Image

The  Office of National Scholarship Advisement (ONSA) has announced seven University of Massachusetts Amherst undergraduate students and recent graduates have been awarded  U.S. Fulbright grants for the 2025-26 academic year.

The new cohort of Fulbright students will be teaching English or conducting research in Madagascar, Jordan, Spain, Germany, South Korea and Taiwan. Two additional students were also named alternate finalists for the grants.

“I am thrilled that our UMass Fulbright awardees will study, research, and teach English abroad and represent the U.S. as cultural ambassadors. Our awardees are eager to learn and expand their international experience and personal growth,” ONSA Director Madalina Akli said. “Every year, ONSA has the privilege of supporting UMass applicants, and we get really invested in their stories and projects. We are thrilled to see their hard work come to fruition.”
 

2025-26 Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Recipients:
 

Image

Elena Bauer ’25, a biology major on the pre-med track and Commonwealth Honors College (CHC) student from Boxborough, Massachusetts, will spend nine months in Madagascar.  She will assist in teaching English in secondary schools and plans to create a book or science club to provide a fun, immersive experience. Outside the classroom, Bauer plans to continue research on traditional medicine and become engaged in the community through volunteering at a hospital.

“During my time at UMass, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Madagascar and learn about traditional medicine and healthcare for six weeks,” Bauer said. “This experience was incredibly influential for my interests and career goals in a variety of ways. It showed me how valuable communication and language are in maintaining a connected world.”

Sawyer Fletcher ’24, of Westford, Massachusetts, studied music and German at UMass Amherst and will teach English in Germany.

Elizabeth Laughlin ’24, of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, was a linguistics major and Spanish minor in CHC while at UMass Amherst. Laughlin will travel to Galicia, Spain in September for a nine-month English language teaching assistantship.

“This award aligns with my current work as a middle school Spanish teacher in the months since my UMass graduation in December 2024, as well as my long-term goal of pursuing a career in teaching English as a second language in a school setting,” Laughlin said. “I’m excited for this opportunity to expand upon my knowledge of teaching a foreign/second language and broaden my perspective as I hope to work with diverse student groups throughout my career.”

Chloé Massabni ’25, a political science and public health double major from Massachusetts, will travel to Jordan, serving as a U.S. cultural ambassador and engaging with the local community, culture and government.

“Over the course of 10 months, I’ll be leading English instruction with an emphasis on cross-cultural learning in one of the most vibrant and historically rich regions of the Middle East…and looking forward to deepening my Arabic language skills,” Massabni said. “I’m also exploring opportunities to engage with health law and policy efforts in Jordan to deepen my understanding of international health systems. This will directly support my goal of pursuing a Juris Doctor/Master of Public Health and building a career that connects global health and law.”

Citli Valencia Cordova ’25, who graduated from CHC as a political science and Spanish dual major with an anthropology minor, was named an alternate finalist for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Mexico.
 

2025-26 Fulbright Research Award Recipients: 

June Ahn ’25, a biochemistry major with a molecular biology minor and CHC student from Brookline, Massachusetts, received the Fulbright Study/Research Award and U.S.-Korea Presidential STEM Initiative Award. Ahn will travel to South Korea to investigate how the protein CHI3L1 contributes to lung damage in nontuberculous mycobacterial infections by altering how lung cells interact with their surrounding tissue. Ahn’s goal is to identify new targets for treating these drug-resistant infections and improving outcomes for vulnerable patients.

Image

“Outside the lab, I will reconnect with my heritage by volunteering at my family’s church in Wonju, leading English classes and language exchange sessions to foster meaningful community engagement and cultural exchange,” said Ahn, who hopes to become a physician-scientist specializing in translational research on rare genetic disorders. 

Christina Eckenreiter ’23, of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, studied pre-veterinary sciences while at UMass Amherst. She received the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award and will travel to Germany in November for research on Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), which has become a major threat to human in more than 30 countries.

Rishi Mukherjee ’24, of Lexington, Massachusetts, is a CHC graduate who studied finance while at UMass Amherst. Mukherjee will travel to Taiwan to conduct research through the Fulbright program.

“I will be focusing on improving the sensitivity of the diagnostic tools that we use to detect the virus that causes CCHF in blood samples,” Eckenreiter said. “If successful, this project would bring global science one step closer to understanding CCHF severity and distribution across the globe.”

Erik Bratland ’21, a double major in microbiology and psychology while at UMass Amherst, was named a Fulbright Research Award alternate finalist for Kenya.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected based on academic and professional achievement, as well as a record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program, directed by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), is administered at UMass Amherst through ONSA, located in the Commonwealth Honors College.

“ONSA supports students and alumni to apply for nationally competitive scholarships, including Fulbright. We work with students through individualized advising, application writing workshops, and essay review sessions,” Akli said. “We are also grateful to the UMass faculty nomination committee for their generosity of time and support of this process.”

For more information and a full list of scholarship recipients and award finalists, visit the ONSA website.