UAF research scientist selected as Fulbright Scholar to Finland

June 21, 2024

Eugénie Euskirchen, associate professor of ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Arctic Biology, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to Finland.

Euskirchen is one of more than 800 U.S. citizens who will conduct research or teach abroad through the Fulbright Program for the 2024-2025 academic year. Fulbright is the U.S. government’s flagship international education and cultural exchange program, operating in 160 countries worldwide.

During her time in Finland, Euskirchen will study how extreme weather events (e.g., rain on snow, excessive heat, drought) impact carbon cycling in high-latitude ecosystems.  

“We think these extreme events probably result in less carbon being taken up by the environment, but this hasn’t been studied extensively enough yet,” she said. “If that’s right, these events create a positive feedback loop, putting more carbon in the atmosphere. That accelerates climate warming.”

Euskirchen will be based at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, a city located above the Arctic Circle, which her colleagues have compared to Fairbanks. In addition to her research, she said she’s looking forward to the opportunities for cultural exchange.

“I’m excited to see how science is done in other parts of the world and to learn from scientists in other countries,” she said. “I expect there will be a lot of interesting parallels between the research being done at the Arctic Centre and at IAB.”

The U.S. Department of State administers the Fulbright Program, which has given more than 400,000 people the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad since Congress created it in 1946.

Fulbright scholars exchange ideas and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Prize laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur fellows, 41 heads of state or government and thousands of leaders across the private, public and nonprofit sectors.

A copy of this article was originally published by UAF on June 12, 2024.