NatureNet Science Fellows Program

The next call for applications for the 2021 cohort of NatureNet Fellows will open October 19th, 2020 and close January 1st, 2021. Please sign up for the NatureNet mailing list (on the right) to stay up to date on notifications.

Applicants must select from and align their proposal with one project from the TNC priority project list.

Program Overview and Goals

  • The Conservancy’s NatureNet Science Fellowship operates on the principle that – to address the scope and scale of these environmental challenges – TNC needs to foster a new generation of interdisciplinary conservation science leaders.
  • In many ways, the world of conservation science has changed more in the last 15 years than it has in the previous 30. The 21st century is a new world for a movement once focused primarily on protecting the last, best places on Earth.
  • Now it’s a movement building on the work that has gone before to protect the health and function of the lands and waters we all depend on, while meeting increasing needs for food, water and energy without exacerbating global climate change and the loss of biodiversity.
  • At a time when many scientists are trained to enter academia or industry, NatureNet is a unique opportunity for TNC to leverage this traditional academic pathway to attract scientists with diverse backgrounds and introduce them to how their experiences and expertise can have real conservation impact.
  • NatureNet is also an opportunity for TNC to add new brands of science – science the blends ecology, biology, and natural resource management with climatology, physics, economics, business, chemistry, and engineering to insure we are conducting the best analyses for rapid testing and deployment of conservation solutions.

Applied Science for Lasting Conservation Results

  • Now in its sixth year, the NatureNet Science Fellowship awards 2-year fellowships to promising early career scientists. Each fellow is jointly mentored by a Conservancy field practitioner and a senior scholar from a university or accredited research institution on a project with direct application to specific TNC priorities and goals.
  • The fellowship provides TNC an unparalleled incubator for rapidly developing evidence-based conservation strategies for application to real challenges around the world. The program also offers valuable professional development and networking opportunities to fellows setting a strong foundation for building lasting relationships with former fellows as they pursue their science careers at TNC or in academia, government agencies, or at other NGOs.
  • NatureNet Science Fellows gain experience, test theories in the field, and further their careers at the forefront of conservation science. TNC is also able to make a wider connection to universities that often leads to opportunities for collaboration well outside the NatureNet Science Fellowship program itself.
  • Additionally, the Conservancy’s commitment to working at all levels of applied conservation, from science and research to community engagement and policy implementation, means fellows can also tap the organization’s global networks and reach decision-makers in a matter of days instead of months or years.

Program Contacts

Dawn O’Neal, Ph.D. , Director of Strategic Initiatives and the Program Director for NatureNet Science Fellows provides leadership for Global Science’s programs and activities that support the strengthening of TNC’s scientific community, with an eye towards increasing the diversity of scientists.

Kassie Morton, Project Manager for the Global Science program, provides project management support for several collaborative Global Science initiatives and coordinates Global Science university partnerships. This includes efforts to broaden TNCs reach within the scientific community through collaborative, solutions-driven partnerships on scientific and policy research.

Email naturenetscience@tnc.org with questions.