YSE Environmental Justice Research Fellowship

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Applications due Monday, March 11, 2024 at 1PM EST.

The Yale Center for Environmental Justice awards student fellowships to support Masters and Doctoral research focused on environmental justice. $15,000 in grant funding of up to $5000 each are awarded competitively each year to eligible students.  Recognizing that the field of environmental justice is broad and multidisciplinary, we welcome proposals from students across disciplines interested in researching a range of issues significant to social and environmental justice.

Who Can Apply?

Eligibility

  • Fellowships are open to Masters or Doctoral students at the Yale School of the Environment or a joint program with YSE.
  • Fellows must be enrolled at the time of application and for at least one semester following the fellowship period.
  • Projects must be approved by a YSE faculty member with a signed work plan agreement.
Key Information

Requirements

  1. We strongly recommend that fellows complete their research report within a class or independent study the semester following the fellowship period. Applicants should include their intentions for post-research coursework in their application.
  2. Projects must include a schedule for data collection, evaluation, and proposed deliverables to be completed within the following academic year.

Research on Humans

Proposal Evaluation

Student research proposals are evaluated by the soundness of their research design and their contribution to advancing our understanding of environmental justice.

Additional considerations:

The evaluation committee will also consider the issues below when evaluating applications:

  • Applicants proposing research involving community members must explain how they will conduct bi-directional research and note how their research avoids extractive models or “helicopter research.” This should include a description of how this research will be shared back with communities with an emphasis on how the work will be useful and usable.
  • Working with historically oppressed groups, minorities, or “environmental justice communities” requires a deep sensitivity to tending to partnerships and relationships as well as the power dynamics in how the research is used and funded. Applicants who are able to clearly and thoughtfully articulate their positionality to the proposed research will be more successful.
  • If your research involves working with community members, contributing within existing research partnerships is preferred but not required. Please contact the Yale Center for Environmental Justice Program Manager, Kristin Barendregt-Ludwig (kristin.barendregt-ludwig@yale.edu) if you are interested in learning more about existing faculty research partnerships.
How to Apply

The Application

  1. Proposal Narrative
  2. Budget and Budget Justification
  3. Research Schedule/Work Plan
  4. CV/Resume

Apply to the YSE Environmental Justice Research Fellowship through the Yale Student Grants and Database Website.

Proposal Narrative

The proposal narrative should be no longer than 3 pages using single line spacing, size 11 font or larger (an additional page of references may be provided). The narrative should clearly articulate your research objectives and hypotheses, highlight relevant literature, and explain how your methods will be effective in addressing your research question(s). Please also include a justification of your field site and describe the relevant skills or qualifications you have to successfully complete your research. If your project is not a traditional EJ research proposal, please make a strong case for how we should understand the EJ connections to your proposed research.

The proposal narrative is also an opportunity to articulate the social justice implications of your research (both your project and findings) and your relationship to them as a researcher. Please address current and historical power dynamics as you feel they are relevant your proposed project and your plan for navigating them through your project design. If your project includes working with communities, describe your planned collaboration or relationship with those communities and Include how your research findings and usable knowledge will be shared with community members. You may also note how the project fits into your long-term career goals.

Budget

Please include a detailed budget and budget justification for all planned project expenses including airfare, room and board, equipment, supplies, compensation for research assistants, data, participant compensation, and allocations to support the work of partners related to the proposed research. There are no ineligible expenses, however, any expenditures must be justified in the narrative of the application.

* We recognize you may have a budget greater than $5000 and may be applying to multiple sources of funding. If you are applying for any other internal or external grants/fellowships for this project, list them in the online application field with the award amounts pending (if known) and any award amounts received. If you are applying for additional funding please include how you intend to modify your project if funds from other sources are not awarded.  (If you are not applying for any other grants/fellowships, please indicate N/A.)

Research Schedule/Work Plan

Outline your timeline to accomplish your proposed research plan. Please include how and when you plan to evaluate your results and complete your final report. This plan must be signed and approved by your faculty advisor and uploaded with your application. Please use the work plan agreement template provided.

CV/Resume

Limit to 2 pages.

Successful applicants will be notified no later than April 30th in accordance with University Fellowship System Guidelines.  Please contact YCEJ Program Manager, Kristin Barendregt-Ludwig (kristin.barendregt-ludwig@yale.edu) with any questions.

Current Fellows

 

Past Fellows

 

People and Partners