{"id":75379,"date":"2025-08-20T10:11:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T17:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=75379"},"modified":"2025-08-22T10:56:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:56:04","slug":"2025-fulbright-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/2025-fulbright-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet NAU\u2019s 2025 Fulbright Award winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

After receiving prestigious 2025 Fulbright Awards, four Lumberjacks\u2014two recent graduates, one faculty member and one staff member\u2014will head to four different continents to make a positive impact on children\u2019s lives, advance conservation work, learn about French higher education administration and integrate Indigenous knowledge into environmental research and practices. They were among the talented 2,100 to win Fulbright Awards from a pool of 11,500 applicants.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In September, biological sciences professor <\/span>Catherine Propper <\/span><\/b>will travel to Brisbane, Australia, on a Fulbright Specialist Award, where she\u2019ll train researchers on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s ecotoxicology tools and work with international colleagues to open more avenues for Indigenous knowledge to inform ecological, agricultural and nutritional research. In October, Elena Selezneva<\/strong>, who directs interdisciplinary programs at the Center for International Education, will travel to France to familiarize herself with France’s higher education and research system on an International Education Administrators Award. In January, <\/span>Kaylin McLiverty<\/span><\/b>, who recently earned bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees from NAU, will head to South Korea with support from a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award to promote cross-cultural exchange. And two months later, recent environmental science master\u2019s graduate <\/span>Elizabeth Randolph<\/span><\/b> will travel to Valdivia, Chile, on an Open Study award to bridge gaps in research on an endangered native tree.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more about the awardees, their destinations and their exciting teaching and research projects below.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kaylin<\/a><\/p>\n

Fostering cultural connection<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

South Korea may be 6,000 miles away from the Navajo Nation, but distance did not stop Korean pop culture from weaving into the lives of Din\u00e9 youth.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 2010s, \u201cI noticed that on the Navajo reservation, Korean pop culture was gaining significant interest, especially among young Navajos who follow K-pop and K-dramas,\u201d said McLiverty, who is Din\u00e9 and grew up in Farmington, New Mexico. \u201cThis connection resonates with me, as both Navajo and Korean cultures value respect for elders, strong family bonds and a collectivist mindset.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u202fMcLiverty, who is biracial, has always found ways to make connections between cultures and weave cultural understanding into every aspect of life, so it was no surprise that she gravitated toward South Korean media, which provides a glimpse into the country\u2019s distinct traditions and cultural beliefs. Growing up, she learned about Korean culture through <\/span>manhwa<\/span><\/i>\u2014Korean comics\u2014and videos about Korean food. While McLiverty studied statistics and <\/span>built a rich fiber arts community<\/span><\/a> at NAU, she set aside time to learn the Korean language and draw more connections between Din\u00e9 and Korean cultures.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2026, McLiverty will continue promoting cross-cultural exchange by traveling to the country to teach English. After six weeks spent in intensive language classes and other orientation programs, she\u2019ll start teaching in a yet-to-be-determined location.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The NAU grad is confident her experiences on the Flagstaff mountain campus have set her up for teaching success. As an undergraduate, McLiverty was a peer mentor with the Office of Indigenous Student Success and the Honors Native American Summer Research Program, where she learned how to cultivate belonging through the development of culturally relevant events and discussions for Indigenous students. And as a graduate student instructor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, she learned the fundamentals of lesson planning and classroom management.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once her year in South Korea is up, McLiverty hopes to teach at a community college near her hometown, inspiring the Navajo Nation\u2019s next generation to explore other cultures and expand their worldview.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching in my hometown will allow me to continue my journey of learning Navajo from my relatives and encourage my students to connect with global cultures and languages so they can weave their own cultural connections too,\u201d McLiverty said. \u201cI want to cultivate a classroom where cultural exchange is welcomed and encouraged.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth<\/a>Saving an endangered tree<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Randolph has long dreamed of a career spent collaborating with conservation experts across the globe. In March, the aspiring environmental journalist will do exactly that thanks to an eight-month Open Study Fulbright in Valdivia, Chile.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a graduate student in NAU\u2019s School of Earth and Sustainability (SES), Randolph explored the root microbiome of the endangered Alerce tree in central Chile\u2019s Alerce Costero National Park. Now, Randolph hopes to weave her research into a journalistic narrative that makes the case for its protection.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested in how microscopic life in the soil supports the Alerce\u2019s resiliency and what these hidden networks reveal about the broader ecosystem,\u201d Randolph said. \u201cAs both a scientist and storyteller, I seek to capture the full scale of these relationships\u2014from the unseen exchanges beneath the forest floor to the deep cultural and ecological meaning this ancient tree holds for surrounding communities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Randolph said she became a Fulbrighter not only thanks to the experience she gained teaching introductory environmental science courses but also due to invaluable mentorship from SES faculty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis work could not have been made possible without the guidance of my advisor, <\/span>Nancy Johnson, <\/span><\/b>and the support of other faculty such as <\/span>Rebecca Best<\/span><\/b>,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Catherine<\/a>Advancing science with Indigenous knowledge<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

