Rachel C. Smith - Academics

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Updated with successful 2011 applications! Thank you and congrats to the new fellows.

The National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program is one of the best fellowships available for many graduate students in the Environmental Sciences. Annually awarding approximately 1,000 fellowships to graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the NSF provides three years of generous funding that is largely undirected.

A former reviewer for the NSF says, "We fund the researcher, not the research." This flexibility means that first-year grad students should not panic at the idea that you need to decide what your research topic will be by November 1st (the deadline for my program, in my year). Rather, it means that you need to come up with a plausible research project and confidently articulate it in your application by November.

A frustrating aspect of applying for the NSF for many of the grad students in my cohort in the department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management was that we didn't know what a successful application looked like. UC Berkeley's graduate fellowship office has a thick binder of past successful applications that appear to date back to the mimeograph machine, but few of them deal with environmental issues, and the binder can be examined only in the fellowship office.

Here you'll find a selection of recent successful applications for the NSF from students in the Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management in the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley as well as several external schools, provided as a resource to help other students approach the application-writing process. You can also check out some of the rating sheets filled out by the three reviewers who evaluate each application.

In order to apply for the NSF, you must go through the Fast Lane site, which collects all of your documents and allows you to follow your application through the process ending in submission prior to the online deadline.

Sample Applications from (mostly) Berkeley grad students on NSFs. ALL materials are property of the original author and can not be reproduced or copied without permission.

Combining Connectivity Science and Species Viability for Protected Area Network Design

Protected Area Network Design Proposed Research
Protected Area Network Design Rating Sheet 1
Protected Area Network Design Rating Sheet 2
Protected Area Network Design Rating Sheet 3

Impact of Anthropogenic Disturbances on the Relationship Between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Anthropogenic Disturbances Proposed Research
Anthropogenic Disturbances Previous Research Experience
Anthropogenic Disturbances Rating Sheets

Seasonal Migration Within Aseasonal Tropical Rainforests

Seasonal Migration Proposed Research
Seasonal Migration Research Experience
Seasonal Migration Personal Statement

Bee Reproductive Success

Bee Reproductive Success Research Proposal
Bee Reproductive Success Previous Research Experience
Bee Reproductive Success Personal Statement
Bee Reproductive Success Rating Sheets

Archaeology - Alliance Formation in Pueblo Tribes

Archaeology - Alliance Formation in Pueblo Tribes Research Proposal
Archaeology - Alliance Formation in Pueblo Tribes Previous Research Experience
Archaeology - Alliance Formation in Pueblo Tribes Personal Statement
Archaeology - Alliance Formation in Pueblo Tribes Rating Sheets

Below and Above-Ground Carbon Sequestration in Quaking Aspen

Carbon Sequestration Aspen Research Proposal
Carbon Sequestration Aspen Previous Research Experience
CarbonSequestration Aspen Personal Statement
CarbonSequestration Aspen Rating Sheets