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NSF IGERT Training Program in Population and Environment

With support from an NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) training grant, CPC's interdisciplinary program in Population and Environment is led by Barbara Entwisle, CPC Center Director and Kenan Professor of Sociology. Also involved with the program are CPC Faculty Fellows: While the IGERT program in Population and Environment is based at the CPC, it also involves collaboration with UNC's Curriculum in Ecology and Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.

The grant funds a population and environment training program for doctoral students with the goal of scientific integration across the social, natural, and spatial sciences. Major research themes include deforestation, agricultural extensification, land fragmentation, intensification, soil degradation, secondary plant succession, and urbanization. CPC's IGERT training program is international in focus, with particular attention to population and land use in developing countries, specifically Bangladesh, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Nepal, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Thailand.

Program Elements

  • Formal course work
    • Four approved population courses, including Sociology 830 and 831 (two-course demographic methods sequence)
    • Two courses in spatial methods
    • Two-course ecology sequence
  • Research apprenticeship on a population, land use, and environment project
  • Interdisciplinary seminar: "Population, Land Use and Environment"
  • International field experience
  • Seminars and workshops
  • Ethics training
Eligibility

 

  • Any interested Ph.D. student accepted into or enrolled in a UNC-CH PhD program is eligible for an IGERT traineeship; a Ph.D. student can be an IGERT trainee without receiving a CPC stipend.
  • NSF stipends are restricted to US citizens/Permanent Residents.
  • IGERT trainees are eligible for stipends for the first four years of a graduate study at UNC-CH.
  • Trainees are funded one year at a time (i.e., no multi-year wards).
Review Procedures

 

  • Current and prospective IGERT trainees will be reviewed annually.
  • The review is conducted by the CPC Training Committee.
  • Evaluation is based on GRE scores, transcripts, departmental evaluations, trainee statements, faculty evaluations, and ratings of contribution (for current trainees) to the CPC intellectual community provided by the Training Coordinator.
Application Instructions

 

  • Follow the standard CPC application instructions for:
  • Submit a 1-2 page proposal with the training application describing the proposed IGERT research apprenticeship.
  • Request an endorsement letter from a participating CPC IGERT faculty member.
Please contact Jan Hendrickson-Smith (jhsmith@unc.edu; 919.966.2160), CPC Training Program Coordinator, with questions concerning the program.