Global Impact

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Global Impact

Worldwide Research Changing the Future

Home to a diverse community of researchers, including faculty, staff, student and postdoctoral fellows, FAU's global reach extends to all corners of the world. These researchers are instrumental in forging new collaborations that connect FAU to various international universities and research institutions.

Each project contributes to FAU's academic excellence across all science disciplines. From the Israeli desert to the plains of Spain, from the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea to the Asian terrain, FAU's research is making an impact worldwide. Here is a look at some of global research at FAU:

Argentina

The work of Tomás Olivier, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, focuses on how organizations, governments and individuals in Patagonia, Argentina, interact and create rules to govern shared water resources that extend beyond multiple political and geographical boundaries.

Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela

Researchers in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science work with residents of the Kichwa community, the largest indigenous ethnic group in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest. This region stretches from Ecuador to Brazil through Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. Through the study researchers collect data from plants to determine how the indigenous people select medical plants to aid in health situations. The results discovered specific plants that were used as an anti-inflammatory and therapeutic remedy for the people in the Kichwa communities.

Bhutan

Maria Fadiman, Ph.D., an associate professor of geosciences in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science studies medicinal plants in Bhutan, documenting names and uses in four languages for analysis and baseline data to support the creation of a cultural sanctuary.

Canada and Russia

Greg O'Corry-Crowe, Ph.D., a research professor in the FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, and his team, analyze the relationships group behaviors, dynamics and kinship in beluga whales. The study stretches from subarctic Alaska to the Cunningham Inlet, Mackenzie Delta and Husky Lakes of Canada and the Gulf of Anadyr in Russia. The team's project will help understand why some species are social, how individuals learn from group members and how animal cultures emerge.

Cuba

A team of FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute researchers, partner with the Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research and Technology to study Cuba's mesophotic coral reefs, circumnavigating the country's 1,500-mile coastline. The project evaluates carbonate chemistry, patterns of water circulation and potential connectivity between coral reefs in the U.S. and the Cuban coral reefs.

Cyprus

Andrew Terentis, Ph.D., a professor in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and a Fulbright Scholar, is conducting research and teaching courses on raman spectroscopy at the University of Cyprus.

Terentis uses raman spectroscopy, also known as a light-scattering technique that allows scientists to identify and characterize chemical compounds, as part of a project to study how cell-penetrating peptides interact with cell membranes. His research helps diagnose skin cancer cells.

Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania

Using non-invasive research and no-flash camera traps, Kate Detwiler, Ph.D., associate professor in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, collaborates with researchers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa to detect and capture photographs of endangered dryas monkeys. Detwiler also works with the Jane Goodall Institute in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania, studying primates and uncovering distinct species of monkeys that produce hybrid offspring.

Ecuador

Michael Harris, Ph.D., associate professor and chairperson, and Valentina Martinez, instructor, both in Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, lead projects that focus on preparing local inhabitants in southern Manabí Province, Ecuador, on the techniques of managing, curating and administering artifacts, organic material found at an archaeological site, and other excavation materials. Martinez is also the director of the Ecuador Field School. The work addresses issues of native identity, rights and power among the southern community.

England, Israel and Spain

Scientists in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science in partnership with three Spanish universities, the British Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Israel, study sinkholes in an effort to create a map of active and potential sinkholes (including in Florida) to help people avoid these dangerous formations.

Egypt

Researchers in the College of Education, joined forces with the Balanced Education Company in Egypt to form a partnership, bringing additional expertise in educational leadership and curriculum, as well as new perspectives to the design and delivery of professional development programs and train 10,000 teachers through the Educate for Egypt project, using professional development workshops. Teachers in experimental public schools were targeted as a first step because these schools were perceived as possible vehicles for quality education to advance social mobility opportunities for lower-middle class families in Egypt.

Greece

Emmanouil Vermisso, an associate professor in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, earned a Greek Diaspora Fellowship that supports his doctoral research at the University of Patras. Vermisso's work includes artificial intelligence and machine learning in architecture. The project will help develop a generative design process combining intuitive and machine-informed decision making and contemplate its potential for architectural education.

Israel

Siddhartha Verma, Ph.D., a principal investigator and assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, connects with the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) to help solve various practical engineering problems and advance the understanding of the dynamics of turbulent coherent motions in the ocean. This research helps influence efficient operation of ships, automobiles, aircrafts and a safe design of buildings.

FAU's Florida-Israel Institute promotes the development of enhanced governmental, economic, technological, cultural, educational and social ties between Israel and FAU.

Italy

Brian McConnell, Ph.D., a professor of art history and classical archaeology in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, conducts research in Sicily, Italy. He leads archaeological field research, and as a member of the Register of Professional Archaeologists, his research takes an investigative look at monumental buildings, artifacts and artwork, which tell the story of the indigenous Sikel culture in the context of Greek and Roman civilization. McConnell's research is helping build history.

Daniel Bolojan, an assistant professor in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, exhibits his artificial intelligence and architecture research work in the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Through his work, Bolojan delves into the development and application of deep learning strategies in architectural design, addressing topics of shared-agency, augmentation of design processes, designer's creativity and upgrading of design potency.

Malta, Slovakia and Spain

Supported by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Science for Peace and Security program, FAU's Center for Cryptology and Information Security is partnering with Slovak University of Technology, Slovakia, University of Malta and the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Spain, to explore cryptographic protocols for secure communication in the quantum era.

Mexico

Jordon Beckler, Ph.D., a research professor in the FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and fellow in the Institute for Sensing and Embedded Networks Systems Engineering, participates in studying blue holes, large marine caverns or sinkholes, in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf . Beckler and the team discovered that many of the deep sinkholes found on the ocean floor vary in size and depth. This research helps unravel the structure and behavior of marine environments.

Myanmar

Ashley Graham Kennedy, Ph.D., an associate professor of philosophy in the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, researches the ongoing problem of child labor, gender inequity, educational and structural injustice in Myanmar from inside the country. Her research includes exclusive documentaries that bring awareness to the major sufferings children and families face in the country.

Norway

Siri Terjesen, Ph.D., an associate dean and professor in the College of Business, teaches and conducts research at the Norwegian School of Economics, Norway, in entrepreneurship, corporate governance and strategic management.

Rwanda

Dale Williams, Ph.D., and other researchers and students in the College of Education, use video conferencing to treat Rwandans with speech and language issues, including stuttering. They deliver speech and language services to individuals in Rwanda who do not have access to them. Williams also administers speech and language evaluations to Rwandan businessmen interested in improving their communication skills with Americans.

Spain

The research of Oliver Buckton, Ph.D., professor and Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, examines the central role of creative fiction-making in intelligence operations and the influence of real-life intelligence operations on spy fiction after World War II. His research project at the University of Malaga in Spain is titled Counterfeit Spies: The Arts of Deception in Wartime Espionage and Post-war Spy Fiction.