Fulbright Amazonia Initiative
Fulbright Amazonia will bring together applied researchers from Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, the United States, and Venezuela to collaborate on action-oriented research with the goal of securing a sustainable Amazonian Basin. Working in multidisciplinary research teams, Fulbright Amazonia Scholars will explore socially relevant research questions and participate in group seminars and exchanges to inform actionable project outcomes and policies, directly improving the quality of life of communities throughout the Amazonian Basin.
Fulbright Amazonia Co-Lead Scholars
Action-Oriented Research
Fulbright Amazonia will provide a platform for 16 scholars from across the Amazon region and from the United States to address complex challenges in the region through collaborative thinking, analysis, problem-solving, and multi-disciplinary research in three main thematic areas:
- Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
- Strengthening Human and Environmental Health and Security
- Bioeconomy and Sustainable Development
Selected scholars will participate in an individual Fulbright exchange of a minimum of six weeks and maximum of three months, as well as in-person seminars and ongoing virtual collaboration, all in support of the scholars’ collaborative research projects. Fulbright Amazonia activities will begin in June 2023 and run for 18 months, through December 2024.
Eligibility
Applied researchers, professionals, artists, and Indigenous and traditional knowledge experts active in the academic, public or private sectors at all career stages are encouraged to apply. A Ph.D. or equivalent professional/terminal degree is preferred, but not required.
Applicants must:
- Demonstrate outstanding qualifications and a record of experience and accomplishment in an area clearly related to one of the designated research themes.
- Be open to exploring and incorporating comparative, interdisciplinary approaches in their investigations.
- Be citizens of the country from which they are applying and residing in the country at the time of application. For Ecuador, applicants must be Ecuadorian citizens and living in Ecuador. Non-U.S. applicants who have dual-U.S. citizenship or who hold permanent residency “green cards”, whether or not they reside in the U.S., are not eligible.
- Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English.
Length
Program activities will commence in June 2023 and conclude in December 2024. All grantees are expected to attend three seminar group meetings, complete a research visit to the U.S. for a minimum of six consecutive weeks and a maximum of three consecutive months, participate in monthly virtual plenary meetings, and maintain ongoing virtual communication with fellow grantees and lead scholars. The research visit must be completed prior to January 2025.
- June 2023 – First Group Meeting and Orientation (to be held in Belem, Brazil)
- Approximately April 2024 – Mid-year Group Meeting (to be held in another Amazon country)
- December 2024 – Final Group Meeting (to be held in Washington D.C.)
- Approximately April 2024 – Mid-Year Group Meeting (to be held in another Amazon country)
Grant Provisions
- Scholars will receive funding in the amount of USD $40,000 (or an equivalent amount in local currency). This allowance is intended to support travel to all program meetings, travel and maintenance for the individual exchange visit, research materials and assistance for grantees only.
- Accommodations and meals for all group meetings will be covered separately.
- Grants will also include limited accident and sickness benefits.
Application Notes
The application deadline is December 20, 2022. All applicants must complete and submit an online application:
The following materials comprise a complete Amazonia Initiative application:
- Application form
- Statement of purpose (three to five pages)
- Bibliography (up to three pages)
- Curriculum vitae (up to six pages)
- Letters of recommendation (two)
- Letter of invitation (recommended but not required)*
Research proposals must fall within one of three inter‐related areas:
1. Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
Climate change is already impacting the Amazon region and its people. Communities dependent on the direct use of natural resources, such as Indigenous, traditional populations, and family farmers are among the most vulnerable groups. These groups’ increased susceptibility is due to the climate sensitivity of their livelihoods and limited institutional capacity to minimize risks and respond to hazards. Efforts to reduce vulnerability should consider the complexity of these integrated socio-ecological systems through bottom-up research on innovative adaptation strategies/technologies as well as social and policy obstacles to climate change adaptation and mitigation. Analysis within and across nations of policies designed to mitigate the effects of climate change can show the path to effectively integrate adaptation into existing policy frameworks and institutions. Proposals for socio-ecological responses to climate change adaptation and mitigation may explore the ways in which communities are reacting to change or seeking solutions through, for example: environmental services provided by forests and rivers; forest landscape restoration initiatives; fisheries management and aquaculture, agroforestry systems, and other alternative opportunities for income generation among vulnerable groups, including linked rural, urban, and peri-urban activities. Of equal interest is the use of traditional knowledge systems to deal with climate change and their integration into institutional responses and policies to climate change. Also welcomed is research examining community strategies to connect to and shape public policy and international investments and payments for environmental services. Community or social movement efforts to enhance trans-boundary coordination, cross-scale governance, and policies in climate change mitigation are additional relevant areas of inquiry.
2. Strengthening Human and Environmental Health and Security
In the Amazon region there are significant threats to human communities and the environment due to climate change, but also due to longstanding issues and emerging drivers. Threats to social and environmental health and security require analysis of connections across scales and investigation into new and emergent configurations that contribute to environmental degradation and negative impacts on human communities. Proposals for this theme should seek to understand the drivers or structures that produce negative environmental and social impacts in Amazonia, with a preference for those that connect local outcomes with political, economic, and social causes across scales, national borders, or institutional boundaries (e.g., of protected areas). Proposals that examine emerging, overlooked, or misunderstood phenomena in this rapidly changing region are welcome. Potential topics include new dynamics of financing, land grabbing, speculation, and deforestation; impediments to zero-deforestation agreements; frontiers of extractivism and illegal mining; expansion of agro-toxins in large monoculture production chains and concomitant health and environmental risks; regional and/or cross-border networks and their role in trafficking, natural resource exploitation, land conflict, or public insecurity; challenges to protected areas, including external pressure, but also internal economic, social, and demographic transitions, as well as changing rural-urban linkages. Proposals may also focus on social movements, policies, or other emerging solutions that counter threats in a particularly novel and effective way.
3. Bioeconomy and Sustainable Development
The forest and aquatic biodiversity of Amazonia makes the region a promising setting for economic experiments that contribute to the environmental protection and well-being of Indigenous, traditional populations, and farmers. In particular, the concepts of the “Amazonian bioeconomy” and sustainable value chains have recently gained momentum in both research and policy making debates that seek to find sustainable solutions to environmental and economic challenges. This theme focuses then on research and ground-based innovation efforts aimed at the development of locally embedded economies, especially those with promising or broadly applicable approaches that have economic, social, and environmental benefits. Such benefits may include examination of models that connect rural communities and groups with markets through cross-sectoral collaborations to promote socio-biodiverse products; sustain ecological integrity and diversity; protect human and territorial rights; and/or promote sociocultural identity. Also of interest are applied research and initiatives that provide valuable lessons in key areas such as: strengthening entrepreneurial capacities of local populations; demonstrating lessons to overcome the bottlenecks of market consolidation; integrating traditional culture and knowledge with appropriate science and technology to improve social and environmental outcomes; the scaling-up of successful initiatives; and demonstrating the co-benefits of the climate change mitigation agenda.
Questions?
If you are applying as a citizen of Ecuador, please contact:
Download the Fulbright Amazonia Flyer:
