MULTIDISCIPLINARY TRAINING ON INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES AND NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION SCIENCES
The India Natural Resource Management Field Course is a 10-day intensive field course in India offering Native American and Indian undergraduate students hands-on, multidisciplinary research training and cross-cultural learning opportunities in biodiversity and natural resource conservation sciences. Travel is planned for December 29, 2024 through January 10, 2025. The program is fully funded, including all expenses for travel, lodging, and a $800 stipend for food and incidentals. Passport fees are not covered.
The course addresses complex challenges in biodiversity conservation by integrating Indigenous ways of knowing with western science. This program offers a global perspective and opportunities for professional growth through international collaborative research training, mentoring, and networking in the field of natural resource conservation. Course themes are grounded in social-ecological systems thinking, with dual emphasis on social and biophysical sciences, and include Indigenous and participatory perspectives on conservation, conservation biology, landscape ecology, ecological restoration, and wildlife management.
Students will build competencies in these themes in an international context through field experiences offered by the unique research facilities and field sites available through partner institutions, such as the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), a global leader in community-governed ecological restoration and management and natural resource conservation sciences. In addition to field-based learning, a core element of the program is cultural exchange with 10 graduate student peers from India.
The Indian NRM Field Course will be a multicultural, dynamic learning experience designed to train students to conduct multidisciplinary research, building a network of young professionals who will be at the forefront of world conservation and biodiversity management sciences.
This program is funded by the U.S. Forest Service International Programs and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and is implemented through a collaboration between the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation and the College of Humanities and Sciences.