Graduate Fellowship in Climate Equity

Administered by: The Rausser College of Natural Resources 

ONLY students who have advanced to candidacy are eligible for this fellowship. Non US residents are eligible to apply. Eligible students may come from the colleges (departments) participating in the climate equity cluster hire including: College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; College of Environmental Design; College of Letters and Science, Social Science Division; Rausser College of Natural Resources; as well as the School of Public Health and graduate students whose scholarship meets the defined purpose and criteria.

The Rausser College of Natural Resources is pleased to announce the call for the spring 2024 applications to the Katherine and James Lau Fellowship.

The fellowship will support doctoral students pursuing climate equity and/or environmental justice research with an emphasis on ameliorating the impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations and addressing root causes of inequality.

Applications may request support for summer research 2024 in this spring call. Selection will focus on research that is interdisciplinary in nature and community-based. We encourage applicants to describe how will they will work with a community partner, or partners in a public agency; if applicants have not already developed such a partnership, we expect them to explain how they will do so with the help of this grant as well as how the partnership is critical to addressing the research question(s). Proposals may demonstrate work on the ground and should clearly explain the expected pathway for impact and scaling solutions. Priority will be given to students who are actively conducting fieldwork or planning to conduct field work.

We are particularly interested in projects that touch on the following broad themes related to climate equity:

• Social equity, decarbonization, and environmental sustainability — Climate change involves inequities related to food security and sovereignty, the energy transition, transportation, building systems, access to natural resources, biodiversity loss, energy production and use, water access, water and air quality, land use and scarcity, human health, and maintaining equitable and sustainable living conditions. Solutions to these challenges require multidisciplinary and publicly engaged research at local, national and global scales.
• Adaptation design and planning for climate justice — Design of climate change adaptation and resilience must be place-based, making inclusive planning and local/regional governance strategies critically important. Developing proactive, equity-focused strategies in this area calls upon engineering, design, planning, regulation, investment, construction, governance, and implementation of adaptation strategies, infrastructures, and resilient community-building.
• Climate refugees and forced migration — Due to rising sea level, wildfire, and drought, climate change is causing forced migration from disappearing or unlivable land. These national and global developments call urgently for study of the social and economic effects of climate change migration in rural, urban, and refugee communities and their impacts on democracy, inclusion, and inequality around the world — and for policy and concerted action at all levels to address these effects.

SPECIAL NOTE:
We are prioritizing applicants who have never before received Lau Fellowship funding.

For this spring 2024 call, the Lau Fellowship will support summer research fellowships. Awards may not exceed $10,000.

To apply for funding, candidates should submit the following:

1. A proposal (≤1500 words) that includes a statement of the objectives and expected significance of the dissertation research and how the fellowship would enhance the research and advance the student’s progress on their project (including deliverables). Please also include a description of the community-engaged element of the project—the identity of the community partner organization or public agency, or plan to develop some kind of partnership—as well as a discussion of the methods proposed, and a brief description of how the research fits into your dissertation.
    
2. Your proposal should include:
   • ​summary
   • background
   • research objectives
   • proposed activities
   • expected impact
   • community partnership(s)
   • deliverables and timelines
      
3. The narrative must be accompanied by a budget. If you have specific questions about the budget please be in contact with Assistant Dean of Finance and Administration, RCNR, Lee Borrowman at ltaj@berkeley.edu
   
   SPECIAL NOTE:
   Travel advances may be possible to cover in-county expenses for international projects/research. Unfortunately, gift funds cannot be regranted to a third party, e.g., an NGO on the ground you may be working with on your research project.  If you have questions about allowable expenses in your budget please reach out to Lee Borrowman, Assistant Dean of Administration, Rausser College of Natural Resources, at ltaj@berkeley.edu PRIOR to submission and cc the chair of the committee, Professor Kara L. Nelson, Blum Chancellor's Chair in Development Engineering at karanelson@berkeley.edu.
    
4. The graduate student’s faculty advisor must approve the budget and proposal submission – by checking the box you attest that you have reviewed your proposal and budget with your advisor.
    
5. Announcements of awards will be made on March 18, and your Advanced to Candidacy paperwork must be submitted by then, if you haven’t submitted it sooner. To qualify for an award you must show proof of your ATC.
    
6. Questions should be directed to the committee chair.

The number of awards will depend on the number of applications and budget requests. Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Interdisciplinary focus
• Community orientation
• Fit with at least one of the priority themes
• Degree of research impact and significance
• Budget commensurate with activities proposed

Applicants for the Katherine S. and James K. Lau Graduate Fellowship in Climate Equity should submit their materials NO LATER than February 26, 2024  through the "Apply Now" button above. Questions may be directed to committee chair, Kara L. Nelson.

Committee Chair:

Kara L. Nelson, Professor; Blum Chancellor's Chair in Development Engineering, Development Engineering Graduate Group Program Leader, Environmental Engineering Graduate Program Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, UCB – karanelson@berkeley.edu

Other member of the committee: 

Alastair Iles, Professor, Sustainability Transitions, & Chair, Divison of Society and Environment, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, Rausser College, UCB – iles@berkeley.edu

Laura H. Kwong, Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, UCB – lakwong@berkeley.edu

Fellowship recipients will be expected to work with the College Relations office in Rausser College to submit a thank you letter and a simple report sharing how the support helped to advance your scholarship. This will take place in the fall of 2024 and awardees will receive an email request.

Awardees may also be asked to give a short presentation in a symposium with the donors and the climate equity and/or environmental justice research community. Fellowship recipients should also acknowledge this funding support in future publications and presentations.