Congratulations to Muskie School graduate, Emma Adler, who was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to study International Affairs at the University of Iceland focusing on nuclear proliferation in the Arctic. Emma sends us an update below:
I started at USM in August 2021 as a major in Anthropology & Geography: Sustainable Cultures and Communities. During my first semester, I took a Geography class with Professor Firooza Pavri and one afternoon, she mentioned new scholarships to study in Iceland or Norway, this immediately piqued my interest, ever since I was a kid I had wanted to live outside the country. So, I went up to her and asked about it after class which started my path to Tromso, Norway, two hundred miles above the Arctic Circle.Through the Muskie School I was also able to intern, sharpening research skills while learning more about water and land conservation in Maine. The skills I learned through my internship have helped me throughout college and into my work with Congress.
Before I left for Norway, I started taking political science electives, as I have always been interested in politics and ultimately decided to double major in Political Science. Through these classes, I was introduced to Model United Nations and my first glimpse at what a life in foreign service may look like. I was lucky to represent Denmark in a NATO committee, then take international security while in Norway. These classes expanded my knowledge of and passion for Arctic affairs. While I was in Norway, I was able to see firsthand the impact that Russian overreach has in the region; shortly before moving to Norway, a researcher was arrested at the university I attended, he was found to be a Russian spy.
Everyone warned me that when I left for Norway I wouldn’t want to leave, I didn’t believe them at first but they were right. By the time March rolled around, I was searching for ways to stay in Europe while simultaneously questioning my career path, as every twenty year old does. I started looking into the partnerships USM has with other institutions in Europe and stumbled upon the Umbra Institute Archaeology Field Program. Thankfully, the Muskie School allowed me to finish up my Geography-Anthropology major requirements while breaking ground on a new archaeological dig in central Italy. I spent my days digging in the dirt during the heat of the Italian summer and was a part of the discovery of an Etruscan road that was thousands of years old. While I am deeply grateful for the experience, and the lifelong friends I’ve made from the dig, I realized that archaeology likely would not be part of my future.
After returning to Maine after eight months abroad, and one major completely finished, I was able to dedicate myself to Model UN, restarting the Model UN club at USM and attending conferences in Montreal and Washington D.C. while taking classes about nuclear politics and national security. My third and final year at USM is really what cemented my hope to attend graduate school to further my learning in international security, especially in the Arctic.
I was lucky to secure an internship at Congresswoman Pingree’s Portland office for Spring 2024 and work closely with constituents as well as form lifelong connections. After graduating in May 2024, I joined Senator Angus King’s re-election campaign, working forty to sixty hour weeks communicating with people all over Maine. At the same time, I was putting together my graduate school and Fulbright applications.
After working in the state and on a campaign, I wanted to know more about what working on Capitol Hill was like. So, in spite of the political climate, I packed my bags and moved down to DC to intern with Senator King’s office and gain hands-on experience with policy creation and debate. I never could have anticipated what this experience would look like. In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, Senator King’s office received more correspondence from Mainers than it did in the entire year of 2024. I’ve spent my time here answering calls from constituents and learning more about the process of policy making. Being closely involved with the political world, I learned very quickly that funding to Fulbright was frozen indefinitely along with funding for countless other programs. I was disappointed but had to accept that it was likely funding wouldn’t restart for months or possibly years. Thankfully, in early May, funding was reinstated. I will return to Maine shortly to intern with the Maine International Trade Center for the summer, then move to Reykjavik, Iceland to start my Masters in International Affairs and Fulbright fellowship focusing on nuclear proliferation in the Arctic.