STEPS Graduate Fellowships and Awards:
The STEPS Fellowships in Interdisciplinary Environmental Research
The STEPS Institute was established as a campus-wide mechanism to facilitate interdisciplinary environmental research across the university’s Division of Physical and Biological Sciences, Division of Social Sciences, and Baskin School of Engineering. Annually, the institute has three fellowships available for outstanding incoming graduate students interested in pursuing interdisciplinary environmental research. Fellows are nominated by individual departments as part of the admission process to UCSC graduate programs, after review of the top applications received. Students applying to any graduate department within those units are eligible to be considered by each Department for these awards, through this nomination process.
These named fellowships, the Christine Eckstrom Fellowship, the MRC Greenwood Fellowship, and the Frans Lanting Fellowship, have been provided annually by a generous anonymous donor. They honor the work of Frans Lanting and Christine Eckstrom in bringing appreciation of the natural world to a wide audience worldwide, and the work of former UCSC Chancellor MRC Greenwood in facilitating the development of the STEPS Institute and environmental research at UCSC.
Each doctoral fellow receives $20,000 for research expenses to address major environmental questions that link Science, Technology, Engineering, Policy, and Society. The funds can be used for research supplies, research travel, and summer stipend. These funds are in addition to the academic year salary that a student receives from his/her department or agencies in the form of fellowships, teaching assistantships, or research assistantships.
Submission Protocol:
Fellows are nominated by UCSC departments as part of the admission process to UCSC graduate programs. Individual graduate students cannot apply directly for a fellowship, however, students interested in being considered for one of these STEPS Institute Fellowships may submit an additional written statement (up to one page) along with their graduate application to a UCSC department, indicating their interest in this fellowship, and explaining how their research plans fit within one or both of the current STEPS research initiatives. For more information, please contact the related UCSC graduate department, or the STEPS office at steps@ucsc.edu.
Criteria for Selection: Fellows
are chosen based upon nomination by their department, and based upon evaluation of the following set
of criteria:
- High previous scholastic achievement
- Evidence of past research experience
- Evidence of research interests that
cross some combination of Science, Technology, Engineering,
Policy, and Society
- Evidence of research interests on one or both of the
major STEPS initiatives: the Genes-to-Ecoregions Initiative and the Regional Climate Change and Water Initiative
- An overall indication that the prospective
student has the previous preparation needed to use
the funds effectively in getting research underway
- For information on past Fellows and their topics of research, please see the press releases for STEPS Fellows 2006, 2005 and 2004 .
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The MRC Greenwood Award in Biodiversity Conservation Research
Funds have been made available to UCSC doctoral students for a new award in biodiversity conservation research. The funds are from a generous gift by Diane and Don Cooley, longtime supporters of UCSC. The award is administered by The STEPS Institute in collaboration with the UCSC Arboretum. This award has three complementary purposes: (1) to provide financial resources to graduate students undertaking innovative environmental research on biodiversity conservation, with priority for research along the Central Coast, (2) to provide a direct mechanism by which UCSC research on biodiversity conservation and management reaches the public through the conservation and outreach program of the Arboretum, (3) and, in the process, to help train those students for a future of making the links between research, conservation, and outreach.
Preference will be given to students whose research is on major questions regarding the changing biodiversity of the Central Coast. A project, however, may involve research at a larger geographic scale that puts results for the Central Coast in a broader context (For more details on STEPS research priorities, please see STEPS initiatives). One or two awards are available to current doctoral students whose research is well underway. Each award will be within the range of $9,000 - $18,000. Requests may include supplies, travel to research sites, or summer salary support.
Criteria:
Graduate students should be well advanced in their doctoral research with 1-2 years remaining. The proposal should include explicit descriptions of the following components of the research:
- the major research questions, approaches, and current stage of the research
- how these funds would make a significant contribution at this stage of the work
- how the research will contribute in a practical way to understanding and conserving Central Coast ecosystems
- how public outreach from the research may be accomplished-for example, a demonstration project, installation, adaptive management project or other mechanism at the Arboretum interpreting the research
The current recipients of this award are:
| 2005 |
Sara Bothwell |
Department of Environmental Studies |
Faculty Advisor:
Deborah Letourneau |
| 2005 |
Carolyn Kurle |
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
Faculty Advisor:
Donald Croll |
| 2006 |
Amy Morris |
Department of Community Studies/Department of Environmental Studies |
Faculty Advisor:
Julie Guthman, Daniel Press |
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