Latest News and Success Stories of Global Engagement
Danish Student-Athlete Builds Academic Career at FIU
May 28, 2026 - Seeking a fresh start and new opportunities, Danish international student-athlete Emilie Christiansen arrived at FIU in 2020 on a cross-country scholarship. What began as an international educational experience evolved into a passion for criminal justice research. After earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at FIU, Christiansen is now pursuing a Ph.D. in International Crime and Justice, specializing in crime mapping and geospatial analysis. Her research has already resulted in scholarly publications, and she hopes to continue her work as a university researcher and educator after graduation.
FIU Research Drives Global Ocean Conservation
April 22, 2026 – FIU researchers are helping address some of the world's most pressing marine conservation challenges through internationally recognized research and collaboration. From the university's operation of the world's only undersea research laboratory to global studies of shark populations, marine mammals, and wildlife trafficking, FIU faculty are generating knowledge that informs policy and conservation efforts worldwide. With research activities spanning the Florida Keys, Caribbean, Arctic, and coral reef ecosystems across the globe, these efforts reflect FIU's commitment to advancing scientific solutions for the benefit of both local and global communities.Germany Committed to Collaboration and Exchanges
February 6, 2026 - A German delegation visited FIU to promote programs and funding available to faculty and students to reserach, study or intern in Germany. Coordinated by the German Embassy in Washington DC and the German Consulate General in Miami, organizations represented were the German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD, German Research Foundation, Friends of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience. The occasion was celebrated with a custom FIU-DAAD cake!What's the impact of an internship abroad? A SpaceX engineer knows!
February 2, 2026 - Jose Fernando Rojas-Sanchez, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering '18, attributes much of his career success to his 6-months intership at Audi in Germany in 2016. Supported by a DAAD scholarship, he studied lightweight design and gained first-hand insights into local work and life culture while also picking up German language skills. Now a structures engineer at SpaceX in California, he reflects on his career path and recognizes a straight line from the learning experiences in Germany to his professional work a decade later.
Three FIU Fulbright Specialists Share Their Expertise Across the Globe
December 8, 2025 - this Fall, a group of FIU Fulbright Specialists led 2-6 week projects abroad highlighting FIU’s commitment to global engagement and collaboration as well as capacity building. Professor Maruthi Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar traveled to Azerbaijan to tackle water management issues; Professor Dileep Rao trained entrepreneurial leaders in Argentina on developing a unicorn-entrepreneur ecosystem; and Director Staci Bernhard led university administrators in Peru through the process of developing their first internationalization strategy.
Students Explore Digital Agriculture Applications in Colombia
September 9, 2025 - led by professors Shateel Ketty and Krish Jayachandran, students Kiara Taibi-Briz, Clare Russell, Julian Roemmich, and Carl Addy traveled to Cali, Colombia for a week filled with experiential learning on digital agriculture, including the application of digital technologies, such as GPS, drones, AI, sensors, and data analysis, to optimize farming processes for greater efficiency and sustainability. This immersive experience was funded by the USDA-NIFA Multicultural scholars program. The institutions visited and FIU expressed a commitment in future research collaboration.
