Weekly Update (11/10/2025)
ESPP News
Dr. Anthony Kendall, Assistant Professor in Earth and Environmental Sciences, and his interdisciplinary team were awarded a new five-year $3.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study solar energy and agriculture can work together to keep farms in production. The team will study how soil, water, and ecosystems are impacted by solar panels, revealing how they could improve soil health, conserve groundwater and support pollinators. The project will give farmers and local leaders science-based guidance to make informed decisions about land use and renewable energy.
The research team includes three ESPP core faculty members and instructors: Dr. Anthony Kendall, Dr. Adam Zwickle, and Dr. Annick Anctil, and two ESPP affiliated faculty members: Dr. Bruno Basso, and Dr. Phoebe Zarnetske. Congratulations, team!
Course Announcements
A list of courses that are offered by ESPP affiliated faculty members is now available on ESPP website. New promotions are listed below.
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GEO 873: Seminar in Human Geography
Dr. Sandy Marquart-Pyatt will offer this graduate seminar in Spring 2026. This graduate seminar in human geography emphasizes nature-society studies and political geography. Human geography studies the connection between people and place, with particular emphasis on how these interrelations vary spatially and temporally across social, political, cultural, and environmental contexts. New in spring 2026, this seminar will focus on academic writing and publishing using survey data. Contact Dr. Marquart-Pyatt for questions.
Scholarships, Fellowships, and Funding Opportunities
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Great Lakes Fisheries Graduate Fellowship | Deadline: December 5, 2025
The William W. Taylor & Henry A. Regier Great Lakes Fisheries Graduate Fellowship supports MSU graduate students conducting research on the sustainability of fish, wildlife, and water resources, with a focus on the Great Lakes and human–environment connections. For further information pertaining to this fellowship, please contact tgsawards@grd.msu.edu.
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Zuckerman Postdocotral Scholars Program | Deadline February 15, 2026
The Zuckerman Postdoctoral Scholars Program attracts high-achieving postdoctoral scholars from premier universities in the United States and Canada to do research at one of eight Israeli universities. The Zuckerman Postdoctoral Scholars Program attracts high-achieving postdoctoral scholars from premier universities in the United States and Canada to do research at one of eight Israeli universities.
Seminars, Workshops, and Other Events
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Please join the Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Collaboration, Learning, and Engagement (CIRCLE) on 11/14 for a workshop on Building an Interdisciplinary Process. Faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students are all welcome. Lunch will be served. This participatory workshop will provide tools and strategies for team building, facilitation, and co-creation for folks across the spectrum of interdisciplinary experience, whether you are already leading or collaborating on interdisciplinary teams, hoping to build connections, or learn about processes and practices for interdisciplinary inquiry. If you have previously participated in this workshop, you will find new activities and opportunities that will make the content fresh, so feel free to join us again for a different experience. Click here to register. This workshop is strongly recommended for folks interested in applying for a CIRCLE Seed Grant in Spring 2026.
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Sustainability and Ethics Symposium | November 14, 2025 | Minskoff Pavilion
The Sustainability and Ethics Symposium is hosted by the MSU Ethics Institute, the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, the Center for Ethical and Socially Responsible Leadership, the Kelley Institute of Ethics and the Legal Profession, and the Office of Sustainability. This year’s event will explore ethical sustainability issues from a global perspective, highlight current research topics, and showcase impactful practices happening on our campus.
Jobs and Training Opportunities
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Postdoctoral Scholar: Center for Effective Global Action at Berkeley | Rolling deadlines
This multi-year initiative evaluating the social and economic impacts of the exploitation of KoBold’s Mingomba copper mine in Chililabombwe, Zambia combines large-scale household surveys, a regression discontinuity design to measure the causal effects of mine employment, and historical research on the Copperbelt. The postdoc will report to Berkeley-based CEGA affiliated PI Jonathan Weigel, and work in close collaboration with Co-Investigators Edward Miguel (UC Berkeley), Anja Benshaul-Tolonen (Barnard/Columbia), and Dale Mudenda (University of Zambia).
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Postdoctoral Fellowship in AI-Driven Movement Ecology and Conservation of Large Mammals - University of Michigan | Deadline: November 30, 2025 Research activities will include the development and application of advanced deep learning frameworks to model and predict animal movement and habitat selection. The fellow will integrate spatially and temporally explicit environmental covariates (e.g., NDVI, vegetation structure, topography, seasonality), enabling nuanced exploration of how landscape features and dynamic conditions influence animal movement decisions at multiple scales. Research will involve constructing, training, and evaluating AI models capable of simulating realistic movement trajectories, identifying patterns in resource selection, and revealing how animals interact with variable or human-modified environments. Reach out to Neil Carter to determine research fit.