EMPLOYS Traineeship
EMPLOYS: Ecological Management and Public Lands Opportunities for Young Scientists
Applications for Fall 2025 are currently open — please reach out or see below for more information.
We are also always seeking connections with new partners and advisory board members! If you have research, management, or other opportunities for graduate students — or have suggestions for necessary training/workshops/coursework that could provide vital skills needed in the public lands workforce — please be in touch!
Western Colorado University seeks outstanding applicants for a National Science Foundation-funded graduate traineeship to prepare diverse future scientists for public land management careers. These scholars will develop cutting-edge research capabilities and vital leadership skills to respond to the complex challenges facing public lands in an era of rapid social and environmental change — earning two degrees (Master of Science in Ecology, Master in Environmental Management) in three years.
Applicants are expected to reach out to potential faculty advisors prior to submitting an application — please explore the faculty profiles below before doing so! For more information, reach out to msecology@western.edu.
Public lands agencies and professionals are also encouraged to reach out — do you have an applied research need but limited capacity, want to provide feedback about the skills needed in a public lands workforce, or otherwise engage with CPL? We can help connect you with graduate student support and out network of research and management partners!
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EMPLOYS Trainees:
· Earn two degrees in three years (see course path below!);
· Complete a research thesis using big data to study an ecological question;
· Apply research findings to help managers take action;
· Prepare for science and management careers in the National Park Service, National Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and more.
The challenges facing America’s public lands are truly dramatic, encompassing global environmental change and rapid political and economic shifts. Land managers need both deep ecological knowledge and understanding of the social forces that shape landscapes. EMPLOYS trains diverse future scientists to respond to these challenges using trailblazing tools of data science. Trainees also attain leadership skills needed to apply scientific knowledge to planning, policy, and management of public lands.
EMPLOYS students conduct research that leads to management actions. Over three years, they earn a Master of Science in Ecology degree and a Master in Environmental Management degree, with an emphasis in Integrative and Public Land Management. Students conduct ecology research for their master’s thesis and use their research findings to respond to a management challenge facing an agency or organization, resulting in timely on-the-ground outcomes.
Western Colorado University provides an optimal location to study public lands. Our Rocky Mountain campus is located in Gunnison County, where 82 percent of lands are managed by federal agencies and local government. Students work with practitioners and agency scientists as research advisors and mentors, providing networking and professional development opportunities. Our goal is to strengthen the public lands workforce not only by preparing diverse students for careers, but by transforming how ecologists respond to the pressing environmental concerns of the 21st century.
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Research Interests: landscape ecologist who specializes in linking remote sensing to field measurements
Accepting Incoming Students
Research Interests: mathematics professor who advises ecology students in work incorporating machine learning, sensing technologies, complex analytics, etc.
Accepting Incoming Students
Jonathan Coop, Ph.D.— Co-Director of M.S. in Ecology and Professor of Environment and Sustainability
Research Interests: forest and fire ecology; plant community ecology; management
Proposed Research Projects: sagebrush ecology and management, adaptive silviculture and long-term forest monitoring; fire spread and other research utilizing remote sensing imagery and climate data
Accepting Incoming Students
Madelon Van de Kerk, Ph.D. — Co-Director of M.S. in Ecology and Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology
Research Interests: quantitative tools and methods in wildlife research
Accepting Incoming Students
Derek D. Houston, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor of Biology
Research Interests: native fish phylogeography and population genetics; light stable isotopes in aquatic systems
Proposed Research Projects: population genomic research on Colorado native fishes and/or a native desert endemic fish
Potentially accepting Incoming Students
Hannah M. Carroll, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Ecology
Research Interests: paleoecology, aquatic ecology
Potentially Accepting Incoming Students
Susan Washko, Ph.D. — Lecturer
Research Interests: aquatic invertebrate community ecology and natural history
Potentially Accepting Incoming Students
Jared Balik, Ph.D. — Postdoctoral Researcher
Research Interests: ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist who similarly specializes in aquatic systems, currently working as a postdoc on forest/fire ecology research
Potentially Accepting Incoming Students
Robin A. Bingham, Ph.D. — Professor of Biology
Research Interests: plant-animal interactions; evolutionary community ecology; evolution of plant defense; phenotypic plasticity
Not Accepting Incoming Students
Patrick Magee, Ph.D.— Professor of Wildlife & Conservation Biology
Research Interests: ornithology, sagebrush ecology
Not Accepting Incoming Students
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Eligibility
EMPLOY Science students must be accepted to Western Colorado University’s Master in Environmental Management and Master of Science in Ecology Programs.
