Fellowships and Internships

The Eco Fellows Program trains environmental leaders who will forge new solutions—solutions that are ambitious, audacious, aesthetic, and attainable. In this interdisciplinary program, students develop knowledge of environmental science, political ecology, environmental sociology, ecological movements, sustainable agriculture, environmental justice, eco-criticism, and environmental psychology. In the first year of the program, students investigate global environmental governance, with a specific investigation of interwoven landscapes. In the following years of the program, students explore environmental injustice with a focus on the intersection between colonialism, marginalization, and nature in New York City and develop an interdisciplinary thesis project. Thesis projects align with students’ unique interests. Past projects have included launching nonprofit and for-profit organizations, art installations, podcasts, and scholarly papers.

Students begin this program in tenth or eleventh grade and finish in the spring of twelfth grade. Students set their own path and create their own curriculum. The first year of the program is dedicated to students identifying their topic of research and conducting an extensive review of the scientific literature on that topic. During the school year, juniors and seniors continue their research, analyze their data, share their results with their classmates, and mentor students new to the program. In the final year, students enter local, state, and national science competitions while creating a final paper and presentation that documents the entire experience. During all three years, students share their ongoing research with each other, as a community of researchers, through formal presentations during regular class meetings.