Reaching for a STAR: Getting EPA's Graduate Fellowship

Contact: Jessica A. Knoblauch, News Writer for Environmental Science and Policy Program: (517) 432-3823 or knoblau7@msu.edu

November 6, 2006

In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency initiated the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, a fellowship program for master's and doctoral students in environmental fields of study. The goal of the program is to encourage promising students to receive advanced degrees and to pursue careers in an environmental field, thereby helping to provide society with a steady stream of environmental specialists trained to help solve environmental challenges.

Since 2000, Michigan State University has had at least ten students receive this prestigious fellowship. Kendra Cheruvelil, an assistant professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at MSU, participated in the fellowship program twice. "It was a great experience," says Kendra. "You have an opportunity to interact with other fellows and also with members of the EPA. The extra $5,000 that you receive for research support is also really great because you don't always that with other fellowship programs."

Uri Levine, a Ph.D. student studying microbiology who is also a STAR recipient, says that he especially enjoys having the EPA fellowship because he was able to design the project he was most interested in. "I got to design the project myself and I like that I'm the only one working on it," says Uri.

Every year, the STAR fellowships are becoming more competitive. In fact, according to a contact person for STAR, only about 10 percent of all applications are accepted. Still, students shouldn't be discouraged from applying because there are a variety of things that they can do to increase their chances of getting their proposal accepted.

One thing students are encouraged to do is to visit the EPA website to see what priorities the EPA has and what sorts of projects they're looking to fund. That's what Molly Conlin, a Ph.D. student who just recently received a STAR fellowship, did when she first learned about the fellowship from her adviser.

Kendra recommends talking to people in your field who have already done the fellowship before applying. "Find someone who has gotten a fellowship and ask to look at his/her application," she advises. Students can thus get a better idea of what content and style of writing EPA is looking for in the proposal. Often it's not the idea in the proposal that gets it rejected, but the way that the proposal was written, says Kendra.

When you're ready to write the proposal, all three recipients advise the student to keep a few things in mind. First, avoid making the proposal too abstract, says Uri. Secondly, Molly suggests writing proposal with clearly stated methods so that the EPA is assured you have a good idea of how to go about doing your research. Kendra recommends students try to tell a story about why the research you're doing is important to society. "You have to think, 'What am I trying to tell these people?' Then, you have to spin your project to fit the EPA's needs."

Even in the unfortunate case that a proposal is rejected, students shouldn't think that writing it was a lost cause because students can always try for a fellowship the next year. That's exactly what Kendra did after her proposal for her second fellowship was turned down. "You can't be afraid of getting rejected," she says. Also, when a proposal is rejected, EPA officials provide the student with comments from the review board. "They give you a lot of helpful feedback on what they liked and didn't like," says Kendra. The feedback helps give students insight into how to write the proposal differently the next time so that it will have a better chance of getting accepted.

All three students agree that participating in the STAR fellowship is a very rewarding experience. Kendra adds that the fellowship even continued to help her later on in life because applying for STAR gave her experience in writing proposals, a great asset to have when she went looking for a job.

Those who would like help on their fellowship application can also go to http://www.msu.edu/~honcoll/. Jenni Marsh, the coordinator of Scholarships and Fellowships, says she be happy to help students in everything from writing personal statements to picking which letters of recommendation to use.

The deadline for the STAR fellowship application is November 28th. For more information on the STAR fellowship program, please visit http://es.epa.gov/ncer/fellow/.