When the University of Florida International Center (UFIC) sent a senior delegation to Latin America in January 2026, one seat at the table belonged to the Libraries.
Dr. Javi Rudolph traveled alongside Associate Provosts and Deans Dr. Marta Wayne (International Center) and Dr. Nicole Stedman (Graduate School), and Dr. Michael Kung (Director of the Office for Global Research Engagement), with the goal of deepening research partnerships and academic exchange programs in the region.
The delegation visited five universities across Ecuador and Chile: Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Universidad de la Fuerzas Armadas (ESPE) in Quito, Ecuador, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC-Chile), Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB), and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV) in Chile. The group discussed collaborative opportunities in research, student exchanges, and computational training and capacity building. They also met with Gator alumni and visited the United States Embassy in Chile.
For Dr. Rudolph, the trip carried personal significance. She completed her undergraduate degree in biology at USFQ before earning her PhD at UF, and the mentors who shaped her early research career are now colleagues at these institutions and their field stations. Those relationships, built over fifteen years, form a natural foundation for the collaborative work ahead. “This is exactly the kind of equitable partnership that can strengthen research capacity across borders while respecting local expertise and data sovereignty,” Rudolph said.
The Libraries’ presence in this delegation reflects something important: research infrastructure is no longer confined only to labs and field stations. It also lives in the computational tools researcher use, the training they receive, and the capacity they build to ask bigger questions with larger and better data. Dr. Rudolph’s role in the delegation highlights how innovative programs like the Academic Research Consulting and Services (ARCS) department can be embedded in international research infrastructure, laying the groundwork for shared access to computational resources, training, and capacity building across institutions.
The full scope of the delegation’s travels and outcomes is documented in an n interactive story map produced by UFIC. For Dr. Rudolph, the work continues: through her 2026 Global Fellows award from the UF International Center, she will return to Ecuador and Chile this year to build on these connections, delivering computational training and strengthening research collaborations.