As head of the <\/span>Environmental Endocrinology lab<\/span><\/a> at NAU, Propper is intimately familiar with ECOTOXicology Knowledgebase, an online tool developed by the EPA that helps scholars find chemical toxicity data for aquatic life, terrestrial plants and wildlife. Propper, her students and her colleagues regularly use ECOTOX and other EPA and U.S. Geological Survey tools to research everything from the impact of arsenic on cancer and wound healing to rural rice farmers\u2019 pesticide exposure in Asia.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Propper\u2019s reputation as an ECOTOX superuser is what earned her a ticket to Brisbane, Australia, on a Fulbright Scholar Award.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI became pretty adept at how to use ECOTOX, providing information for publications with colleagues who are now at the University of Queensland,\u201d Propper said. \u201cThey wanted me to come give a presentation on ECOTOX, and Fulbright is making it happen.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over three weeks in September, Propper will train her Queensland colleagues to become just as adept at using ECOTOX as she is, helping propel crucial research on how environmental contaminants affect life on Earth. But that\u2019s not all she\u2019ll do.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to develop an online exchange program between Indigenous students who work on agriculture and nutrition at both universities,\u201d Propper said. \u201cThe students will be able to meet online, interact with each other, take Zoom tours around their farms and help inspire each other to integrate all kinds of Indigenous knowledge into their farming practices.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Propper explained that exploring Indigenous agricultural traditions from both hemispheres could help all farmers, whether Indigenous or not, explore ways to grow food more sustainably, working with their region\u2019s natural setting rather than against it and ditching toxic chemicals when possible.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to being an ambassador for all the good work the EPA does in support of environmental health and human health,\u201d Propper said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m really excited to learn about Indigenous agricultural practices in a completely different part of the world while introducing Australians to Indigenous practices in this part of the world.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Education under the Eiffel Tower<\/h3>\n

Selezneva’s Fulbright will take her to Paris and another region in France for two weeks, where she’ll participate in a group seminar designed to familiarize American higher education administrators with France’s higher ed landscape. She’ll attend briefings, visit various French campuses, meet with French government officials, network with other leaders in higher ed, find out how French culture seeps into higher ed and meet with some of her peers in France.<\/p>\n

The program is designed to boost cultural exchange between American and French universities, so Selezneva’s visit could increase Lumberjacks’ opportunities to study and work in France.<\/p>\n

If you are interested in applying for a Fulbright award, please contact Lillie Gordon at Natl_Scholarships@nau.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/span><\/p>\n


\nJill Kimball | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-2282 | jill.kimball@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After receiving prestigious 2025 Fulbright Awards, four Lumberjacks\u2014two recent graduates, one faculty member and one staff member\u2014will head to four different continents to make a positive impact on children\u2019s lives, advance conservation work, learn about French higher education administration and integrate Indigenous knowledge into environmental research and practices. They were among the talented 2,100 to…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":75380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}