The Center for Plant Conservation is excited to announce a 12-week paid summer fellowship opportunity for early career investigators eager to gain experience in biodiversity informatics in a conservation nonprofit setting. The CPC summer fellow will be under the supervision of CPC’s Vice President of Science and Conservation, Dr. Katie Heineman to develop an independent research project leveraging the data assets associated with CPC’s National Collection of endangered plants. Through this project, the fellow will receive training in the compilation and analysis of conservation data from multiple data sources and will have the opportunity to create a new data resource or analysis that benefits the conservation community.

About the Center for Plant Conservation

The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is a one-of-a-kind network of conservation partners, collectively known as CPC Participating Institutions (PIs; now including more than 65 institutions), that collaboratively work to save the imperiled plants of the United States throughout their native range. The CPC National Office is headquartered at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, California.

Possible Topics:

·      Identifying spatial analysis and phylogenetic patterns in the plant species represented in conservation seed collections at botanical gardens

·      Adding literature observations and analyzing patterns of endangered plant reintroduction success for CPC’s registry of rare plant reintroductions

·      Cross reference publicly available pollinator abundance data with pollinators identified in CPC’s Pollinators of Rare Plants Database to identify rare plants with declining reproductive symbionts.

Eligibility:

·      Undergraduate students currently enrolled at a four-year college or university

·      Recent graduates of a four-year university, who have completed coursework within the past 12 months

Preferred Qualifications

·      400-level coursework in biology or botany

·      Proficiency with Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel

·      Familiarity through coursework or research with R or Python programming languages (or a strong interest in cultivating these skills)

·      Professional interest in careers in conservation biology

Fellowship Details & Expectations

The stipend for this fellowship is $7,200. Housing, travel, and transportation are not provided, therefore, we encourage the application of students already based in southern California. The fellowship duration will be 12-weeks during summer 2022 – however, the start date is flexible depending on the candidate’s academic schedule. The summer fellow will be expected to work 40 hours a week on the project throughout the 12-week period during normal business hours (Monday-Friday). The summer fellow will be asked to work onsite at the CPC National Office (adjacent to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, CA) during their initial training (one-two weeks) and two-days a week thereafter (pending office safety regulations at the time). Access to the internet and a personal computer during the fellowship period is a perquisite.

CPC follows all COVID protocols as required by San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, which are assessed and updated as conditions change.

Application Materials

·      Curriculum Vitae or resume detailing research experience, relevant coursework, and GPA

·      One letter of recommendation from professor, TA, or employer

·      One page cover letter outlining research interests and professional goals

Application Submission: Send application materials with the subject line “CPC Summer Fellowship” to info@saveplants.org by February 16th, 2022. Candidates will be contacted for a short follow up interview in the following week and applicants will be notified of acceptance status by March 4th, 2022