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Student and graduate share Fulbright success

2 April 2008

PhD student Azadeh Dastyari will conduct a comparative study of US and Australian immigration and refugee law at Georgetown University.

A PhD student and a Monash graduate are among 24 Australians awarded with scholarships from the Australian American Fulbright Commission this year.

Researcher Azadeh Dastyari, who is also an assistant lecturer from the Monash Law faculty, has won the Fulbright Postgraduate Alumni (WG Walker) Scholarship.

Ms Dastyari will conduct a comparative study of US and Australian immigration and refugee law at Georgetown University starting in September this year.

Her research will examine the interception, detention and offshore processing of asylum seekers by Australia at Christmas Island, Nauru and Papua New Guinea and the US in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"My research will also examine the implications of the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between Australia and the US which means each country now has a vested interest in the other's offshore processing regime," explains Ms Dastyari.

Monash alumnus Cameron O'Reilly received the Fulbright Professional Australia-US Alliance Studies Scholarship.

Monash alumnus Cameron O'Reilly will study US and Australian approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the US from March next year.

Mr O'Reilly, who completed a Master of Management and Public Policy at Monash in 2000, will carry out a comparative public policy study of US and Australian approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"The US and Australia share much in common as low energy-cost countries with significant domestic sources of fossil fuels," Mr O'Reilly said. "As allies and democracies we also have a strong interest in cooperating to meet the challenge of climate change."

Currently the Executive Director of the Energy Retailers Association of Australia, Mr O'Reilly will begin his study at the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas and Georgetown University in March 2009.

The prestigious Fulbright program is the largest educational scholarship of its kind, created by US Senator J. William Fulbright and the US Government in 1946. Aimed at promoting mutual understanding through educational exchange, it operates between the US and 150 countries. In Australia, the scholarships are funded by the Australian and US Governments and corporate partners and administered by the Australian-American Fulbright Commission in Canberra.

Applications for Fulbright Scholarships in 2009 open on 1 June. Visit the Fullbright website for details.