CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: REU SITE STUDYING ETHIOPIAN CHURCH FORESTS

Application deadline: February 15, 2017.

Website: http://www.colby.edu/reu-in-ethiopia/

We are now accepting applications for a Summer 2017 NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program based at Colby College and the California Academy of Sciences. This REU will provide eight American undergraduate students from diverse academic backgrounds an opportunity to conduct interdisciplinary research on the ecological, economic and cultural roles of church forests. Church forests are patches of Afromontane forest surrounding Ethiopian Orthodox churches. Preserved for centuries by church leaders and communities as religious sanctuaries, church forests are, in many parts of Ethiopia, the only indigenous forests left.

Under the eight-week summer REU program students will receive training at Colby College (Maine, USA) in ecological field methods (stream ecology), social survey research, spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and written and oral communication. Working remotely with partners in Ethiopia students will collect and analyze original ecological, social and spatial data from church forests and surrounding communities, and work closely with faculty mentors to prepare presentations and manuscripts to be shared at a week-long workshop held on-site at the California Academy of Sciences.

Completed applications including 2 letters of recommendation are due by February 15th. The 2017 Summer REU Site program will run from June 12th – August 9th. All travel costs will be covered by NSF and the summer program includes a generous stipend. All participants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents enrolled at a U.S. college or university at the time of the program (senior graduating in Spring 2017 are not eligible).

Details about the project and application instructions can be found at: http://www.colby.edu/reu-in-ethiopia/