Professor Colleen Hitchcock co-leading new educational exchange partnership through Fulbright Teaching Award
By Julian Cardillo ’14
Photography by Gaelen Morse
November 25, 2025
Environmental studies and biology professor Colleen Hitchcock was awarded the U.S.–U.K. Fulbright Commission’s Global Challenges Teaching Award, an honor that gives her a new way to connect Brandeis students to the world.
This fall, Hitchcock is leading the university’s first-ever Virtual Exchange/Collaborative Online International Learning (VE/COIL) course, partnering her “Biology of Climate Change” class with professor William Quirke’s “Learning for Sustainability” class at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.
Over six weeks, students from both universities are collectively exploring how local biodiversity and human communities, whether in Massachusetts or the Scottish Lowlands, experience and respond to climate change.
“The US-UK Fulbright GCTA is a unique opportunity to collaborate with colleagues on some of the most pressing issues facing society today,” Hitchcock said. “While I may be the official recipient, what’s most exciting is seeing how our students will benefit — how this exchange will enrich their experience here in Waltham — and how, together, we’ll build deeper connections with our colleagues across the Atlantic.”
The project arrives at a pivotal moment for Brandeis. As the university moves forward with its plan to reinvent the liberal arts for the 21st century, it is emphasizing experiential, interdisciplinary and globally connected learning. Hitchcock’s initiative exemplifies this transformation by blending scientific inquiry with cultural exchange and technology to expand the classroom experience.
Supported by a Brandeis team that includes learning designer Jui-Hsin Renee Hung and former Center for Teaching and Learning director Irina Dubinina, the collaboration reflects Brandeis’ commitment to making international learning accessible to all students, regardless of financial or travel constraints.
“For many students, work life after Brandeis will involve these types of collaborations, with virtual connections forming the foundation of partnerships," Dubinina said. “These types of opportunities are common in the languages, but what professor Hitchcock is illustrating is that they can take place in a variety of disciplines, including the sciences.”
Through weekly online sessions, shared data projects and fieldwork including visits to Walden Pond, the Charles River and Arnold Arboretum, students are examining the biological and social dimensions of climate change and presenting findings to peers at the University of Strathclyde.
Students who complete the exchange earn a certificate from the U.S.–U.K. Fulbright Commission.
“The virtual educational exchange provides an amazing opportunity for Brandeis students to connect both with students in another country, and with another discipline,” Hitchcock said. “The exchange provides a way for me to bring the global nature of how we detect and measure the signature of climate change in species. Students aren’t just working with data in the abstract; they’re also connecting with people who have collected that data, making learning much more real.”
