University of Arizona Professor Brings Heat Resilience Expertise to India Through Fulbright Specialist Award
Associate Professor of Planning Ladd Keith spent two weeks in northeastern India teaching faculty and students about planning for extreme heat and helping to develop curricula for two new courses.
NIT-P Director Pradip K. Jain and Ladd Keith.
Director of the University of Arizona Heat Resilience Initiative within the Arizona Institute for Resilience and Associate Professor of Planning in the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture Ladd Keith traveled to Patna, India, in November 2025, after receiving a Fulbright Specialist Program award to work with the National Institute of Technology Patna (NIT-P). The award supported an intensive, short-term academic exchange focused on climate action planning and urban heat resilience, areas where Keith’s research has gained international attention.
Hosted by NIT-P’s Department of Architecture and Planning, the visit provided a packed schedule for the U of A expert who is also an Associate Research Professor at the U of A’s Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. The program centered on a five-day workshop covering the latest research and practices related to planning for heat resilience, delivered by Keith to NIT-P faculty and students. Keith’s time in Patna also included daily meetings with students and faculty and planning sessions that often extended late into the night. The international exchange was coordinated by Shailendra K. Mandal, the Head of Department for NIT-P’s Department of Architecture and Planning, with critical institutional support from NIT-P Director Pradip K. Jain.
Keith’s work at NIT-P culminated in plans for the institute to launch two new academic courses, “Climate Action Planning and Design” and “Urban Heat Resilience,” for students at all academic levels, from B.A. to Ph.D. The proposed Urban Heat Resilience course is the first of its kind. There is currently no comparable, heat-specific planning course offered elsewhere in the world, and its rollout is part of NIT-P Department of Architecture and Planning’s broader effort to position itself as a climate-action planning hub serving all of India.
There is currently no comparable, heat-specific planning course offered elsewhere in the world, and its rollout is part of NIT-P Department of Architecture and Planning’s broader effort to position itself as a climate-action planning hub serving all of India.
Keith’s visit and the proposed new curriculum attracted national media attention, with two separate stories appearing in The Times of India, the country’s largest newspaper—a significant level of visibility for a short-term academic exchange.
Fulbright Specialists vs Scholars
Keith poses with workshop participants as they display their Heat Action Planning sketches from the day.
The Fulbright Specialists Program differs in important ways from the more widely known Fulbright Scholars Program. Where Fulbright Scholars will travel for anywhere from three to 20 months to engage in a research or other educational project in another country, Fulbright Specialists travel for a much shorter period of two to six weeks and focus on teaching, training, and collaboration.
Like many U of A researchers, Keith’s plate is typically full with grant-supported research, teaching, and media appearances, meaning it’s much easier for him to commit to the shorter engagement provided by the Specialists program. This, he says, may make that program more accessible to faculty who similarly cannot step away from their other responsibilities for an extended period. "The Fulbright Specialist program can be a great opportunity for busy academics to participate in international exchange and collaboration without the longer travel commitment of the Scholars Program,” Keith said.
“The Fulbright Specialist program can be a great opportunity for busy academics to participate in international exchange and collaboration without the longer travel commitment of the Scholars Program,” Keith said.
Danielle Barefoot is an associate for international research development in Research Development Services at the University of Arizona Office of Research and Partnerships. As part of that role, Barefoot serves as the U of A’s Fulbright Scholar Liaison.
In addition to differences in program focus and length, Barefoot points out that the application process for the Specialist program is much more streamlined than that for the Scholars program. Rather than applying to conduct a specific project in a specific country, Barefoot says that Fulbright Specialists apply for placement on a roster of specialists. Once approved, specialists are then paired with projects that are the best potential match for their areas of interest and expertise.
International Reciprocity
Shailendra K. Mandal and Ladd Keith at Nalanda, the world's oldest residential university.
Barefoot underscored that, contrary to what some might believe, Fulbright is not a one-way exchange. “Fulbright is a binational opportunity,” she said. “It’s not just one-directional…we also bring in people from abroad to the United States.”
Keith’s specialist award is a case study in that reciprocity. Discussions that ultimately led to his visit began more than a decade ago, when NIT-P’s Mandal came to Tucson as a Fulbright Scholar hosted by University of Arizona Professor Gregg Garfin during the 2013-14 academic year. Mandal and Keith took a class together under Garfin while Keith was pursuing his Ph.D. at U of A. It was that connection that eventually brought Keith to Patna.
Barefoot said the arc of that collaboration reflects Fulbright’s core mission. “That really demonstrates that the program is achieving its goals,” she said. “It shows that the long-term relationships are there and they’re strong because, even though that's over a decade ago, we still have this communication in between individuals and departments to allow for that exchange.”
Barefoot said the arc of that collaboration reflects Fulbright’s core mission. “That really demonstrates that the program is achieving its goals,” she said. “It shows that the long-term relationships are there and they’re strong because, even though that's over a decade ago, we still have this communication in between individuals and departments to allow for that exchange.”
For Keith, the timing of the Specialist award aligned with a growing international focus on extreme heat planning and preparedness that was further catalyzed by an international Call to Action on Extreme Heat by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in the summer of 2024.
Keith said the Patna experience not only reinforced the importance of applying Arizona-based research in vastly different social, economic, and climatic contexts, but it also gave him a chance to put some of his recent planning tools to work. For instance, Keith invited NIT-P students to evaluate the Indian state of Bihar’s heat action plan using the new Extreme Heat Risk Governance Framework and Toolkit published in early November by the Global Heat Health Information Network, where Keith is a member of the group’s Management Committee.
Keith and hosts at the Sikh holy site Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji Patna Sahib
Ongoing Exchange
Beyond the classroom, Keith says his hosts worked to ensure that cultural exchange was central to the trip. The visiting scholar had the chance to explore several historically and spiritually significant sites in the area, including Mahabodhi Temple—the place where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment—Nalanda, recognized as the world’s first international residential university, and Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji Patna Sahib, one of Sikhism’s most important sacred sites. Keith described his hosts as “extremely gracious and attentive,” noting that they carefully curated opportunities for him to better understand the region’s history, religion, and culture.
That hospitality mirrored the broader intent of the Fulbright program, which was designed to foster mutual understanding through direct, person-to-person exchange between nations. According to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Keith is one of more than 400 U.S. citizens who share their expertise abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program each year. Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has supported more than 400,000 participants worldwide, operating today in more than 160 countries.
University of Arizona faculty, staff, administrators and postdocs have received 392 Fulbright Scholar and Specialist awards since 1954-55. 350 students have also received Fulbright U.S. Student Awards since 1949-50. The institution has hosted 249 Fulbright Visiting Scholars (since 1966-67) and 446 Fulbright Foreign Students (since 1985-86) over the course of its involvement with the program.
University of Arizona faculty, staff, administrators and postdocs have received 392 Fulbright Scholar and Specialist awards since 1954-55. 350 students have also received Fulbright U.S. Student Awards since 1949-50. The institution has hosted 249 Fulbright Visiting Scholars (since 1966-67) and 446 Fulbright Foreign Students (since 1985-86) over the course of its involvement with the program.
For Keith and NIT-P, the November visit wasn’t an ending so much as it was a continuation of the long-term international partnership between the two universities. With two new courses in development at NIT-P and discussions already underway about future collaborations, possible student exchanges, and the potential for joint research, Keith’s 2025 Specialist award has extended a scholarly relationship that began in Tucson more than a decade ago and continues to carry Arizona-based heat resilience expertise to some of the fastest-warming regions of the world.