A Washington County resident has received a Fulbright Specialist Award to the Netherlands. 

The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board recently announced that Kate Giannini of the University of Iowa has received a Fulbright Specialist Program award. Giannini will complete a project at Deltares in the Netherlands that aims to exchange knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities both in the U.S. and overseas through a variety of educational and training activities within environmental science. 

Giannini works full-time at the Iowa Flood Center. She co-owns a small business, Highland Hunting LLC, with her husband, Ryan, and works part-time with Bur Oak Land Trust. She has previously served as a Washington County Soil Commissioner.

Giannini is one of over 400 U.S. citizens who share expertise with host institutions abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program each year. Recipients of Fulbright Specialist awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, demonstrated leadership in their field, and their potential to foster long-term cooperation between institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State.