Fulbright Spotlight: Jabeen Ahmad

Fulbright Week is here! NC State’s Office of Global Engagement, Office for Faculty Excellence, and the University Fellowships Office are teaming up to host Fulbright Week, from March 25 – 28, highlighting the various programs supported through the prestigious Fulbright program.

Led by the United States government, Fulbright is an academic cultural exchange program for American students to study, teach, or pursue important research and professional projects in the United States and in more than 160 partner countries worldwide over the course of an academic year. NC State was listed as a Top Producing Institution, recognized for having the highest number of accepted applicants to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Programs for the 2024-2025 academic year.

As part of Fulbright week, NC State Global is spotlighting former Fulbright scholar Jabeen Ahmad and her experience abroad. Jabeen was a research scholar at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, working with her advisor Dr. Mette Nicolaisen. Her research involved looking at plant microbial interactions in the roots and soils of wheat plants to increase crop yields to support food security. 

Jabeen noted her opportunities to collaborate with other researchers as a key part of her experience. “You know, you can read things and articles, you can work with people and Zoom is amazing, but there’s something of an entirely different element when you get to have hands on experience and work directly with people,” she said, “So I think that was a very unique feature, and for me, it was also to strengthen our research collaborations. Those relationships you have, those people you work with, are really important.”

Outside of her research, she cited attending the Danish Microbiology Society meeting in Copenhagen as one of her favorite memories from her time abroad. The keynote speaker was Morten Meldal, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry related to the click reaction/click chemistry. “It was amazing to go there and see that, to be able to share with your colleagues advances that are happening in microbiology and microbiome science,” she said.

She acknowledged the University Fellowship Office and advisor Dr. Kirsten Hetrick for helping to guide her through the application process. “I think it also reflects on the quality of the applicants that get sent,” she said. “There’s a reason that we are a top Fulbright producing institution.” 

Upon completing her Fulbright and PhD, Jabeen currently works as an intellectual property and regulatory attorney at the global law firm Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.