Application Logistics:
➣ Is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) eligible to apply? Yes.
➣ Are there page limits for the mentor letters, reference letters, cover letter, or applicant’s CV? There are no page length limits for the mentor letters, reference letters, cover letter, or CV. Around 2 pages tends to be typical for the letters.
➣ Is it acceptable to have a letter of recommendation and a mentor letter of commitment written by the same individual? Yes, however we encourage applicants to have different people write the letters so that the reviewers have broader input to consider.
➣ How do you approach a conversation about being “housed” at a host institution? It is important to have this conversation early since it can be different with different institutions. In most cases, it starts out with an email to a prospective mentor explaining the proposed project and what it would entail, and following that with a meeting to discuss in more depth. The prospective mentor will have to provide a letter indicating that they’re willing to support you and your needs if you receive the fellowship.
➣ I have more than one practitioner mentor in my proposed work. Is there any suggestions for how I should have them essentially "co-write" a single letter? It is very common for people to have multiple academic and/or practitioner mentors. In those cases, it’s common to have a ‘primary’ for each, who writes the letter, but if they know and work with each other, they could also easily co-write a letter.
➣ What is the scope of the Fellowship? Conservation science is broad! So long as you can make the case for why your work will help solve a conservation problem, a project is eligible.
Mentor Questions:
➣ Can I select a mentor that I’m already working with or have worked with in the past? Yes - There is no rule against selecting a mentor you already have a working relationship with. However we encourage a different direction (or a new element to it) for the work itself, rather than a continuation of the same project.
➣ Does an academic mentor have to be from an academic university? No - It is less about where the mentor is based and what sort of organization or institution they work for, but more about the nature of the support provided and the experience they have. The reviewers will be looking to see that your practitioner mentor is actually a practitioner, not an academic/researcher – that they can provide guidance around the application of the research to conservation management and/or policy. There are lots of researchers based at NGOs and agencies – Being based at a university or an NGO does not automatically make them a researcher or a practitioner. There are lots of scientists at universities doing applied work, and could certainly act as a practitioner mentor.
➣ Could both my academic and practitioner mentors be based at the same institution/organization? Theoretically they could both be from the same institution. What is essential is that it’s explicit why the proposed mentors are best suited to supporting you and your research. At least one should be more focused on research, while the other is focused on conservation application, management, policy etc. We also encourage you to select mentors from different organizations/institutions to encourage diversity of thought and application.
➣ Can I have a mentor outside of the U.S.? As long as the mentor with whom and where you are administratively based is within the U.S. and its 5 permanently inhabited territories, you can absolutely have additional mentors that are international.
➣ Is a mentor required to have a PhD? No, fellowship mentors are not required to have a PhD.
International Applicants:
➣ I am not currently based in the US – can I still apply? Yes - There are two eligibility requirements from the funders: 1. The funding must be administered by a U.S. institution and 2. The research must have primary relevance to conservation management or policy as it is practiced in the U.S and its 5 permanently inhabited territories: Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. The majority of the work must take place on site within these locations, including relevant local partnerships. So as part of the application process, the research you propose would have to relate to U.S. conservation, be based in the US and its territories, and you would need to propose partnerships with U.S. institutions – you need not be there already, but they would support you should you receive the fellowship.
➣ Do international postdocs get sponsored by the university they are based at or by the Fellowship? The Smith Fellows Program is not limited to U.S. citizens and has supported fellows from many different countries who were on many different types of visas. Because the Fellows are not employees of the Smith Fellows Program or SCB, the Program does not facilitate getting a visa. When you are deciding where to be administratively based, this would be a good question for that institution – typically (but not always) Universities are the best equipped to support getting a visa.
Research Questions:
➣ Are global research projects eligible? The Smith Fellow Program has certainly supported fellows’ research that was global in scope (i.e. big marine projects, international wildlife trade) – what is key about these projects and what’s required in order to be eligible, is that the research has strong implications and relevance for US conservation, and that the majority of the research takes place within the U.S. and its 5 permanently inhabited territories. It is also fine to have international collaborators, but you should make very clear in the proposal how your research will be applied to US conservation management and/or policy.
➣ My project is based outside of the US but could have relevance to US conservation management and/or policy - is my project eligible? It is a requirement of the funders that Smith Fellows’ research primarily take place in the United States and have relevance to US conservation management and/or policy. While it’s permissible for some portions of the research to take place outside the US, a project that primarily took place outside the US would not be eligible.
➣ Are there any specific areas of interest for project proposals? While there are no areas of specific interest, the key to a successful proposal is that the research proposed is novel – it is new, hasn’t been done before (or is less known), is potentially a bit risky, is grounded in conservation application to management and/or policy, and is solutions-oriented: filling a knowledge gap and potentially will make a real difference.
➣ Does the proposed research have to be independent from any currently funded research? While there is no explicit requirement that Smith Fellowship proposals be independent of other funded research, we encourage independent work (eg. if it is a part of a larger project it is a separate part of that) and to be successful your proposal should demonstrate that the ideas are novel and your own, and a clear plan for accomplishing the stated research goals during the two-year fellowship.
➣ Is it sufficient that the outcomes of my research would inform managers/policymakers and may subsequently cause management/policy actions, but that it isn’t an active component of the proposed work itself? The Smith Fellowship is intended to support applied conservation research, where the management and/or policy implications are integrated into the work itself and the stakeholders are involved from the onset.
➣ Is a project with a social science focus eligible? We encourage the inclusion of a human dimension element (and we also accept proposals that are primarily human dimension and social science proposals) - outreach and citizen science, human dimension research, and equity and justice based work. If you are a natural science researcher, and wish to include a human dimension, we strongly encourage you to have a social scientist on your mentor team.
➣ Can I do fieldwork in multiple areas? Yes, we have had Fellows do that before. It’s about making sure you can make the case that your project is doable within the two-year timeframe and that you have the right logistics and necessary contacts in each location.
Fellowship Questions:
➣ Do Fellows receive benefits? Fellows receive the full benefits rate for postdocs at their chosen host institution/organization, and are subject to the specific policies and benefits offered by their host institutions.
➣ Do Smith retreats come out of Fellows funding? No, program retreats are fully covered by the program separate from the Fellowship award funds.
➣ Are Fellows required to write anything up at the end of the program (document papers produced, conservation products, etc.)? Smith does annual site visits and Fellows are expected to write two annual reports.
➣ Does institutional overhead come out of Fellows funds? No, indirect costs are paid for by the program, it does not come out of the Fellows funding.
➣ Is the professor the PI or the Fellow? The Fellow is the PI– a professor may be listed as the PI on paper for administrative reasons at some institutions, but as a Smith Fellow, it's your research. The project is directed by the Fellow.
➣ Have any Smith Fellows been parents? Any comments about the ability to do the fellowship with a family? Yes! The program has supported a number of parents (including those who became new parents during their Smith Fellowships) and supports Fellows at any stage they are in, including accommodating needed family members at retreats and allowing Fellows to pause their award timeline for family leave.