Gordon and Betty Moore Visiting Fellowships for Tropical Forest Conservation in the Andes-Amazon Region
Spanish Portuguese
The Tropical Conservation and Development Program (TCD) and the School of Forest Resources and Conservation (SFRC) at the University of Florida (UF) announce a competition for the Gordon and Betty Moore Visiting Fellowships to support non-degree training related to Amazon forest conservation at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The visiting fellowships are open to conservation professionals, researchers, university professors, and Ph.D. students who are legal residents of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, or Venezuela. Fellowships are for four to twelve months in length and may start at any time between June 2006 and January 2007.
Visiting Fellowship awards consist of a stipend of US$1,250 per month, plus the cost of any necessary UF tuition and fees. Additional funds for travel to and from UF, health insurance, and participation in field courses are also included. Limited financial support is available for enrollment in an intensive English language course to improve existing skills.
While at UF, Fellows will develop individualized programs of study under the advisement of a UF faculty member. Fellows will be able to enroll in UF classes related to tropical forest conservation, participate in field courses conducted in the Andes-Amazon region, and utilize the UF Latin American Collection, one of the finest libraries on Latin America in the world. Fellows will be expected to offer seminars and/or workshops for UF students and faculty to share their expertise and experience on Amazon conservation.
Each Fellow’s program of study must be relevant to one of the following themes:
protected area management
-
regional planning and policy
-
sustainable forest management, or
-
community-based natural resource management
After returning to their home countries, Fellows will continue to receive support and guidance from their UF faculty advisors as they implement conservation programs, carry out research, and/or complete their Ph.D. programs. Each Fellow’s faculty advisor will travel to the Fellow’s home institution, adding a reciprocal dimension to the advisor-student relationship and encouraging collaboration between the UF faculty member and the Fellow’s home institution.
Fellowship applicants will be judged according to their previous related work experience, conservation leadership, commitment to tropical forest conservation, the clarity and specificity of their proposed plan of study, and the relevance of their proposed plan of study to one of the four program themes. Preference will be given to applicants with at least three to five years of work experience and to those whose plan of study has a strong likelihood for resulting in written products, such as a journal or newspaper article, book, book chapter, working paper etc. Please note that the fellowship is not intended to fund field research.
Moore Visiting Fellowships are made possible by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Eligibility
To apply for a Moore Visiting Fellowship, you must:
Be a legal resident of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname or Venezuela.
- Work as a conservation professional, researcher or university professor in the Andes-Amazon region or be enrolled in a Ph.D. program at a university in the Andes-Amazon region.
Application Materials
The following application materials are required:
- A two to three page statement of purpose written in English, Spanish or Portuguese that describes your background and expertise, explains what you would gain from being a Fellow, and proposes a program of study as a Visiting Fellow. Specify what activities you propose to carry out at UF (such as attending classes, writing a publication, analyzing a data set, or preparing a workshop), and what experience and expertise you could share with UF students and faculty through seminars or workshops. Include details about your professional or research interests in Amazon conservation with particular reference to at least one of the program’s four thematic areas. If you have already been in contact with a UF professor who might be able to serve as your adviser during the fellowship, include his/her name in your statement.
- Two letters of recommendation from your home institution or university.
Additional Information
Information on the Internet
UF’s Amazon Conservation Leadership Initiative’s website is: http://www.tropicalforests.ufl.edu/acli. Applicants can learn more about TCD and SFRC by reviewing their web sites at: http://www.latam.ufl.edu/tcd and http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu.
UF Academic Calendar
The fall semester at UF begins in mid-August and runs until through mid-December, while the spring semester begins the first week of January and runs through April. Most faculty and students are away from the university during the months of May, June, July, and August. Few classes are offered on campus during these months. English language study at the UF English Language Institute (http://www.eli.ufl.edu) is offered throughout the year, with sessions starting in January, March, May, June, August, and October. Applicants are encouraged to start their visiting fellowship program in either August or January. If an intensive English class is necessary, applicants are encouraged to start this class in June or October.
UF Class Offerings
A TOEFL score of 213 (computer test) or 550 (paper test) is required to enroll in UF classes. fellowship recipients who meet this requirement will be allowed to enroll in up to two classes during their time at UF.
Classes to be offered during fall 2006 include Tropical Conservation and Development Research Design and Methods, Community Forest Management, Conservation Entrepreneurship, and Amazon Policy.
Classes to be offered during spring 2007 are likely to include Facilitation Skills for Adaptive Management, Tropical Forestry, and Land Use Land Cover Change.
Consult with Robert Buschbacher or Hannah Covert if you have particular interests in terms of coursework as many other classes will be offered each semester.
A field course on Tropical Forestry in the Eastern Amazon, Brazil will be offered in May 2006 and 2007 ( http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/Class/TropForField/).
Visas
Moore Visiting Fellows will be issued J-1 exchange visitor visas to enter the United States. Anyone with J-1 visa status who stays in the United States for longer than six months is unable to return to the United States as a J-1 exchange visitor until he/she has been physically absent from the country for 12 months. This restriction does not normally apply to exchange visitors who stay in the United States for six months or less.
Additional Questions
For additional information, contact:
Robert Buschbacher, Program Coordinator
Amazon Conservation Leadership Initiative
107 Mowry Road
telephone: 352-846-2831
e-mail: rbusch@ufl.edu
Hannah Covert, Associate Director
TCD Program
358 Grinter Hall
telephone: 392-6548, Ext. 825
e-mail: hcovert@latam.ufl.edu
Submission
Submit application materials by March 27, 2006 at 4:30 p.m. to:
TCD Program
University of Florida
304 Grinter Hall
PO Box 115531
Gainesville, FL 32611-5531 USA
Telephone: 352-392-6548
Fax: 352-392-0085
Application materials can be sent by mail, e-mail or fax. E-mail submissions should be sent to Victoria Gomez de la Torre at vika@latam.ufl.edu with “Moore Fellowship Application” as the subject line. Recommendation letters must be sent directly by the recommenders or can be sent in individually sealed envelopes with the other application materials.
Application forms are available online at: http://www.latam.ufl.edu/tcd/moorenondegree.html or http://www.tropicalforests.ufl.edu/acli.
