The David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship, the nation's premier post doctoral program in conservation biology, seeks to find solutions to the most pressing conservation challenges in the United States. The Smith Fellows program was established in 1998 by the late Dr. David H. Smith, founder of the Cedar Tree Foundation. Each Fellow’s research is conducted in partnership with a major academic institution and an “on the ground” conservation organization, to help bridge the gap between theory and application. The Fellowship program is a collaboration of the Society for Conservation Biology and the Cedar Tree Foundation.
Smith Fellows News
The Society for Conservation Biology and the Cedar Tree Foundation announce the recipients of the 2006 Smith Conservation Research Fellowship.
The David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship, the nation's premier post doctoral program in conservation biology, seeks to find solutions to the most pressing conservation challenges in the United States. Each Fellow’s research is conducted in partnership with a major academic institution and “on the ground” conservation organization to help bridge the gap between theory and application.
The following fellowship recipients were select on January 11 from a pool of over 80 highly qualified recent Ph D’s from around the world:
Dr. Myra Finkelstein* will focus on “Understanding the effects of interacting threats on the survival of long-lived species” based at the University of California, Santa Cruz working in partnership with the American Bird Conservancy and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Dr. Robert McDonald* will be based at Harvard University and focus on “Urbanization and conservation priority setting: scaling from global patterns to local processes” in partnership with The Nature Conservancy.
Dr. Tania Schoennagel* will be based at the University of Colorado, Boulder and will focus on, “Fire risk and forest restoration in the wildland-urban interface of the Colorado front range” in partnership with The Wilderness Society.
Dr. Katherine Smith* will be based at the University of Georgia and will focus on “Forecasting infectious disease emergence resulting from the global trade in wildlife” in partnership with the Consortium for Conservation Medicine.
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Program Executive Director, Dr. Michael Dombeck says, “The Smith Fellowship enables young scientists to improve and expand their research skills and direct their research efforts toward problems of pressing conservation concern.” While the Fellows' research projects focus on urgent conservation issues, they also learn first hand about the challenges and rewards of conservation applications. The program's focus is to enlarge their professional opportunities and ensure future success by helping them build relationships in the conservation and research communities and by providing opportunities for professional development through targeted workshops and training events.
The late Dr. David H. Smith, founder of the Cedar Tree Foundation, was a pediatrician, inventor and conservationist. He established the Smith Fellowship in 1998. In 2005 the Fellowship was broadened to include the broader conservation community and is now administered by the Society for Conservation Biology. The Smith Fellowship seeks to identify and support early-career scientists who will shape the growth of applied conservation biology.
Request of applications for the 2007 Class of Smith Fellows will announced in late June 2006. For more information see the Smith Fellows website at www.smithfellows.org
For more information contact: Shonda Foster at 703-276-2384 ext.101
Additional Information about the Smith Fellows Program
