Seeking Summer Scholars

Scholarship for an NSF project on human-environment dynamics in golden monkey habitat, China

Two undergraduate students are sought for a summer scholar program as part of the interdisciplinary project “CNH: Sustainability of Payments for Ecosystem Services in Coupled Natural and Human Systems”, which is newly funded by NSF (PI: Dr. Li An, Department of Geography, San Diego State University). The positions will include 3 weeks of field work in the summer of 2014 within Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve, China. As the only remaining habitat for the Guizhou golden monkey, the reserve is a high priority conservation area as well a location with a long history of human activity that is experiencing drastic social and environmental changes. Depending on interest and experience, the selected summer scholars will concentrate on one or more areas of data collection and analysis: vegetation sampling, camera trapping, movie production, household interviews, and/or participatory mapping in Fanjingshan and the surrounding area. The summer scholars will work with undergraduate and graduate students and faculty from several departments at San Diego State University, receiving not only training for all relevant field activities, but also experience in international field work and practical data collection in their area of interest. All expenses will be covered by the project. Upon return, the summer scholars are expected to write a ten-page (single space) report summarizing field experiences, lessons learned, and the potential impact of this summer scholar experience on each scholar’s future career.
Applicants should be current or incoming undergraduate students of San Diego State University and have some coursework or experience in geography, biology, sociology, demography, or related disciplines. Chinese language ability is encouraged but not required. Students should be comfortable with working as part of a collaborative project with researchers from a range of backgrounds, have excellent interpersonal and writing skills, and possess a willingness to work in a variety of international and disciplinary contexts. To apply, send the following items to Dr. Li An (lan@mail.sdsu.edu) by February 14, 2014: 1) 2-page resume, 2) 2-page statement summarizing your interest in this position, and 3) unofficial transcripts.  Please send everything as one pdf file using file name “last-name_2014-summer_scholar.pdf”. We will start the selection process on February 15th, 2014 and notify applicants with final decisions within 2 weeks or so.

The map of FNNR:
Golden Monkey: