focus on culturing plant-beneficial fungi from fire-impacted plants, aiming to create a collection of Mucoromycota fungi to help bring back displaced native plant species as part of fire restoration.
The application process was both exciting and humbling, Uehling said, and she felt very supported by previous Fulbright recipients and OSU alumni.
“It’s fun to create an impactful project that will take place on a short timeline with a small budget and include an education and outreach component,” she said. “It challenged me to really think about how my science can positively impact the world and fit within the cultural value framework of two separate countries.”
She advises future applicants to start early and be bold in inviting other researchers to be collaborators or hosts.
Buncal received a Fulbright International Education Administrator award as part of a cohort of 17 international educators from U.S. universities and colleges. Her two-week seminar in Germany will examine the latest trends in Germany’s higher education system and highlight opportunities for cooperation and academic exchanges there.
In her 13 years at OSU as an international scholar advisor, Buncal has long been involved with welcoming and orienting incoming Fulbright Scholars to Oregon. At a Fulbright presentation last year, Betjemann reminded the group that Fulbright awards were also open to international education administrators, and Buncal immediately looked into it.
“I thought I had a pretty good chance as a mid-career level administrator and supporter of Fulbright programs on campus, so I went ahead and applied and was awarded a Fulbright myself!” she said. “I work closely with the Oregon chapter of the Fulbright Association on grant-funded programming for current Fulbright students and alumni so I’m excited to experience a Fulbright myself and share about my experiences.”
With OSU’s successful record of Fulbright awards, strong alumni support network and far-reaching research connections, Buncal thinks university employees are well situated to apply.
“For other faculty who may be interested but might be unsure or lacking confidence, I would say just go for it,” she said. “I am confident that OSU faculty will be strong candidates for the program.”
Fulbright applicants must be U.S. citizens. There is a category for postdoctoral awards, as well as a distinguished scholar category for those with more years of experience. Some awards also include dependent benefits, like additional funding to cover education or expenses for the awardee’s family members who accompany them.
While there has been some concern about the program’s funding longevity due to the political climate in the U.S., Fulbright is “very much open for business,” Betjemann said, and a strong applicant pool is the best way to demonstrate the program’s value.
Do you have a story for The Advocate? Email editor@corvallisadvocate.com