Marinus Otte, NDSU professor of biological sciences, has received a Fulbright Specialist Program award from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Otte, who specializes in water and wetlands, will complete a project at University of Kwazulu-Natal: Pietermaritzburg Campus in South Africa that aims to exchange knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions and communities both in the U.S. and overseas through a variety of educational and training activities within Environmental Science.
This is Otte’s second project, with his first being based in central-Mexico in 2021, which Otte said was extremely successful.
“If the project in South Africa is half as successful as the one in Mexico, then it will be a major success. I will certainly learn much from the people and their cultures, and if my contributions to them help just a little bit to ensure availability of clean water for the people and their environment in a sustainable manner, then I will be very happy,” Otte said.
Otte is one of over 400 U.S. citizens who share expertise with host institutions abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program each year. Recipients of Fulbright Specialist awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, demonstrated leadership in their field, and their potential to foster long-term cooperation between institutions in the U.S. and abroad.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State.
Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Fulbrighters address critical global issues in all disciplines, while building relationships, knowledge and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 60 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 88 who have received Pulitzer Prizes and 39 who have served as a head of state or government.
