The Advisor phase of this project has concluded. Please stay tuned for subsequent Fellowship opportunities.
*HBCUs: Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The Citizen Science Association (CSA) has committed funds and support to develop a new Community Science Fellowship Program for students at HBCUs. The Fellowship, once launched, will engage, mentor, and elevate emerging leaders and learners who are working to support solutions-based research in partnership with communities facing environmental and social injustices.
The Fellowship itself will not start until Fall of 2022 at the earliest, but in the meantime three Student Advisors will play a highly influential role in defining the goals and opportunities for the resulting Program.
This Program was envisioned by leaders of CSA’s Environmental Justice Practitioners Working Group and advanced along with input from Faculty members at HBCUs who are champions of citizen and community science. The idea is to strengthen, leverage, and elevate the knowledge and partnerships in this field in a way that invests in the future of both communities and young leaders.
The vision:
A Fellowship collaboration that advances students’ STEM career options, builds capacity for community-based organizations, models intentional learning through listening, and changes the culture of how academia does science in and with communities.
To ensure that the resulting Fellowship Program is designed for all partners to have a valuable experience, the Fellowship will be collaboratively developed by students, Faculty, and Environmental Justice community leaders with support from CSA.
Student Advisors will gain:
- Connections to leaders in the fields of Environmental Justice, Citizen Science, and Community Science, Spatial Justice
- Opportunities to learn from community leaders with lived experience using citizen science to document and confront injustices
- Insights into best practices in the above fields
- Opportunity to present at a field-wide Global conference
- Membership in the Citizen Science Association
- $1,500 stipend
Student Advisors will be expected to:
- Participate planning activities throughout Spring 2022, including:
- Three networking/advisory calls with other Student Advisors and field leaders
- A Fellowship Planning meeting (3-4 hours, likely virtual)
- Contribute ideas for and feedback on proposed Fellowship plans
- Be willing to listen to the insights and perspectives of others, and to both share and reflect on your own perspectives
Qualified students are:
- Actively enrolled (Spring 2022) in a degree program at a HBCU
- A Junior or higher level (including post-graduate degree students)
- Studying or interested in a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math
- Interested in or have experience with citizen or community science
- (Ideally but not required) experienced working collaboratively with community partners or members of the public
Timeline:
Applications are due 15 December 2021. Candidates will be notified by 10 January 2022. Initial work begins late January, 2022 and runs through May, 2022.
Questions?
Contact Fellowship Program Planning Coordinator, Veronica Bitting, via hbcu_fellowship@citizenscience.org
Posted on: November 16, 2021 | Category: Blog, CSA Blog, news, News