Resources for Students and ECRs
About This Page
This is a community-generated list of professional resources for students and early career researchers (ECRs). Resources include graduate school preview programs, fully-funded organismal biology MS programs, professional societies, and summer opportunities. We include funding opportunities (both national and international) across several stages from undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral scholars, and early career researchers. Finally, enjoy our list of recommended reading in natural history, and a bit of science humor in the "take a break" section.
We are grateful to Jasper Ridge Executive Director Jorge Ramos and Stanford alumni Julien Wright-Ueda for its initial conception in 2021. Several Jasper Ridge students, postdocs, and staff have contributed to this list, as well as our colleagues at similar career stage. Thank you to Allison Stegner, Tyler McFadden, Stacy Farina, Suzanne Ou, and Itati SantaMaria de Chavez y Vasquez!
We continually update this list. If you have suggested changes and contributions, please submit your ideas.
Resources for Students
Funded Organismal Biology MS Programs
- List of Departments that have a fully-funded Masters program that includes Ecology, Evolution, or Organsimal Biology (Thanks to Dr. Stacy Farina, Assistant Professor of Biology at Howard University)
Summer Research Programs and Internships
- NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) for 19 different STEM, education, ethics, and social sciences fields
- The Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program offers research and leadership opportunities in five institutions and programs:
- Conservation Job Board - seasonal jobs
- Geological Society of America GeoCorps Internships: paid Geoscience internships on public lands (can include geology, paleontology, archaeology, STEM outreach, and even ecology)--positions for undergrads and recent graduates. Mostly in summer but not exclusively.
- ESA SEEDS SPUR Research Fellowship
- Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS)
- Stanford Biology Summer Undergraduate Research Program (B-SURP) Funded Spring and Summer Research in Biology
- Stanford Bio-X Funded Research: Stanford Bio-X supports research and educational opportunities that cross disciplines between the biological or biomedical sciences and fields of engineering, physics and computational science:
- Stanford Earth Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SESUR)
- Stanford Earth Summer Undergraduate Research in Geoscience and Engineering Program (SURGE)
- Stanford Conservation Program
Funding Opportunities
Funding opportunities for students and postdocs
- Stanford Eco Evo Graduate students have put together a list of resources of funding for students
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowship
- American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education
- Black and Indigenous Scholars Award in Mammology
- BOREN fellowships: Undergraduate Boren Scholars and graduate Boren Fellows
- Bullitt Foundation (must be involved in Pacific NW university and research)
- EPA Related to National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Fellowships
- Ernest F. Hollings NOAA Undergraduate Scholarship
- External Fellowships for International Students from CALTECH
- Garden Club of America
- Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve Research grants
- The Nature Conservancy (Postdocs)
- NASA Fellowships
- Other
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- NOAA Climate & Global Change (C&GC) Postdoctoral Program
- NOGLSTP: Multiple fellowships and scholarships
- Out to Innovate Career Development Fellowship for Trans, Nonbinary, and Intersex people in STEM (formerly Ben Barres Fellowship)
- NRC Research Associateship Programs (RAP)
- Organization of Biological Field Stations-Maxwell/Hanrahan Research Experience Grants
- OECD co-operative Research Programme
- oSTEM Scholarships for members of the LGBTQ+ STEM community
- Postdoctoral Funding Opportunities, provided by Dr. Denis Wirtz, from Johns Hopkins University
- Simons Early Career Scientist in Marine Microbial Ecology and Evolution
- Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowships in Marine Microbial Ecology
- Smith Fellows
- Stanford Bass University Undergraduate Fellows
- Stanford Funding Opportunities for Postdocs in multiple fields:
- Univ of California: 2020-21 President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship awards
- USGS, Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program
- USDA
Professional Organizations
Organizations, societies, and conferences
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
- American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS)
- American Society of Plant Biologists
- Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)
- Association Society of Naturalists (ASN)
- Botanical Society of America
- British Ecological Society (BES)
- California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education
- California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Santa Clara Valley Chapter
- COPUS
- Ecological Society of America (ESA)
- SEEDS Program and chapter (so many funding opportunities: research, fellowships, workshops, field trips, meeting funds, etc)
- ESA Sections (30+ funding opportunities)
- ESA 2021 Annual meeting
- How to submit a successful abstract
- Stanford SEEDS chapter website
- Evolution Conference
- Latinos in Science and Engineering (MAES)
- Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER)
- Check each site for REUs and other internships
- Attend their LTER All hands meeting (every two years)
- Minorities in Agriculture, National Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS)
