TGLL Graduate Fellowships in Environmental Sciences

Think Globally, Learn Locally: Neighborhood Ecology in a Global Perspective

Think Globally, Learn Locally: Neighborhood Ecology in a Global Perspective is an NSF-funded program at the University of Utah that will begin in the fall semester of 2009. TGLL is a collaboration involving graduate students and faculty from the Departments of Biology, Geology & Geophysics, Atmospheric Sciences and the Utah Museum of Natural History, together with teachers and students from schools in the Salt Lake City School District. Graduate Fellows in the program will develop and lead inquiry-based activities for sixth through ninth grade students. These activities will focus on five major environmental issues: (1) habitat alteration, (2) pollution and disturbance, (3) invasive species, (4) climate change, and (5) disease. Students will learn the science behind these issues, their practical implications, and how individual lifestyle choices scale up to affect the relevant processes on a global scale. TGLL Fellows will serve as scientific role models and mentors to young students at a critical stage of their intellectual and emotional development, and will show them how to become citizen scientists with the outlook and preparation needed to engage productively with complex, emerging environmental issues.

As many as eleven MS and PhD students will participate in the TGLL program beginning each year. They will enter the University as graduate students in Biology, Geology & Geophysics, or Atmospheric Sciences. Applicants should have a passion for basic science, good communication skills, and the desire to make a difference outside the world of academic research. The participating K-12 schools have many minority students, so we are especially keen to recruit Fellows from underrepresented groups. Like other graduate students, Fellows will pursue their own state-of-the-art research projects. But unlike most graduate students, they will also be trained to excel in conveying both the substance and the excitement of their science to students much younger and less experienced than themselves.

The fellowship provides a $15,000/year stipend plus tuition and fees during Year 1 of TGLL participation and a $30,000/year stipend plus tuition and fees during Years 2 and 3. Only US citizens and permanent residents are eligible for NSF funding.

Salt Lake City is a vibrant, multi-cultural urban hub surrounded by spectacular natural beauty and world-class skiing, hiking and biking opportunities. Cultural amenities include outstanding dance, theater and opera companies, live music of all kinds, pro sports, and numerous ethnic restaurants, clubs and markets.

Review of TGLL fellow applications will begin February 15, 2010. Applicants must also apply to home departments (Biology, Geology & Geophysics, Atmospheric Sciences), which may have different deadlines. For more information contact the program director, Donald H. Feener Jr. (donald.feener@utah.edu) or the program manager Holly Godsey (holly.godsey@utah.edu).