Traits of a Successful Global Change Research Fellow

The Global Change Research Fellowship is a flagship program of the Southeast CASC that has been a critical point of development for graduate students studying change in the Southeast. We sat down with Consortium Director, Rebecca Irwin, to talk about what makes for a successful GCR fellow, how the fellowship is unique from other programs, and how the program is evolving.

During their time in the program, how can you tell that a Global Change Research Fellow is likely to be successful in the future?

Irwin: Well, let’s start by defining future success, I think it looks like getting the type of job or career that you are looking for post-grad school. There are so many things that you can do with your degree, and all of them are super exciting and interesting. So, success to me means you got the position you wanted.

I think one trait that successful students have is curiosity; that curiosity serves them well later on when they’re looking for careers, they can think broadly across topics. And that leads into the second trait, I would argue, would be someone who likes to think across disciplinary lines. Most careers are not in a single lane anymore. You have to be able to interact with lots of different people and you have to be able to think broadly about different challenges. So, someone who likes to think interdisciplinarily and hear other viewpoints serves them well for success in the future.

Another trait is good communication skills. No matter what type of job you have – whether you go into academia, a federal position, or work for an NGO, or State government – you always have to communicate with people. Someone who likes to communicate and has the kind of communication training students receive in the Global Change Research Fellows program end up doing very well. They can communicate about their own science, but also about other types of science.

Now, for this next trait it might be because we track them better, but I think that students who stay engaged in SE CASC after their fellowship period ends go on to get various fellowships and opportunities that they really wanted later on. For some fellows, it means coming to the global change fellow seminars and staying engaged with communications projects. We have various call outs for opportunities, whether it’s early career workshops or conferences, we find that those students have often been successful in the types of careers that they wanted to get later on. So I would say, continued engagement with the caveat that we’re better at tracking those students.

I mentioned that having an interest in interdisciplinarity is important, but I also think that on the flip side, students who do that deep dive into their dissertation project and know a topic really well, those students do very well too. They’re interested in interdisciplinary studies, but they have a really deep and solid foundation in a particular discipline that allows them to see ways in which they can apply that knowledge and discipline to other types of questions outside their own.

Is there any advice you would give to incoming Global Change Research Fellows, for how to set themselves up for success during their time in the program and beyond it?

Irwin: There’s lots of opportunities that are thrown at the fellows. Staying engaged in the core program in the classes that we have is important and asking lots of questions – no question is too small. 

It’s also important to be open minded to lots of other viewpoints. Students will be in a cohort with natural scientists, physical scientists, social scientists, humanities, college of design, you name it! So being open minded and listening to other fellows’ perspectives can be eye opening for students.

I also can’t understate the importance of being good at time management. The fellows program has core expectations, but we also offer lots of other opportunities. You don’t have to go to all of them but take advantage of those opportunities that are going to be the most useful and helpful for your dissertation and for your own academic growth.

What do you think makes the GCRF program special?

Irwin: The fact that it’s interdisciplinary and has been since the beginning, not just across the natural, physical, and social sciences but also bringing in fellows from humanities, people thinking about oral histories, people thinking about how we design structures to make them climate ready, the interdisciplinarity is really special. 

As well as the cohort structure throughout the term. The program has a field intensive that is a week-long dedicated time together and deep dive into climate science and adaptation practices. During that time, there’s an emphasis for students to think about how their science will be used by managers and they get the opportunity to hear directly from managers on climate change and climate adaptation. These opportunities to gain skills and hear perspectives are then broadened throughout the semester and throughout the year. 

I think one of the other things that makes the fellowship experience unique is a function of how the CASCs are organized. We are a Federal-University-Tribal partnership and because of that 3-way split, students in the program can get a view into what a career in Federal service would be like by interacting with the Federal side of the CASC. And there’s also a lot of training in how to work ethically with Tribes, which is a unique aspect of this program. 

Lastly, another unique aspect is that in graduate school you’re often handed a project from your advisor that’s already funded, and throughout the fellowship, we spend a lot of time talking about how to co-produce science with end users, with managers, and other types of partners. That gives students an opportunity to think not just about interdisciplinary projects, but also about co-producing them with a manager. So, students get to see not just how their dissertation unfolded, but another way that knowledge can be developed as well. 

What are some of the ways the program is changing and evolving?

Irwin: We’re always trying to improve the experience and one of the newest things that we’ve incorporated is a team science project. The students work together across various disciplines on small group projects on needs identified by managers

Also, the fellowship is now open to all SE CASC consortium universities and institutions, which is different from previous years. The fellows now have an opportunity to have a cohort experience with students from up to 10 other institutions across the Southeast, which is a great way to broaden their community and network. So when they go out in the future and are applying for postdocs or jobs, they’re going to have colleagues and peers from many other institutions which I think can open doors for the students. 

You can keep up with our Global Change Research Fellows throughout their time in the program by checking out their researcher spotlights and attending their hosted seminars throughout the year. If you’re interested in applying to be a fellow, subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on calls for applications and more SE CASC updates.