Fellowship Announcement

Doctoral Residency in Place-based Education, Science Communication and Program Evaluation

NSF Idaho EPSCoR and UI-CNR McCall Outdoor Science School, McCall, Idaho

Diversify your skillset and expand your professional network through this integrative fellowship opportunity!

The Doctoral Residency in Place-based Education, Science Communication and Program Evaluationis a 12-month doctoral fellowship sponsored by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR program (NSF EPSCoR) and the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS), a program of the University of Idaho’s College of Natural Resources (UI-CNR). During this residency, the Fellow will live and work at the UI-CNR McCall Field Campus and undertake an immersive program through guided study and mentored practice with a cohort of other graduate students.The Fellow will receive an assistantship of $21,000 plus MOSS tuition and fees.

Elements of the fellowship include:

1)Targeted graduate coursework in science communication, place-based education, leadership, and ecology. Coursework will lead to completion of a Graduate Certificate in Place-Based Education and Science Communicationfrom the University of Idaho.

2)Planning and conducting a retrospective evaluation of teacher professional development workshops conducted in three sites over the last four years.

3)Mentored teaching of MS-level graduate students (as a Teaching Assistant).

4)Mentored teaching of K-12 students participating in MOSS residential science education programs as a field instructor and guest scientist.

5)Opportunities for collaborating on the evaluation of various other programs operated by the McCall Outdoor Science School.

6)An integrative approach to combining progress in the Fellow’s ongoing doctoral program with the graduate residency.

Since 2013, MOSS, along with partners from University of Idaho, Idaho State University and Boise State University has collaborated on the design and implementation of one-week teacher professional development experiences focused on ecosystem services and socio-ecological systems, under the broad research program called Managing Idaho’s Landscapes for Ecosystem Services (MILES). These week-long experiences have been paired with follow-up classroom experiences to maximize the impact of the learning experience for these teachers and their students. While some program evaluation has taken place over the years, we are seeking a doctoral fellow who can focus on a more in-depth evaluation and lead the development of several manuscripts to describe the findings of this work.

The ideal candidate will be in the intermediate or final stages of their doctoral program, and pursuing research on education, program evaluation, place-based learning or socio-ecological systems education. Fellowship activities will be supervised and mentored by McCall-based UI-CNR faculty in collaboration with the student’s major advisor to ensure that learning and productivity goals are matched with the Fellow’s overall doctoral program. Additional mentorship is available through faculty at the three universities collaborating on the delivery of AL workshops. The start date for the program is August 16, 2017.

To apply, please submit:

1)A statement of career objectives (2-3 pages) that addresses the following:

  1. An overview of your doctoral research, and how it relates to place-based learning, program evaluation, socio-ecological systems education or leadership.
  2. How you see this fellowship supporting your personal, academic, and professional goals,
  3. How your personal, academic, and professional experience has prepared you for this fellowship,
  4. Your philosophies on teamwork and community living experience, and
  5. Ideas for how you might approach assessment of teacher professional development experiences.

2)A letter of support (1-2 pages) from your major Ph.D. advisor, explaining:

  1. Their overall assessment of your abilities relating to this fellowship,
  2. Their personal/professional interest (if any) in the goals of this fellowship, and
  3. An acknowledgment that they have read your career objectives statement, and that they support you undertaking this residency program to live and work in McCall.

3)Your curriculum vita, including the names and contact information of 3 references in addition to your major Ph.D. advisor.

Application materials must be submitted electronically (with the subject line “MOSS/EPSCoR Doctoral Fellowship”) to Dr. Karla Eitel by April 15, 2017. Questions may be addressed to Dr. Karla Eitel or Dr. Teresa Cohn (), the Fellowship faculty leads based in McCall. Fellowship selection will occur by mid-late May.

Additional information about the UI-CNR McCall Field Campus and MOSS can be found at:

Additional information about Idaho EPSCoR can be found at:

and

Additional information about Adventure Learning through Idaho EPSCoR can be found at: