By Erika Zavaleta and Justin Cummings
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A huge opportunity for conservation is to better harness the passion, creativity and values of an increasingly diverse society. To address the challenge of the diversity gap in conservation and to serve up-and-coming leaders in the field, 2001 Smith Fellow Erika Zavaleta and Dr. Justin Cummings have initiated the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC). The Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, will provide two paid summers of training and internship to early-career undergraduates with potential to diversify the field, from any U.S. four-year institution. Current freshmen and sophomores can apply to the program until February 15, 2016 at http://conservationscholars.ucsc.edu/, and faculty and staff can nominate students directly.
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The UCSC Program joins four other Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program (DDCSP) sites at Northern Arizona University, University of Florida, University of Michigan, and University of Washington to prepare early career undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds for transformative careers in conservation. Smith Fellows play a strong role in this effort, with Josh Lawler leading the University of Washington DDCSP and Clare Aslan and Brett Dickson mentoring Scholars in the Northern Arizona University program. Smith Fellows Kiki Jenkins and Oliver Pergams and Smith Program Director Michael Dombeck serve on the advisory board of the UCSC Doris Duke program.
Each program is unique in its approach. The UCSC builds on its long-established field education programs in conservation. Each year, 20 students from around the U.S. and its territories get hands-on field research experience in conservation while traveling with a close group of peers and mentors, and professional development and leadership training. In their second summers, they receive on-the-job training as interns with nationally recognized conservation organizations and agencies. The program covers all expenses and provides Scholars a $4000 stipend each summer. Scholars who successfully finish the program become part of a growing national professional network of Doris Duke Conservation Scholars.