CSU Students and Faculty Receive Prestigious Fulbright Awards for 2026-27

​Twenty-five California State University students, recent graduates and faculty members have been selected for the 2026-27 Fulbright U.S. Student and Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards.

The Fulbright program is one of the most prestigious international fellowships, awarded to approximately 2,000 U.S. students and 800 U.S. scholars each year. Established by Congress in 1946, the program aims to foster mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries.

Chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, awardees will study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas and collaborate to develop solutions to international challenges through various program offerings.

Coleman's previous fieldwork studied arsenic contamination in Cambodian rice fields. She will shift her focus to mapping the health and distribution of seaweed​ in the Phillipines. (Photo courtesy Eva Coleman) Among those selected for the 2026-27 cohort is Eva Coleman, who received her master’s in geography at San Diego State this past May. With an Open Study/Research Award, she will work with the Marine Science Research Center at Palawan State University in the Philippines to develop remote sensing tools to track seaweed, a vital ecological resource that currently faces challenges from disease and bloom events that impact farmers, beaches and tourism.

“I love that Fulbright gives you an opportunity to stay somewhere for a long time, work on a project, and be surrounded by people who are directly impacted by what you are learning,” Coleman said.​

The English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Award has been granted to nine CSU students and recent graduates. Sequoia Sanchini, who earned a bachelor’s in linguistics and translation studies from Cal State Long Beach in spring 2026, received an ETA Award for Indonesia. They will be teaching English at high schools or trade schools in rural areas to help make learning English more approachable for students, as well as to hone their own language skills and apply their knowledge in linguistics.

In addition, 15 CSU faculty have received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards to teach and conduct research in overseas institutions, including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Associate Professor of Liberal Studies Jasmine Nation. Nation will be working with Universidad del Bío-Bío in Concepción, Chile, to coteach graduate courses, mentor teacher researchers and support cross-cultural science education. Focusing her work on place-based education, Nation will help develop a culturally responsive science curriculum connected to students’ everyday experiences, such as car safety design learning activities for high school students who are about to obtain drivers’ licenses or STEM design projects related to the story elementary school students are reading.

“The faculty and teachers in Chile will be subject area experts and place experts who know their students’ cultures in so many different ways,” Nation said​. “And I have a framework to coach and guide during class. I am excited to learn with and from Chilean educators at the public school and university levels who are committed to improving science education.”

​Beyond the annual Fulbright Awards, the Fulbright Specialist Program allows scholars, who are selected on a rolling basis, to engage in two- to six-week, project-based exchanges in institutions around the world. Nishanta Rajakaruna—coordinator of National and International Fellowships and Scholarships​ and professor of plant biology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo—received his second Fulbright Specialist Award this year and will research native-nonnative plant interactions on serpentine and gypsum soils at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain. 

Rajakaruna previously received two Fulbright Scholar Awards in 2016-17 and 2022-23 and served as a 2024-26 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Alumni Ambassador​ to support other faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows interested in educational and cultural exchange.​

"The most rewarding aspect of Fulbright is that it doesn't end when the grant ends. It creates lasting collaborations, lifelong friendships and opportunities that continue to enrich your research, teaching and perspective for years to come," Rajakaruna said. "I encourage others to apply because too many outstanding scholars underestimate themselves—as I once did."

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Fulbright awardees (from left) Cal Poly Associate Professor Jasmine Nation, Cuesta College Instructor Ruta Salkilis, Cal Poly Professor David Askay, Cal Poly Professor Nishanta Rajakaruna and Cal Poly Associate Professor Natasha Neumann. ​​​Nation, Askay, Neumann and Salkilis received 2026–27 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards, while Rajakaruna received a 2026–27 Fulbright Specialist Award and mentored the group's Fulbright applications.​

​To learn more about the U.S. Fulbright Program, visit the Fulbright website.