Tag: Fellowship

Global Watershed GK12 Fellowships

Published in Tech Today

Federal Stimulus Funds a Boon for Sustainability Studies at Michigan Tech, Part 2

by Marcia Goodrich, senior writer

Michigan Tech is receiving over $3 million in federal funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, courtesy of the National Science Foundation. All four grants address sustainability topics. In the first part of a two-part series, we reviewed the three research projects made possible by federal stimulus funds. Today, we look at a new fellowship program that will improve doctoral students’ communication skills by bringing them into middle school classrooms.

Global Watershed GK12 Fellowships: Diving Deep into Water Topics with Middle School Teachers, Students

Starting this fall, Michigan Tech PhD students will begin an in-depth, collaborative effort to bring the engineering, natural science and political aspects of water resources to middle school students and their teachers. Professor Alex Mayer (CEE), director of the Center for Water and Society, anticipates that the effort will go beyond raising young people’s awareness of water issues. “Our goal is to give our doctoral students enthusiasm for communicating their work and a lifelong commitment to working with K12 schools,” he said.

Graduate students can have difficulty explaining their research to those outside their discipline, said Mayer. Yet, good communication skills are critical on multiple fronts, including teaching, professional advancement, and particularly for generating public understanding and support for science. “Communicating with lay people is difficult even for us who have been in the business for many years,” he said. “If our PhD students can learn to engage middle school students, they can reach any audience.”

Over its five-year length, the $2.5-million program will provide two-year Global Watershed GK12 fellowships to 18 PhD students, starting with five in summer 2010. The fellowships will consist of a generous stipend and tuition and fees. Each participant will be paired with a middle school teacher. Under the supervision of their teachers, the graduate students will deliver lessons on water-related topics, including their own work. They will also serve as a resource for their teacher on water-related topics.

The students will work in school districts throughout the western and central Upper Peninsula. In districts that serve a high proportion of Native American students, they will work with a consultant to make sure their lessons reflect native culture.

The program also has an international component. In cooperation with the Colegio Muñoz school system in Hermosillo, Sonora, Spanish-speaking PhD students will be paired with teachers in Mexico, in areas where water shortages have reached a critical level.

“They will give the teachers tools they can use even after the students leave their classrooms, and they will engage the middle school students to pursue careers related to water and watersheds,” Mayer said. “They can become ambassadors to the community from their university and connect with tomorrow’s citizens while furthering their own professional development.”

It will take an extra commitment from the PhD students, adding about a semester to their studies. But it will also give them advantages, especially if they join a university faculty, Mayer said. The National Science Foundation requires that many grant proposals, including the prestigious CAREER awards, include a K12 component. New faculty members who have participated in these fellowships should have no trouble involving K12 students and teachers in their work.

Coprincipal investigators on the grant are Associate Professor Nancy Auer (Biological Sciences), Associate Professor Linda Nagel (SFRES), Chair Bradley Baltensperger (Cognitive and Learning Sciences) and Shawn Oppliger, director of the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, (Mathematics and Environmental Education).

Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program

Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program

The
Dissertation Fellowship Program seeks to encourage a new generation of
scholars from a wide range of disciplines and professional fields to
undertake research relevant to the improvement of education. These
$25,000 fellowships support individuals whose dissertations show
potential for bringing fresh and constructive perspectives to the
history, theory, or practice of formal or informal education anywhere
in the world. This highly competitive program aims to identify the most
talented researchers conducting dissertation research related to
education.

More information on how to apply. 

Deadline Wednesday, October 21st. 

2009 & 2010 Environmental Research Grant Announcements

EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is offering Graduate Fellowships for master’s and doctoral level students in environmental fields of study. The deadline is October 22, 2009 at 4:00 PM for receipt of paper applications, and October 22, 2009 at 11:59:59 PM ET for submittal of electronic applications to Grants.gov. Subject to availability of funding, the Agency plans to award approximately 120 new fellowships by June 30, 2010. Master’s level students may receive support for a maximum of two years. Doctoral students may be supported for a maximum of three years, usable over a period of four years. The fellowship program provides up to $37,000 per year of support per fellowship.

For more information visit: http://www.epa.gov/ncer

Help Students Win National Scholarships

Tech Today

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development is conducting a workshop on helping students win national scholarships. The session will be from noon to 12:55 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24.

Lunch will be provided to those who register by Monday, Sept. 21.
The location of the session will be announced as people sign up.

Faculty members are encouraged to attend because they play a critical role in encouraging students to pursue these life-changing opportunities.

Presenting the seminar will be Mary Durfee, advisor for nationally competitive scholarships, and Jodi Lehman, advisor for NSF graduate fellowships.

Faculty will gain information they need to identify and effectively support their top candidates for a major fellowship opportunity.

To register for this workshop, contact the center at 487-2046 or on the registration website: http://www.admin.mtu.edu/ctlfd/workshops .

The deadline for registering is Monday, Sept. 21.

For more information, contact Nancy Seely at 487-2046 or at nsseely@mtu.edu .

2009 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Solicitation

NSF GRFP

Eligibility and How To Apply

The National Science Foundation aims to ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States and to reinforce its diversity by offering approximately 1,654 graduate fellowships in this competition pending availability of funds. The Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are in the early stages of their graduate study. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) invests in graduate education for a cadre of diverse individuals who demonstrate their potential to successfully complete graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the National Science Foundation.

Application Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time):

November 02, 2009

Interdisciplinary Fields of Study

November 04, 2009

Mathematical Sciences; Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering

November 05, 2009

Social Sciences; Psychology; Geosciences

November 06, 2009

Life Sciences

November 10, 2009

Chemistry; Physics and Astronomy

November 12, 2009

Engineering

Contact Jodi Lehman in the Graduate School (jglehman@mtu.edu or 487-3513) for