USCG Cadet Receives Fulbright Scholarship
United States Coast Guard Academy cadet Jacquelyn Kubicko has received a U.S. Fulbright scholarship to pursue a Masters in Research at the University of Southampton.
The prestigious scholarship program has scores of luminaries among its alumni roster, including over 50 Nobel Prize winners, 30 MacArthur Foundation fellows, and over 30 heads of state.
"I truly could not have asked for more than the opportunity to pursue my passion for science as a Fulbright Scholar, while serving my country," said Kubicko.
She has received multiple past honors, and has recently received orders to flight school to become a USCG aviator. As an undergraduate, Kubicko conducted research in acoustic tomography, aimed to image physical characteristics of the ocean in order to contribute to the accuracy of climate change and acidification models. During her junior year, she focused on analyzing how sound moves through seawater to measure ocean properties such as pH and temperature using passive acoustic techniques. The project was supervised by her instructor at the Academy and by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
In the summer of 2015, Kubicko assisted with research to explore deep-sea hydrothermal vents off the coast of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador and was supervised by Dr. Robert Ballard, noted for his discovery of the RMS Titanic. Her senior year research, supervised by Dr. Karim Sabra of Georgia Institute of Technology, involves developing methods of measuring temperature changes in coastal areas and under sea-ice.
At the University of Southampton, Kubicko will be conducting research in physical oceanography with applications to climate change. By studying the ocean dynamics caused by climate change, Kubicko hopes to contribute to international climate policy initiatives.