Center for the Ecology and the Environment: Aldo Leopold Graduate Research Award

We are seeking applications for a Graduate Research Award for the 2025 Spring semester. Applicants must be a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student in good standing who is pursuing a thesis-based Master of Science (MS) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree. We are seeking to support graduate students advancing knowledge or understanding in both ecological and societal systems, pursuant to the spirit of Aldo Leopold’s scholarship on land ethics. Aldo Leopold’s land ethic taught us that human beings are an integral part of the environment and gain physical, economic, and spiritual sustenance from it. Students who are passionate about integrating ecology, ethics, and culture to enhance our ability to responsibly steward the environment are encouraged to apply. The Center for Ecology and the Environment (CEE) will be offering two awards of $5,000 each to help support field research, travel-related expenses related to research, conference attendance, or other direct research costs. The mission of the CEE is to foster research, connectedness, instruction, and outreach among ecologists at UW-Madison and beyond. The CEE receives support from the Nelson Institute, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and College of Letters and Science. To learn more about our efforts on campus and joining our community, please visit the CEE website.

GUIDELINES
Required:
1. Pursuing research integrating ecological and social research.
2. Currently enrolled UW-Madison Ph.D. or M.S. student.

Preferred:
1. Interest in contributing to the capacity-building aims of the CEE.
2. Past or current experience working with conservation agency stakeholders and/or tribal entities engaged in ecological and social research.

To Apply:
Applicants should submit the following as a single PDF to Kyle Webert (webert@wisc.edu): 1) 2-page (max) letter of interest describing the scope of their research and relevance to socio-ecological science and the mission of the CEE; 2) Resume/CV; 3) Basic budget plan for use of funds including a statement of existing project support (e.g., research or teaching fellowship).

Note: Awardees will be expected to receive their recognitions at the CEE 2025 Spring Symposium in mid-April and present (if available) at the CEE 2026 Spring Symposium.

Application deadline is 02/15/2025. Members of systematically excluded and underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged to apply.

Questions can be directed to Prof. Zuckerberg (bzuckerberg@wisc.edu).

Support for this initiative has been provided by generous support from Steven Lawry who received a PhD in land resources from the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies in 1988.