In April, Dr. Corina McKendry was selected as a Fulbright Scholar for 2024-25. In January, she’ll head to Costa Rica for six months to study local governments’ climate actions.
“Costa Rica is well known for its commitment to addressing climate change and for being a leader in conservation,” says McKendry. “In many ways, this tiny country sets the global standard for what’s possible. But I’m interested in what these efforts look like at the municipal level.”
Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious and competitive fellowships that provide unique opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research abroad. Fulbright experiences lead to greater international co-publication, continued international exchange, and stronger cross-cultural communication skills. As a Fulbright Scholar, McKendry will visit towns and cities ranging from around 4,000 to 100,000 people to get a sense of how local governments are thinking about climate change and the relationship between local governments and the national government in these efforts.
“I’m interested in how local leaders see the relationship between reducing their own emissions and adapting to the extreme weather events that they’re already starting to face. I’m also looking at how local governments are working together to support each other’s sustainability efforts. I plan to talk with local officials, environmentalists, and community groups to understand their goals and priorities around climate change and its intersection with urban development. I will be working with the University of Costa Rica and the Centro de Investigación Observatorio del Desarrollo.”
Centro de Investigación Observatorio del Desarrollo focuses on policy-oriented research in support of social well-being and integral development in Costa Rica. McKendry will work with the group and their research students on a number of projects.
“One of the Observatorio’s areas of focus is sustainable and livable cities,” says McKendry. “So, it was a natural fit to propose collaborating with them.”
About half of McKendry’s time will be spent working with student and faculty researchers and giving public talks at the university. The rest of her time will be dedicated to her research.
“One thing that cities often do is share best practices. City leaders care about a certain issue and want to know what other cities are doing to address it. They look to other local leaders to figure out what policies are applicable to them and what might not make sense for their local context,” McKendry says. “I hope that my research can help facilitate information sharing among local governments and support them in taking on new climate initiatives that are aligned with local priorities.”
When she returns to CC, McKendry plans to shape some of her research into the foundations for a new course, partnering with CC Environmental Studies and Science Professor Miro Kummel, in Costa Rica beginning Block 5, 2026.
“Miro’s been teaching an ecology class in the Monteverde Cloud Forest for a long time. It’s a super popular course,” says McKendry. “Our plan starting in 2026 is to teach two linked classes. I’ll teach a class called Sustainable Development and Climate Change in Costa Rica Block 5, he’ll teach Ecology and the Environment Block 6, and students will take both courses. My course will focus on environmental politics in Costa Rica, looking at issues such as sustainable agriculture, urban development, the impacts of tourism, and rainforest conservation. The goal is for students to gain a nuanced understanding of the social and political complexities of sustainable development and conservation, particularly in the context of climate change. Then, in the next block, those same students will study the ecology of one of the most biodiverse places on earth. But they’ll do so with a broader understanding of the political context of the cloud forest.”
McKendry plans to build relationships with speakers and visit sites for the course during her time in Costa Rica as a Fulbright Scholar.
“Part of the mission of the of the Fulbright program is to build relationships between the US and the rest of the world. It’s really a neat opportunity, because the idea is you go there as an expert but also as a learner,” says McKendry. “The Fulbright Scholar Program is an amazing opportunity for professors to expand their research and professional networks in new directions and to build long-term relationships that can benefits our students and the school as a whole. This is especially true on the Block Plan, which makes it so much easier to go abroad with students. Through the class, I’ll be able to maintain the connections I make on my Fulbright, share what I’ve learned with students, and introduce them to Costa Rican scholars and practitioners doing really interesting sustainability work. It would be so much harder to do that on a semester system.”