Earth Island Fellowship for University Students
New Leaders Initiative provides programming for young environmental leaders, to encourage them further to pursue their environmental ideas and projects. This part of our programming is both local and nationwide. Beginning in 2018, we have an annual Earth Island Fellowship for local university students who are interested in program management, research and producing real life deliverables for a client organization. To learn more about how to become a university fellow for the next cycle, email mona@earthisland.org.
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The 2021 Earth Island fellowship client organization is Women’s Earth Alliance. This undergraduate fellowship focuses on developing a body of work analyzing the critical intersections of climate, gender, and racial justice in the United States. What work is being done in this under-researched area, which grassroots groups or movements are at the helm of such efforts, and why is this intersectional lens necessary in addressing the climate crisis? These are the central questions of the Climate, Gender, and Racial Justice in the U.S. project. Documenting the impacts of climate, gender and racial injustices in the U.S. and the work being done at this intersection is the central goal of this research project.
2021 Earth Island/Women’s Earth Alliance Fellows
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The 2020 client was Green Schoolyards America. Each of the fellows were selected from a competitive pool of applicants for their skills and high level understanding of environmental design and social issues affecting children’s physical and mental health. The 6 fellows were split into two teams, a “book” team and a “mapping” team. The book team was tasked with updating material for an activity guide. The map team was tasked with creating maps detailing tree coverage on school playgrounds in Northern and Southern California.
2020 Earth Island/Green Schoolyards America Fellows
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The 2019 client was Sacred Land Film Project. Students were tasked with researching World Bank statistics about biodiversity and indigenous populations. Students also compiled case studies of indigenous communities that had cultural protections of biodiversity in place. They also provided policy recommendations that cite international agreements that protect indigenous peoples right to their ancestral environments.
2019 Earth Island/Sacred Land Film Project Fellows
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The 2018 client was Washington D.C.-based organization, Forest Trends. The fellowship focused on market driven and carbon based solutions to forest resource conflicts.
2018 Earth Island/Forest Trends Fellows
Micro Grants for Environmental Projects
Our program also includes a micro grant program, the John Goddard Prize, that is strategically awarded as a cash prize to grow ambitious youth-led environmental initiatives nationwide. The Goddard Prize will be awarded multiple times a year to enterprising young people who are pursuing environmental projects, and who are looking for funding to bring their ideas to the next level. You can access the application here.