About Us

Thank you for your interest in the Rachel Carson Council Fellowship program. The Rachel Carson Council is a national environmental advocacy organization founded in 1965 to carry on the work and legacy of Rachel Carson. We promote Carson’s ecological ethic that combines scientific concern for the environment and human health with a sense of wonder and reverence for all forms of life in order to build a more sustainable, just and peaceful future.

The Rachel Carson Council (RCC) educates, organizes and advocates at the national, state and grassroots level for climate and environmental justice, renewable energy, forest and ocean protection, for the advancement of civil and human rights and American democracy.

About the RCC Fellowship Program

The RCC Fellowship Program is designed to identify outstanding students with a passion for environmental education, organizing and advocacy and provide them with financial support to carry out valuable projects or campaigns on behalf of the RCC. As a part of the program, students propose projects focused on sustainability and environmental justice that they wish to carry out on their campus or in their community. If accepted into the program, students will be supported over the course of the school year with mentorship from RCC staff and be given the opportunity to publish writings about their work.

RCC Fellows become leaders and active participants in the RCC’s national campus program with over 5,000 active faculty, students, staff and administrators at 57 campuses. As part of the RCC team, Fellows also help build RCC’s network of active students and faculty and publish and speak on behalf of a respected national organization.

RCC Fellows receive a $2,000 stipend for their work during the academic year and attend a 2–3-day summer training program with their cohort hosted by RCC staff to sharpen their writing, advocacy and organizing skills. RCC Fellows will also develop critical contacts and experience, joining an RCC alumni network as they look forward to careers as engaged environmental leaders.

Read about our current fellows here.

How it works

If accepted into the program, RCC Fellows will work with RCC staff during the Summer Intensive Training to develop a work plan for the year. After that, Fellows will participate in monthly check-in calls with RCC and produce one media deliverable per month.

About the Application

The application process is simple. In three pages or less, tell us what issue you are passionate about and what your idea or plan is to address it. This is basically a project proposal. However, in addition to learning about your issue and your plan, we are interested in your background in environmental work, how the fellowship program will benefit you, why you feel deeply about your issue, and how it benefit the goals of the Rachel Carson Council.

In addition to the project proposal, students will also submit a resume and a letter of reference from a professor or faculty member from their campus.

Starting a divestment campaign on your campus? Resisting pipelines in your community? Developing an organic garen in your neighborhood? RCC wants to work with you!

Your proposal will be strengthened by reviewing the RCC web site and especially the work and writing of previous RCC Fellows from 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. Your project will grow out of the unique circumstances of your own college or university but is likely to use techniques and tactics like those used elsewhere. We value creative approaches to environmental and justice issues, but also hope your project may stimulate similar ones and be replicable at other colleges even if tailored to meet their own unique circumstances. Projects can and have involved organizing campaigns on divestment and reinvestment, lobbying on coastal and ocean protection; the arts and communications such a series of podcasts on factory farms, curriculum development, community engagement, climate and environmental organizing and network building with Black, and LGBT+ communities; and campus sustainability construction and education for solar installations, campus and community organic gardens, food pantries, and food insecurity.

Need some inspiration? Read about our current fellows here.