Four to six  months will the recently arrived  Fulbright grantees  work on their specific  research themes in different regions of Chile. They will be giving lectures and training in their  fields of study in their  local host universities. Mostly they  will do research accross the country.  Another three investigators will be arriving later on during 2017, with the same purpose. All have been selected  through the Fulbright US Scholar Grantee program of the United States  Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

1) Dr. Jeb Byers ´ research theme is Quantitative Marine Ecology in Chile. He is from University of Georgia and will be posted in the coastal zone of Las Cruces, at the Universidad Católica ´s  marine station, where he will work during the next four months,  to study marine parasites and intertidal communities.
He will investigate how sea species like snails, crabs and birds, even algae, among others, may be affected by microscopic invaders and cause huge changes in the natural ecology of sites aa relevant as this protected área of chilean coast.  Professor Byers will be also teaching  for his host institution an Invasion Ecology course.

2) Peter Dedek will  undertake the task of investigation the Historic architectura and preservation in Chile. Frontiers of Spanish America: Colonial arquitectura on the fringe, between 1541 and 1818. He is from Texas State University, San Marcos and will analyse the influence of the spanish culture that can be found along de Americas, during the colonialism period, from the southwest of the United States, all the way down to Chile, through South American countries.
The spanish colonial influence can be found along most of the countries of this vast región in cathedrals, small town churches, cementries, among other colonial expressions that are still visible today. The native culture of different tribes and indigenous people  also mixed its presence and can be appreciated in buildings both in the northern and southern borders studied, and in materials and design used in construcción all along the continent. His host university in Chile will be Universidad Mayor.

3) Michael Kaplan, from Columbia University, he will be hosted by Universidad Católica and Universidad de Magallanes in his geology research about “Glaciers and Climate in Chile: Using the past to learn about the present and future.” He will be gathering data out of observing in ground. This geologist and earth cientist is focused on what have glaciers done, in terms of changes,  in the past, in order to understand their present and probable future status. He will be visiting many places collecting evidence. Field work will take him to investigate and collect evidence on the ground. He will do lab work to define “date” evidence and collect samples of sediments laying where glaciers used to cover great extensions of territories in the Patagonia zone.
His purpose and commitment is to establish a five year investigation of these water ressources as he calls the glaciers. At the same time he will work with students from the Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad de Magallanes in Punta Arenas and give lectures on these fast melting glaciers that are rapidly disappearing from the face of the Earth.

4) Sakthiharan Mahenthiran, “Sakthi” has come from Butler University to work with Universidad Católica de Valparaíso on an “Analysis of Chilean Business Practices to aid development of the stock market”. He will do lecturing and research in accounting and business management at his host university and will address “ ownership concentration and tax avoidment” among other responsability themes. But he will also explore Chilean business climate in Valparaíso and Santiago for the promotion of entrepeneural activities. He will examamine the challenge faced by businessmen to innovate and take risks in chilean firms, as well as explore the feasability of starting a minority shareholders watch-dog and cultural experiences in Chile and other South American countries.

5) Professor Melissa Sutherland is here to work on “Collaboration is the future of health care: a Chile/United States nursing Exchange”. She comes from Boston College and her host institution is Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where she plans to do research on nursing in Chilean hospitals. She states that in the US there is an average of “ 9 nurses for every 1.000 patients,,,in Chile the is 1 nurse for every 1.000 patients”.
Therefore, she explained,  there is an urgent need to prepare more nurses. She will cooperate with Dr Lilian Ferrer, from PUC,  in a public health course, at a masters level, for faculty and mentoring graduate student through two workshops on what does advanced practice look like in the U.S.