School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Receives Grant for Compton Fellowships

The Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES) has been awarded a $135,000 grant from the Compton Foundation, Inc. to establish the Compton Fellowship Program in Environment and Sustainability.

In December, the school received the first of three $45,000 annual installments that will fund research by graduate students, with preference given to students from Mexico, Central America and sub-Saharan Africa who intend to return to their native country or region after completing their studies.

“The goal of the program is to contribute to the capacity of developing countries to make informed policy and resource management decisions based on principles of sustainable development and sound science,” said Edith Eddy, executive director of the Compton Foundation.

Under the program, a committee of Forestry and Environmental Studies faculty will select master’s degree candidates who are eligible for fellowships of up to $10,000 per year, and doctoral candidates who can receive up to $15,000 a year for costs directly associated with field research.

“With many of the greatest pressures on biospheric resources coming from the developing world, cooperation between developing and industrialized countries is critical. But progress is hampered by a desperate shortage of trained personnel,” said Yale F&ES Dean James Gustave Speth. “Yale is committed to addressing this need, and this support from the Compton Foundation is an enormous help.”

The school offers two-year master’s degrees in environmental management, environmental science, forestry and forestry science. In addition, students can obtain joint master’s degrees with Yale Law School, the School of Management, the Medical School’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, the Graduate School’s International Relations program and the International and Development Economics program of the Graduate School’s Department of Economics.

The school also offers a doctor of forestry and environmental studies (D.F.E.S.) degree, and a doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) which is conferred through Yale’s Graduate School.

The Compton Foundation, which is based in Menlo Park, Calif., focuses most of its grant-making in the areas of peace and world order, population and the environment, with special emphasis on projects that explore the interconnections among these three categories.

For more information about the Compton Fellowship Program, contact Carol Kinzler, deputy director of development, 203-432-9361.