Inaugural Oz to Oz Program

Six Kansas State University Faculty chosen in First Oz to Oz Program

Six Kansas State University faculty have been selected to be the inaugural U.S. participants in the Oz to Oz program. The program supports 14 Professional and Senior Australian Fulbright Scholars to visit Kansas State University campuses in exchange for short-term visits to Australia for Kansas State faculty.

Kansas State University is the first U.S. educational institutional partner of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and supports the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Fulbright Senior Scholarship. Kansas State University has very strong connections to Australia through a number of different programs.

The Australian-American Fulbright Commission sends it’s warmest welcome and congratulations to the Kansas State faculty members. We look forward to the incredible research and long lasting partnerships the Oz to Oz program will deliver.

Six Inaugural U.S. Projects

Sam Bell, Assistant Professor of Political Science will work with Richard Frank, research fellow and project manager at the University of Sydney. Sam and Richard will collaborate on a project linking transparency of electoral processes and the onset of civil war.

Huston Gibson, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning will work with Neil Sipe, Deputy Director at Griffith University, and Karen Vella, Senior Lecturer in property and planning at Queensland University of Technology. They will collaborate to compare community perceptions and institutional frameworks to help create parks that serve communities and the environment.

Alexander Mathews, Professor of Civil Engineering will work with Marjorie Valix, Associate Professor in chemical engineering at the University of Sydney. Alexander and Marjorie will collaborate to research techniques for biofilm control and measures for control of carcinogenic disinfection by products in potable water supplies.

Richard Rozenkranz, Associate Professor of Human Nutrition will work with Tony Okely, Professor and Director of the Interdisciplinary Educational Research Institute at the University of Wollongong. They will collaborate on the development, execution and evaluation of after school programs that promote physical activity and healthful eating.

Matthew Sanderson, Associate Professor of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, will work with Graeme Hugo, Director of the Australian Population and Migration Research Centre and Professor of Geography at the University of Adelaide. Matthew and Graeme plan to work on two projects including; international migration into rural communities that have little history of receiving immigrants, and a comparative study of the effects of climate change on agricultural water consumption in the Murray Darling River Basin and the Ogallala Aquifer in the U.S.

Dean Zollman, University Distinguished Professor of Physics will work with David Treagust, Professor in science education at Curtin University and Manjula Sharma, Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Sydney. Their collaboration plans to develop effective teaching-learning techniques for online physics courses.

For more information on the Oz to Oz program and the Kansas State faculty coming to Australia please visit the Kansas State University website.