Three faculty and staff members from Florida International University (FIU) have recently participated as Fulbright Specialists, sharing their expertise in Azerbaijan, Argentina, and Peru through short-term international exchanges.
Maruthi Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment and affiliated with FIU’s Institute of Environment, spent September at Khazar University in Baku, Azerbaijan. His work focused on strengthening institutional and academic capacity in integrated water resources management. Bhaskar delivered seminars on topics such as transboundary water governance, irrigation strategies, land-use monitoring, and nature-based soil conservation. He also collaborated with Khazar University’s Environmental Research Centre to assess the impacts of land-cover change in the Kura-Aras River Basin and Absheron Peninsula. During Baku Water Week 2025, he presented on geospatial technologies for water-quality monitoring and spoke about sustainable environmental and agricultural management at the Eurasia Universities Summit. Plans are underway for joint research projects, student mobility programs, and visiting scholar exchanges between FIU and Khazar University.
Dileep Rao, clinical professor of entrepreneurship in FIU’s College of Business, served at Universidad Nacional de la Plata in Buenos Aires. Working alongside that institution’s provost, Rao contributed to establishing a “unicorn-entrepreneur ecosystem” in Argentina. He led lectures and workshops covering growth ventures, high-potential entrepreneurship, venture financing, and business planning. His approach emphasized building companies before seeking venture capital investment—a method that attracted attention at a national meeting of Argentine university spin-offs. Leaders from IT firm Quanttrace attended his session at Universidad Nacional de San Martín to gain insights into refining their business strategy.
Staci Bernhard, assistant director for the College of Business Office of Global Initiatives at FIU, was assigned to Universidad Nacional Micaela Bastidas de Apurímac in Abancay, Peru. She supported efforts to develop the university’s first strategic internationalization plan aimed at expanding academic mobility opportunities, research collaboration initiatives, and intercultural learning experiences. Bernhard also presented a case study to the Fulbright Commission in Peru and conducted two EducationUSA sessions focusing on CV preparation and professional development.
“These assignments highlight FIU’s commitment to global engagement and capacity building,” according to an official statement from Florida International University. “The Fulbright Specialist Program, part of the U.S. Department of State’s flagship Fulbright Program, connects U.S. experts with institutions abroad to strengthen partnerships and advance cross-cultural understanding.”