- North American Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE)
- Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS), Jasper Ridge is a member of OBFS:
- ReclaimingSTEM
- Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER)
- SACNAS
- Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE)
- Society of Conservation Biology (SCB)
- Society for Freshwater Scientists (SFS)
- Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB)
- Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS)
- TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy
- Western Field Ornithologists
- Western Society of Naturalists
- Wildlife Society
Additional resources and job opportunities
- 500 Queer Scientists
- 500 Women Scientists
- ADVANCEGeo
- American Hiking Society
- American Indian College Fund
- Audubon Society
- Association of Zoos and Aquariums
- Bay Nature Magazine
- Black Birders
- Black Botanists Week
- Black Girls Trekkin
- Black in Geoscience
- The Black Neighborhood
- California Academy of Sciences
- California Dept of Parks and Recreation
- California Native Plant Society (CNPS)
- California Indian Museum & Cultural Center
- Cientifico Latino
- Changescale
- Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT)
- DiverseGreen
- Disabled Hikers
- Eco Evo Faculty Jobs: 2025
- Ecology and evolutionary biology #EEBMentorMatch
- Field Program
- Freedom birders
- GEOLatinas
- Greening Youth Foundation
- Green2.0
- Hikeclerb
- iNaturalist
- Justice Outside
- Inclusive Outdoors Project
- Intersectional environmentalism
- Latino Outdoors
- LGBTQ+ Outdoor Job Board
- National Parks
- National Park Service
- National Wildlife Federation
- Native Women's Wilderness
- Next 100 Coalition
- News from Native California
- National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP)
- Ologies podcast
- Outdoor Afro
- Outdoor Asian
- Outdoor Scholarships
- Outdoor F.U.T.U.R.E. initiative
- Out in STEM
- Resources DEIJ in Nature, Ecology, and Conservation
- Rising Routes
- San Francisco Bird Bay Observatory
- Santa Cruz Mountain Stewardship Network
- Save the Redwoods League
- Solo Moms in STEMM
- Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
- STEMNoire
- Story Collider
- UC California Naturalist
- UC Natural Reserve System
- US Fish and Wildlife Service
Additional Reading
Natural History Books
A bibliography of recommended reading, suggested by our Jasper Ridge Affiliates.
Ackerman, Jennifer. The Genius of Birds. Penguin, 2017.
Agrawal, Anurag. Monarchs and Milkweed: a migrating butterfly, a poisonous plant, and their remarkable story of coevolution. Princeton University Press, 2017.
Canfield, Michael R., ed. Field Notes on Science & Nature. Harvard University Press, 2011.
Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962.
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States. Beacon Press, 2023.
Finney, Carolyn. Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the relationship of African Americans to the great outdoors. UNC Press Books, 2014.
Flores, Dan. Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History. Basic Books, 2016.
Harari, Yuval Noah. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. HarperCollins, 2016.
Harari, Yuval Noah. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. HarperCollins, 2015.
Jahren, Hope. Lab Girl. Knopf Canada, 2016.
Jahren, Hope. The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to go from Here. Vintage Canada, 2020.
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. Oregon State University Press, 2003
Krech, Shepard. Spirits of the Air: Birds & American Indians in the South. University of Georgia Press, 2009.
Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac. New York: Ballantine, 1949.
Macdonald, Helen. H is for Hawk. Random House, 2015.
Miller, Lulu. Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life. Simon and Schuster, 2021.
Montgomery, Beronda L. Lessons from Plants. Harvard University Press, 2021.
Muir, John. The Mountains of California. Penguin, 2008.
Nijhuis, Michelle. Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction. WW Norton & Company, 2021.
Quammen, David. Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind. Random House, 2014.
Quammen, David. Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. WW Norton & Company, 2012.
Quammen, David. The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions. Simon and Schuster, 1997.
Quammen, David. The Tangled Tree: a radical new history of life. Simon and Schuster, 2018.
Sagan, Carl. Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium. Ballantine books, 1998.
Sagan, Carl. Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Salmón, Enrique. Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science. Timber Press, 2020.
Sheldrake, Merlin. Entangled Life: How Fungi Make our Worlds, Change our Minds & Shape Our Futures. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2021.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. 1939.
Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row. Penguin, 1945.
Thiers, Barbara M. Herbarium: The Quest to Preserve and Classify the World's Plants. Timber Press, 2020.
Williams, Wendy. The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists and Other Obsessives Unlocked the Secrets of the World’s Favorite Insect. Simon & Schuster, 2020.
Wilson, Edward O. The Diversity of Life. WW Norton & Company, 1999.
Wohlleben, Peter. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World. Vol. 1. Greystone Books, 2016.
Wulf, Andrea. The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World. Vintage, 2015.
Yong, Ed. I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes within us and a grander view of life. Random House, 2016.