"The Distinguished Chair's objective is to create, develop, and reinforce Franco-American cooperation in the disciplines essential to French and American society and to the mutual understanding of both peoples," explains Fulbright France.

"The award aims to reinforce collaborative research between the United States and France in all fields of study. Grantees are invited as guest teachers and researchers at a host French university, where they have the opportunity to meet French colleagues, to organize and participate in conferences, and to interact with French graduate and doctoral students in their discipline. Grantees will teach courses at the postgraduate level and doctoral level, undertake research, and help organize and participate in conferences and seminars related to their area of expertise."

Porder looks forward to this new challenge.

"This award offers many exciting opportunities," he says. "I will be collaborating and teaching with colleagues at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, developing new projects in France and in Reunion Island. I will also be working with colleagues in Politique de la Terre program at the University of Paris to help shape their vision of the 'anthropocene campus' — a stated priority of their newly formed multidisciplinary program. This is a natural fit with my work at Brown as Assistant Provost for Sustainability, in IBES and in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and I hope to bring many lessons learned with me upon my return to Brown."