Admission into EMPLOYS is competitive. Applicants will be evaluated on a number of criteria, including previous coursework and experience. Applicants’ professional goals, preparedness for graduate school, and contributions to diversity, as manifested in the personal statements, resume, and letters of recommendation, also influence admission and funding decisions.
Successful applicants will meet many of these criteria:
• Undergraduate training in natural resources, environmental sciences, or human dimensions of natural resources, including coursework in biophysical sciences, social sciences, math, and statistics;
• An undergraduate GPA above 3.5 (recommended);
• Public service experience (e.g., Peace Corps or AmeriCorps volunteers, seasonal land management jobs) or experience in land management organizations ;
• Past or current work experience—or a passion and desire to attain such a career—in conservation, public lands management, and related professions.
Prerequisite Coursework
We recognize that students come from varied backgrounds and have differing aims in their graduate training. Incoming students who lack coursework in an area important to their research (e.g., statistics, biology, social science) may be required to make up the deficiency in addition to the courses required for the MEM and MS degrees.
Funding
Graduate assistantships: a limited number of EMPLOYS assistantships are available each year to applicants who are US citizens or permanent residents. Assistantships are generally awarded for a one-year term and include a tuition waiver and stipend.
Assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis. To be considered for such funding, please apply by January 15.
Other funding (e.g., research support, travel funds) may be available for individuals not eligible or selected for an assistantship.
Applicants for whom other funding is unavailable may choose to use their personal finances to cover the costs of participation in the program. Additionally, we will work with EMPLOYS students to attain funding for their master’s research and project through agreements with public lands agencies.
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To apply for the EMPLOYS Program, complete the following steps:
Submit formal applications to BOTH the MEM and MS Ecology programs and indicate your interest in EMPLOYS. Contact the Program Coordinator (msecology@western.edu) for assistance in transferring materials between applications. If you are a current Western graduate student, you may skip this step and apply directly through the Program Coordinator.
In addition to applying to Western’s Clark School of Environment and Sustainability graduate programs, submit an application to the NRT program. Your essay responses will be included in your online application when you check the box indicating your interest in the EMPLOYS program. Please respond to the following prompts to apply:
Describe your background experiences relevant to advanced training at the interface of ecology and natural resource management. Consider describing formative experiences, challenges you’ve overcome, and attributes or unique perspectives you might bring to the program rather than repeating aspects of your resume.
Explain your motivation for a 3-year program at the nexus of ecological science and land management including skillsets you seek to acquire as well as your personal and professional ambitions upon completion of the program.
Discuss how you will bring diverse perspectives and experiences to the EMPLOYS cohort, public land management agencies, and the larger MSE and MEM graduate community, as well as your commitment to inclusion and equity among your cohort and graduate program.
Identify a current ecological concern or question of interest in the context of global environmental change, outline a research need, and describe how new scientific information could lead to management applications to inform conservation and maintain ecosystem functions.
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Application Review
Once your application is complete, it will be reviewed by the MEM and MS program directors and the EMPLOYS program selection committee. We will evaluate your transcripts, letters of recommendation, relevant training and experience in conservation or environmental sciences, and individual potential for achievement as manifest in personal statements.
We attempt to make admission decisions within 6 to 8 weeks of the application deadline. The Graduate School will send you an official letter of admission to the MEM and/or MS programs.
Funding decisions, including EMPLOYS assistantships, will come separately via email at the address you provide in your application. We anticipate making funding decisions by mid-March.
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The EMPLOYS program is supported by the National Science Foundation’s National Research Traineeship (NRT) program, under the “Big Idea” Harnessing the Data Revolution, with the Award Number 2125921.
All presentations, journal articles, theses, or any products that emerge from the EMPLOYS program — whether generated by students, faculty, or external partners — must acknowledge NSF support and include an NSF disclaimer from the samples written below. In addition, you are encouraged to use the NSF logo in presentations or on posters. If you are not sure whether to acknowledge NSF support or not, consult the guidelines below or reach out to the NRT Program Coordinator.
