Bon dia (Good day) future explorers!
I’m Matthew Duggan, but you can call me Matt! I come from a small island on the Southern Outer Banks of North Carolina. Being an island boy, I love kayaking, surfing, fishing, and spending time at the beach! I also enjoy building robots, flying drones, and 3D printing cool things!
I went to college in South Carolina, where I studied biology and computer science. In college, my dreams started to become reality as I started to mix my love for marine animals with technology! Since I have graduated, I’m on an exciting adventure as part of my Ph.D. program at Cornell University in New York. I escaped the cold to study in the warm, sunny coral reefs of Curaçao! Receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, I get to explore the island's culture while studying why fish make sounds and discover when and where they do it. I build my own recorders that listen to the coral reefs, and I even use robots called ROVs to help me! These robots can dive over 300 meters to study coral reefs we didn’t even know existed until recently!
A lot of people depend on the ocean, but they’re disappearing fast, along with the fish that inhabit them. I witnessed dying corals and polluted reefs in the shallows, which drove me to explore deeper.
I want you all to be my dive buddies on this adventure! Together, we’ll explore the deep reef and become virtual "Aqua"nauts!
Want to learn how you could be a Fulbright Scholar like me? The Fulbright Program is the United States government's flagship international exchange program. Fulbrighters foster mutual understanding between the United States and partner nations, share knowledge across communities, and improve lives around the world. Learn more by clicking here!
