Anamarija Frankic Receives Fulbright Grant to Teach in Croatia in the Fall

The Center for Governance and Sustainability at UMass Boston’s John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies is proud to announce that Assistant Professor Anamarija Frankic, project director of the center and director of the Green Harbors Project , has been selected for a Fulbright Specialist Program. This prestigious award program is intended to bring U.S.-trained scholars around the world to develop the intellectual capacity of foreign universities. Frankic will teach at the University of Zadarin in Croatia lecturing on biomimicry, coastal ecosystem management, and restoration.

Frankic has long been involved with the study of biomimicry, a methodology for scientific and engineering-related problem solving. In layman’s terms, the biomimicry approach argues that scientists should look to natural responses in plants and animals as a first source for solutions to problems like harbor pollution.

Frankic’s current work includes creating artificial floating islands of shellfish to help clean coastal waters. These floating islands occur in nature and help to keep waterways clean, but have not been prevalent in Boston for some time.

Despite its small size, the McCormack Graduate School is proud of its local and global reach. Anamarija Frankic will help the Croatia university develop an interdisciplinary curriculum linking marine biology, maritime archeology, environmental science, sustainable coastal management, and maritime engineering and establish a new Center for Interdisciplinary Research. Right outside our UMass Boston door, Frankic leads the Green Harbors Project.  With the mission to enhance the coastal ecosystem stewardship through research, education and outreach projects, Frankic and colleagues hope to establish a “green urban harbor” – a harbor that lives within ecological and human limits.

The Center for Sustainability and Governance links analytical rigor and policy action in environmental, development, and sustainability governance globally through state-of-the-art research, interactive dialogue, and comprehensive training for innovative leadership.  To that end, the center’s faculty scholars and doctoral students in human security and global governance seek to develop a wide network of collaborators to advance policy-relevant governance and sustainability research activities.

The center is currently working with Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa University Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre/Network and the Sustainable Enterprise Partnership with the resources of three central New York institutions to offer world-class education and research on sustainable enterprise and to provide a better understanding of sustainability across the disciplines of management, forestry, energy, and environmental science.