Posters, acknowledgment slides for presentations, and in acknowledgment sections in papers should contain both (1) NSF acknowledgment and (2) NSF disclaimer below (use verbatim; do not modify the language). Use whichever version below best fits your publication or product. The following acknowledgement should almost always suffice.
Acknowledgment: "This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under NRT-HDR Award Number 2125921.
Disclaimer: "Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation."
If guidelines for a conference or publication specify listing the PI, please reference Dr. Briget Eastep (along with, for students, your faculty advisor).
If you are interviewed about work that relates to the EMPLOYS Program, NSF requires you verbally mention that the program or your work is supported by the NSF.
NRT programs typically involve a year’s participation for students enrolled in various Master’s or PhD programs in different departments. The EMPLOYS program is unique is that students are instead accepted to two degrees, a Master of Science in Ecology + Master in Environmental Management.
Rather than solely participating in activities over a single year, then, students engage with their cohort and fellow graduate students throughout their time at Western!
This difference means that the EMPLOYS course path is fairly rigid, although retains room for many electives in the ENVS and BIOL headings. By the end of three years, students will have completed at least 61 credits across these two degrees — including those received for the ecological research thesis AND applied management project.
We have tailored the pathway outlined here to allow for currently enrolled students to apply to EMPLOYS — please reach out to the EMPLOYS Coordinator for more information!
Meet our current EMPLOYS graduate students!
Incoming EMPLOYS Cohort - Beginning Fall 2024
Brady Miller
Brady Miller, originally from Presque Isle, Maine, is currently a master’s student in the EMPLOYS program. Before moving to Colorado, he attended Paul Smiths College, earning a B.S. in Environmental Science with minors in GIS and Chemistry. While at Paul Smiths, he worked on multiple ecosystem restoration projects, focusing on chemical interactions, low-impact development (LID), and soil health. Brady had the opportunity to study abroad in Iceland, focusing on soil degradation and regenerative design. In the summer of 2024, he worked as an environmental specialist in Kihei, Hawaii, developing stormwater infrastructure using modern LID techniques. At Western, Brady will be developing a management plan for the future of the Verzuh Ranch, located in Crested Butte. He will also use this property to study the impacts of cattle grazing on soil health.
Katelyn Schad
Katelyn Schad is a current student in the EMPLOYS program hoping to conduct research regarding climate change in high-alpine plants – either in alpine tundra or in subalpine forests. She attended Regis University for her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry, but she realized during this degree that chemistry was not her true passion and instead wanted to study climate change and environmental science. She hopes to use environmental research to inform both herself and others about climate change in high-elevation ecosystems, and to apply that information to management strategies and actions that will protect both the environment and its people. Katelyn is from Monument, Colorado, and she moved to the Gunnison Valley in June 2024. You can always find her outside, hiking, camping, or even just taking pictures, and she looks forward to becoming better at skiing these next few winters.
Natalie Chang (“Chang”)
Chang (They/She) is a current EMPLOYS student, who primarily studies insect genetics and taxonomy. They graduated from Paul Smith’s College in 2022 with a B.S. in fisheries and wildlife sciences with a focus on wildlife and a minor in botany. Chang is originally from Albany, New York but has done a lot of travelling throughout the United States. They have worked in environmental education since they were 18 and have a passion for learning and teaching. She has worked for multiple organizations including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Boulder County Parks and Open Spaces, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Colorado Department of Agriculture. They have worked in positions ranging from camp counselor to wildlife biologist. When she is not in the classroom she enjoys skiing, playing/coaching rugby, and photography. Chang hopes to work in entomological ecology and taxonomy in the future, developing a better understanding of how humans’ impact native insect populations.
Jackson Doyel
Jackson is a wildlife biologist with experience studying and contributing to conservation efforts for bison in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. After earning his B.S. in Biology in 2021 from Bowling Green State University, he has traveled the world working with species ranging from manatees to frilled lizards. He is finalizing research with Montana NGO the Buffalo Field Campaign and Rutgers University analyzing wildlife observational data to guide wildlife-vehicle collision mitigation efforts along US Highway 191. He hopes that his work will contribute to improving current wildlife management practices. As an EMPLOYS student, he will analyze decades of migratory data on bison to find fluctuations in herd movements and their influencing factors. This research will inform management practices for bison and provide a better understanding of how migratory ungulates adapt to anthropogenic and natural influences such as climate change, snowpack, and management actions.
