Janette Boughman, Michigan State University integrative biologist, has been named a 2017-18 Fulbright Scholar in recognition of her research in Iceland on the adaptation of stickleback fish to the rapid human-induced environmental changes in the arctic.
Boughman, whose project will run from January to August 2018, will be affiliated with Hólar University College and the University of Iceland in Reykjavik.
"This Fulbright award will allow me to conduct leading-edge research and better integrate into the scientific and cultural communities of Iceland," Boughman said. "I expect to develop collaborations with other Icelandic scientists, and give invited talks on my research to several universities and museums.”
Boughman also recently received a National Science Foundation Dimensions of Biodiversity grant to pursue research studying the evolution of three-spined stickleback throughout Iceland. She and her team will use the data collected to understand whether the way that genes are organized in the genome helps or hinders the process of adaptation.
"As people think about global climate change, they realize that some species may not adapt fast enough to keep up," Boughman added. "This project gives us a way to understand that process."
MSU is among the top-producing research institutions of Fulbright Scholars in the United States.