Latest Fulbright scholars to focus on conservation, arts, climate change

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Five people have received Fulbright-National Geographic Awards to conduct research in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Iceland, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka, the State Department announced Thursday.

"Now in its 11th year, the Fulbright-National Geographic Award provides additional funding and resources, through a partnership with the National Geographic Society, to enhance the reach and impact of select Fulbright U.S. Study/Research Awards that focus on conservation, technology, education, and storytelling in their respective host countries," the State Department said in a release .

The State Department partners with the National Geographic Society on the Fulbright awards . The two also combine to fund the program.

The recipients' work will focus on conservation issues and work toward more sustainability, the release said. That includes how climate change affects the world's oldest living microorganisms in Australia, discovering the potential for life on Mars, and encouraging students to learn about ocean conservation in Papua New Guinea.

They will also study the human ecology of glaciers in Iceland through traditional music and environmental storytelling, and research traditional ceramic arts and oral histories in Antigua and Barbuda, according to the National Geographic Society. They will also look at the relationship between farmers and elephants in Sri Lanka.

"Our abilities to encounter and produce sound are means through which we experience the wonder of our world," said environmental composer and audio storyteller Konstantine Vlasis , who will be stationed in Iceland to do his work. "It is through listening, then, that we are able to perceive and imagine the environmental futures we hope to foster for posterity."

Other recipients include, Artis Henderson , a conservation journalist going to Australia, Chelsea McMaster a ceramic artist heading to Antigua and Barbuda, Jamil Wilson , a marine biology educator and researcher who will be based in Papua New Guinea, and Sateesh Venkatesh , a conservation behaviorist who will be based in Sri Lanka.