Dalton Robberson
Dalton, originally from Littleton, Colorado, is a current graduate student in the EMPLOYS program. He obtained his B.S. from Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado in environmental science and technology with minor(s) in GIS and outdoor recreation. He has worked various seasonal positions for several different agencies including the US Forest Service, Natural Resource Conservation Resource, and Colorado State Forest Service. He is passionate about forestry and extreme fire spread events and plans to conduct research focused on such events for his MSE thesis. In his free time he enjoys biking, skiing, and spending time outside.
Cessair McKinney
Cessair McKinney moved to Gunnison from Humboldt County on the northern coast of California. She earned her B.S. from Humboldt State University in Environmental Science and Management with a concentration in Ecological Restoration and a minor in Native American Studies. After graduating in 2020, she spent several field seasons conducting plant and soil surveys for the Bureau of Land Management before working on community fire resiliency projects and sustainable agriculture plans as a project coordinator with a Resource Conservation District. Cessair is interested in plant community ecology and ecological restoration. Her project at Western is focused on how historical sagebrush vegetation treatments have affected current Gunnison Sage Grouse habitat in the Gunnison Basin.
Second EMPLOYS Cohort - Beginning Fall 2023
Phoebe Roberts
Phoebe is passionate about ecology and conservation biology and hopes to provide adequate environmental data to help manage environments under global climate change. Originally from Issaquah, Washington, Phoebe has lived in the Gunnison valley on and off since 2016. She has worked a variety of ecological monitoring and wildlife jobs after graduating from the University of Oregon with a BS in Environmental Science. Her MSE thesis will apply paleoecological techniques to develop a pre-European settlement vegetation baseline in critical Gunnison Sage Grouse habitat in order to develop a benchmark to help guide future restoration efforts and provide a deeper understanding of Gunnison Sage Grouse habitat requirements. The goal is to determine how the composition of botanical genera have been altered following the decline in population of Gunnison Sage Grouse, and to identify key genera correlated to Sage Grouse habitat.
Sophia Reggiani
Sophia is part of the second cohort of EMPLOYS graduate students, originally coming from Oregon where she was born and raised. She received her B.S. in Biology and a Certificate in Native American Studies from Southern Oregon University. Sophia is enthusiastic about all things relating to ecology and conservation. She’s especially passionate about herpetology, namely salamanders. As an undergrad, she was involved in research on amphibian conservation, fish parental behavior, and insects in acorns that are First Foods for Native Nations. Her project at Western Colorado University will be studying the diversity and abundance of insects in Gunnison’s wet meadows, a key food source for chicks of the endangered Gunnison Sage Grouse.
Dani Laird
Dani Laird earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental economics from St. Lawrence University which fostered an interest in ecosystem services and natural resource planning. Before joining Western, she worked in Idaho and Utah, gaining experience in public and private sector ecosystem management. The experience reinforced her interest in balancing ecosystem health and land use. As an avid skier, Dani is motivated by a passion for mountain recreation. Her master’s work focuses on the recovery efforts for the endangered Uncompahgre Fritillary, an alpine butterfly endemic to the San Juan Mountains. The project is an exciting opportunity to deepen our understanding of alpine ecosystems while enjoying the public lands that surround the Gunnison Valley!
Eva Anderson
Eva Anderson is a current graduate student in the EMPLOYS program. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a minor in Spanish Language and Culture. She has spent her summers doing different things including working on a whale watch boat in the Gulf of Maine and serving an AmeriCorps term protecting Squam Lake in New Hampshire. She is hoping to study the effects of human development on aquatic ecosystems and eventually work in water resource management and conservation. She enjoys reading, swimming, and looking at cool insects in her free time.
