Apply Now: USFS Native American Research Assistantship

The Wildlife Society, alongside the U.S. Forest Service, a Premier Partner of TWS, has announced new Native American Research Assistantships for 2019.

This is the fifth year for the professional development program, which facilitates opportunities for Native American students to be mentored by USFS Research & Development (R&D) scientists and promotes student advancement and training for careers in natural resource and conservation-related fields. Assistantship participants aid and learn about the USFS’ ecological science-based approach to decision-making and balancing multiple-use management of national forests and grasslands.

Assistantships are available for Native American students interested in wildlife and forest resource research and management. Students will learn and work with an interdisciplinary team of researchers with the USFS during 2019. Applicants must be a member of an American Indian or Alaska Native tribe, First Nations or a Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or have some other indigenous identification, and be currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program from an accredited academic institution. Pursuit of a bachelor’s or master’s degree in wildlife biology, ecology, forestry or other closely related natural resource discipline is preferred. Students with related associate’s degrees from tribal colleges and universities or other community colleges will be also be considered.

Zintkala Eiring, a research assistant in the 2018 Native American Research Assistantship program, conducts a black-backed woodpecker survey in the Black Hills. ©Brian Dickerson

Research projects potentially available for 2019 assistantships include:

1. Assessment of camera trap surveys to estimate wild pig and white-tailed deer density
2. Bat surveys and Greater sage-grouse vegetation studies in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland of South Dakota
3. Bioacoustic surveys for owls in the coast range of Oregon
4. Evaluating restoration treatments to promote flora and fauna important to the Washoe Tribe

The appointments vary from 3 to 5 months within the 2019 calendar year, depending on the project. Only a limited number of projects may be funded and assistantship placement is dependent on a suitable student/mentor match. Starting dates are generally negotiable within the context of the seasonality of the research topics.

For more information, including project objectives, locations, duration, and instructions on how to apply please download an application form. The deadline for applications is November 5, 2018.

The USFS is a Premier Partner of TWS.