Earn 2,500 for summer course and internship plus free housing

[Professor]

Field Environmental Biology Program for Native American Students
offered by University of Notre Dame with Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes (endorsed by Montana and Wyoming Tribal Leaders
Council)

Tuition, housing and travel paid for… 6 credits/summer…and get paid
$2,500/summer!!

First summer 9-10 weeks: UNDERC-East, a Northwoods site in the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan

Second summer 9-10 weeks: on the Flathead Reservation in western
Montana (UNDERC-West)

The purpose of this program is to promote an understanding of field-
oriented environmental biology and how field research is conducted.
The program helps to prepare Native American students for advanced
studies in environmental biology, so they can better manage biological
resources on their lands. Also, the program promotes understanding of
Native American attitudes towards the environment in non-Native
American students interested in the environment, so they can
incorporate these cultural insights into better management. These
goals are achieved through interactions with the Confederated Salish
and Kootenai tribal cultural preservation and natural resource
departments, the Lac du Flambeau natural resource department, the
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and through dialogue
and collaboration between students enrolled in the program.

Eligibility:
• Native American descent
• Minimum of Sophomore standing in an accredited college
• Planning to obtain a 4-year degree in the environmental sciences
• Admission based on past academic performance and statement of
purpose.

Program description:
The program spans two academic years.
• First year: UNDERC-East runs for a 9 – 10 week period (late May-
late July). The UNDERC-East site encompasses more than 7500 acres with
abundant wildlife (including wolves, black bear, deer, and fisher) and
includes 30 lakes, several streams, wetlands, and northern forests
that have been protected for nearly a century in the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan. The summer course at UNDERC-East includes modules on bird/
mammal ecology, amphibian/reptile ecology, insect ecology, aquatic
ecology and forest ecology. Furthermore, each student is expected to
design and complete an independent field research project under the
direction and assistance of a faculty member or graduate student.
Project topics have ranged from fish and small mammal ecology to
forest ecology and local Native American plant use.

• Second year: UNDERC-West also runs for a 9 – 10 week period (June –
mid August). The UNDERC-West site encompasses more than a million
acres with abundant wildlife (including bison, elk, mountain lion, and
grizzly bear) and includes grasslands, montane forests, streams and
lakes on the Flathead Reservation in Montana and associated tribal
lands. Modules for West include a geologic and environmental history
survey during the trip west, wildlife and grassland ecology, mountain
ecology, stream ecology and Native American ecology. Again, an
independent research project is conducted by each student in
collaboration with a faculty advisor and when necessary, the CSKT
Department of Natural Resources. Project topics have ranged from fish
and wildlife habitat relationships to invasive plants.

Applications are available online (http://underc.nd.edu) or outside
Room 097, Galvin. Further information can be obtained at the UNDERC
website (http://underc.nd.edu), from Dr. Michael Cramer, UNDERC-East
Assistant Director (mcr...@nd.edu) or Dr. Page Klug, UNDERC-West
Assistant Director (pk...@nd.edu). Application deadline is Friday,
November 5, 2010 and notification of acceptance will be provided by
Friday, December 4, 2010.

Applicants are expected to be present for the duration of course.
ON CAMPUS:
UNDERC
DEPT. OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
P.O. BOX 369
NOTRE DAME, IN
46556-0369
PHONE: 574-631-7186
FAX: 574-631-0856
FIELD STATION:
UNDERC
7645 Notre Dame Lane
LAND O’ LAKES, WI 54540
PHONE: 906-842-8633
FAX: 906-842-2311
und...@nd.edu
http://underc.nd.edu