Undergraduates!
There is an exciting opportunity for student paleoanthropology fieldwork experience in the summer of 2015. A research group at the University of Alabama recently received a NSF International Research Experience for Students grant, which allows them to offer 7 fully-funded fellowships for participation in the Koobi Fora Field School in Kenya. During the six-week field program, students receive a broad background and hands-on training in a variety of natural history disciplines including geology, ecology, archaeology, anatomy, paleontology, and osteology, and work closely with leading paleoanthropologists to design and carry out an independent, fieldwork-based research project. After the field season ends, fellowship winners will participate in a research and outreach workshop at the Smithsonian Institution in November of 2015, where they present their research to the public, their peers, and prominent human origins scholars.
The fellowship covers the cost of the Koobi Fora Field School, airfare to Kenya, and includes a $3000 stipend for living expenses and participation in the research and training workshop.
The application is open to all US citizens over the age of 18, but is geared toward undergraduates or early-stage graduate students. The research group is also particularly interested in recruiting students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the STEM fields.
More information about the program and the application are available here: https://cashp.columbian.gwu.edu/koobi-fora-field-school. They will award fellowships in two rounds. The first round of awards includes applications that are complete by December 15, 2014, and the second round includes all applications that are complete by March 1, 2015.
Attached is a promotional flier that explains the Koobi Fora Field School and the fellowships in more detail.
Feel free to contact Steve Merritt with any questions (stmerr@uab.edu).