Gen Alumna wins NATO Defense College Fellowship

Congratulations to Genazzano FCJ College Alumna, Elizabeth Buchanan (2006), who has won the NATO Defense College Fellowship, sending her to Rome to study the military alliance’s Arctic strategy.

Elizabeth is currently a Europa Fellow at the Australian National University’s Centre for European Studies, specialising in Russian foreign energy strategy, with a specific research interest in Russian polar strategy.

Since graduating from Genazzano, Elizabeth has completed a Bachelor of Arts (Politics and Philosophy) and an Honours Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Politics) from Monash University. She is now a PhD candidate at ANU, focusing her doctorate on Russia’s foreign energy strategy.

Her NATO Defence College Fellowship will examine the High North component (Arctic) of NATO’s North Atlantic strategy after the 2016 Warsaw Summit.

Upon winning the fellowship, Elizabeth reacted with mixed emotions. “Honestly, [I felt] a lot of self-doubt. Unfortunately, I think this is all too common with young researchers and particularly an ongoing issue for young women in a traditionally male dominated field. It took a little while to own the achievement. I had the winning project, CV and the panel decided to award me with the globally competitive fellowship. Then I was simply ecstatic.”

The College congratulates Elizabeth and wishes her all the best for her fellowship and all future endeavours.

Read more about Elizabeth and the NATO Defence College Fellowship on the ANU website.