Ema Muslic
I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in environmental restoration science with an emphasis on soil science, minors in urban forestry and water science. My current research thesis is a 3-year experiment on herbicide effects on cheatgrass and native plant species reemergence in the sagebrush steppe. My interests lie in forest ecology, land management, and water resources. I've spent the last 6 years exploring all avenues of environmental science (working with the forest service in timber cruising and fuels management; assisting researchers in various ecological and restoration studies; being an environmental educator for K-12) and hope to apply the skills I learn to become a better leader in land management strategies in my future careers. I'm a proud first generation Bosnian-American. I spend my time skiing and guiding ice fishing in the winter, and mountain biking, guiding fly fishing, and teaching women's fishing clinics in the summertime. You can find me doing these things with my adventure buddy, my dog named Lefty.
Inaugural EMPLOYS Cohort - Beginning Fall 2022
Timothy Andrews
Tim is passionate about incorporating big data into ecological research, Tim graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a B.S. in Systems Biology and a minor in Applied Data Science. Since his graduation, he’s enjoyed several opportunities to work in the field on a variety of research projects centered on finding better ways to protect at-risk species. Tim is eager to combine these field and computational approaches to research, inform, and implement effective conservation measures while earning dual Masters degrees through the EMPLOYS Traineeship Program at Western Colorado University. Specifically, Tim will be studying the effects of bark beetle kill on ungulate distribution and ecology in Colorado. In his free time, Tim loves backpacking, hiking, running, and any other activity that helps him explore the great outdoors. He hopes his work will allow others to continue to experience and appreciate the wonders of the natural world.
Sabrina Lucero
Sabrina originally from southern New Mexico, Sabrina received her BS in Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation Ecology from New Mexico State University. In her professional experience, she’s had the opportunity to work with several diverse species ranging from chipmunks to ungulates, wolves, ducks, and raptors. Learning to manage wildlife and limit human-wildlife conflict is her main career goal and passion. While Sabrina earns two Master’s degrees at Western Colorado University, she will focus on how recreation affects ungulate behavior in the Gunnison Valley by gathering data near trails where ungulates are often observed.
Rachel Crafford
Rachel is a graduate student in the EMPLOYS program, hailing originally from Massachusetts and most recently from Vermont. She graduated from Wheaton College (MA) with degrees in Environmental Science and Anthropology and a minor in Environmental Studies and spent her undergraduate summers studying mixed-species bird flocks and plant-pollinator networks in the Ecuadorian Andes Mountains. Presently, Rachel's research explores how wildfire-driven changes to vegetation structure affect bird communities in pinon-juniper woodlands within Mesa Verde National Park, surrounding BLM land, and on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. Other research interests include birds' role as seed dispersers, disturbance ecology, and impacts of global climate change on plant and animal phenology. In her free time, Rachel can typically be found making kombucha, mountain biking, or trail running with her pup, Arlo.
Caleb Park
Caleb obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Fish and Wildlife Conservation in 2020 at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. He later worked in the field to study an endangered subspecies of bird in Florida-- the Florida grasshopper sparrow, where he developed the skills that prepared him for entering a dual degree Master’s program through the EMPLOYS Traineeship at Western Colorado University. His graduate research will be focused on one of the most common threatened bird species in the Gunnison Basin -- the Brewer's Sparrow. He plans to look at population trends from 2018 in the basin and compare those with vegetation structures and management practices on Bureau of Land Management lands while studying in Gunnison, Colorado.
Megan Locher
Megan earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a concentration in Ecology and Evolution at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has worked for Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the National Park Service in the Gunnison basin for four seasons and hopes to further her career in land management and ecological conservation after her graduation from Western Colorado University. She discovered her passion for amphibians working as a research lab assistant at UNLV and is working to focus her upcoming project around conservation for local amphibious species.
Jessika McFarland
Jessika is passionate about monitoring and managing public lands in the face of global change. She studies extreme fire spread events and their landscape outcomes in the southwestern United States to understand post-fire forest resilience. She also works as a community organizer for the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative and functions as the student advocate for the MS/EMPLOYS program. Jessika completed her Bachelor of Science in Biology with an emphasis in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Texas at Austin. She has three years of experience with public land agencies in the Alaska region working as a research assistant for the US Forest Service and as a data management technician for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. She is an intersectional environmentalist who advocates for climate action and environmental justice. In her downtime, she likes to spend her time hiking or paddling with her rescue dog named Topo.
