Sean Turner, a Master's student in the Department of Geographical Sciences, has been awarded a 2016-2017 Fulbright Grant for study in Croatia. His project is entitled, "Gap Analysis of Croatian Island Development Strategies: Contextualizing Policy Creation and Outcomes". 

Sean's research will focus on measuring the performance of island development strategies for the Republic of Croatia. The Croatian archipelago is a significant resource to the country, though economic and demographic strength greatly varies amongst individual islands. Turner will examine state and international pressures that have influenced Croatian island policy formation and strategy implementation, and highlight causes for success and shortcomings in achieving policy goals. He will be working under the guidance of Dr. Nenad Starc of the Institute of Economics-Zagreb and Dr. Ivo Nejašmić of the University of Zagreb.

Sean plans to use this opportunity to continue exploring how physiography and culture shape public policy for Balkan countries, and the consequential impacts felt by the region’s more remote and insular communities. His UMD advisor is Dr. Giovanni Baiocchi.