Global perspectives

The University of Washington Graduate School congratulates three graduate students and recent alumni who have been selected for prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards for the 2026–27 academic year.  

Through research, teaching and artistic study abroad, these scholars will advance projects spanning environmental conservation, language and culture and innovative approaches to music and sound. 

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Fulbright recipients pursue graduate study, conduct research, teach English or engage in creative projects while building connections across cultures and communities around the world.  

Vecksle Drake

Vecksle Drake, a master’s student in English, has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant to Mongolia. 

Drake’s current research focuses on English language learning for use in place-based tourism. Through his work, he examines how cultural knowledge is conveyed across languages and how meaning can shift when translated through different cultural perspectives. 

As a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, Drake will support English language education while engaging with local communities and culture in Mongolia. He is particularly interested in exploring the complexities of cultural knowledge and the ways language shapes how people understand places, histories and traditions. 

“What excites me the most about this research is examining the complexities of cultural knowledge and how that knowledge is affected by the cultural background of the language it is being translated through,” Drake said. 

Tessa Marks

Tessa Marks, a master’s student in Marine and Environmental Affairs and International Studies, has received a Fulbright Research grant to Honduras. 

Marks’ project focuses on mangrove forests in the Bay Islands of Honduras, a region within the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. While coral reefs often receive significant attention in marine conservation efforts, mangrove ecosystems play a critical role in supporting fisheries, storing carbon and protecting coastal communities from storms and erosion. 

Working with the Bay Islands Conservation Association on the island of Roatán, Marks will examine how ecological conditions, governance structures and community priorities interact to influence mangrove protection and restoration efforts. Her interdisciplinary research combines earth science, spatial analysis, policy research and community engagement. 

As part of the project, Marks will develop an interactive mapping tool that visualizes changes in mangrove coverage alongside environmental and social pressures such as coastal development, tourism growth and land privatization. She also plans to document and elevate the perspectives of local community members and conservation practitioners through a geographic storytelling platform. 

“My goal is to improve our understanding of how governance, community and ecology interact to shape ecosystem health and human well-being within the Bay Islands,” Marks said. “I hope that through this work I can contribute to ongoing protection and restoration efforts while helping to highlight the incredible work already being done in Honduras within such an ecologically important region.” 

Marks said she is excited not only to conduct research, but also to immerse herself in Honduran culture and learn from local approaches to environmental stewardship and community resilience. 

Justin Zeitlinger

Justin Zeitlinger, who earned his Master of Music Composition from the University of Washington in 2025, has been awarded a Fulbright Study grant to the Netherlands. 

During the 2026–27 academic year, Zeitlinger will attend the One-Year Course at the Institute of Sonology at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, an internationally recognized center for electronic and experimental music. 

His primary project will be a large-scale electronic composition built from field recordings gathered throughout The Hague, including sounds from the natural environment, urban infrastructure and community life. The work will be realized using the Institute’s wave field synthesis system, a 192-speaker array capable of positioning sounds throughout space with exceptional precision. The composition will explore the relationship between human communities and their environments and is scheduled to culminate in a public presentation at the Wave Field Synthesis Festival in spring 2027. 

Zeitlinger’s recent work has increasingly focused on acoustic ecology and electroacoustic music. He is particularly interested in how sounds from the natural and built world can be transformed into compositional material and reimagined through emerging technologies. In 2024, he collaborated with the University of Washington’s DXARTS department to create Samenstück, a sound installation presented in the UW Biology Greenhouse. 

“Wave field synthesis is a remarkably rare technology,” Zeitlinger said. “The chance to work with it for a full year, while building a piece out of the living sounds of The Hague, feels like exactly the right next step for where my music is going. I hope to bring something back that changes how I think about space, community and how technology can give voice to the complex interactions between humans and the natural world.” 

These scholars join a distinguished community of University of Washington students, alumni and researchers who have represented the University through the Fulbright Program around the world. In recent years, the UW has been recognized as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution, reflecting the exceptional talent and global engagement of its students and graduates. 

Graduate students interested in pursuing Fulbright and other nationally competitive awards are encouraged to connect with the Graduate School’s Office of Fellowships and Awards, which provides advising and support throughout the application process.