Nathan Fisk is an assistant professor of instructional technology in the USF College of Education.

TAMPA – University of South Florida assistant professor Dr. Nathan Fisk will be among the first group of Fulbright Cybersecurity scholars to study in the U.K. this fall as part of an initiative to increase cybersecurity cooperation between the U.S. and the U.K.

Fisk, an assistant professor of instructional technology in the USF College of Education, studies youth, digital citizenship and internet safety, focusing on the critical analysis of policies and curricula intended to protect youth online.

During the Fulbright program, Fisk will create a new case study as part of the “Preparing for a Digital Future” project with principal investigator Sonia Livingstone at the London School of Economics. The three-year research project investigates how children and young people — along with the adults in their lives — prepare for their futures in the digital age.

Fisk says we are currently in a time when we need more cybersecurity professionals, and it is important that we think about how parents contribute to the ideas that youth have about internet safety can play a big part in how they view a future career in cybersecurity.

“There hasn’t been a lot of work in cybersecurity that really focuses on families, it’s really about industry or government,” Fisk said. “Part of the research that I’m doing (at the London School of Economics) is to think through how issues of cybersecurity connect to the everyday lives of individuals and how we can do a better job of thinking about cybersecurity policy and technologies, in ways that don’t police everyday lives.”

Participating in this program is a great opportunity and a chance to be exposed to a new perspective on cybersecurity research, Fisk said. Through his work in the Fulbright program, Fisk said he hopes to bring back research and information that he can use to help create a stronger interest in the field of cybersecurity, both for students pursuing it as a career and individuals who want to maintain their personal safety.

“I warmly congratulate Dr. Fisk’s Fulbright Cybersecurity Award to the United Kingdom,” said Dr. Roger Brindley, USF system vice president of USF World and interim dean for the College of Education.

“Not only does the college have a role to play in the critical emerging field of cybersecurity, but Fulbright Awards are highly prestigious and a wonderful reflection of Dr. Fisk’s important scholarship,” Brindley said. “I am excited that this award mirrors both the interdisciplinary nature of research and the global focus of the faculty within the College of Education.”

Cybersecurity is a strategic area of focus for research at USF, with the university also being home to the Florida Center for Cybersecurity, which opened in 2014.

Fulbright is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by then-Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Roughly 1,600 U.S. students, 4,000 foreign students, 1,200 U.S. scholars, and 900 visiting scholars receive awards, in addition to several hundred teachers and professionals. Approximately 310,000 “Fulbrighters” have participated in the Program since its inception in 1946.

Currently, the Fulbright Program operates in over 155 countries worldwide.

USF was among the top producing research institutions in the nation for Fulbright U.S. Scholars in 2015-16, according to an annual list published by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Fisk was selected from a strong application pool to represent the U.S. and USF as a participant in this program.

For information about USF, go to usf.edu.

University of South Florida | USF | Fulbright Scholar | Nathan Fisk | Cybersecurity | TB Reporter

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