MSU Listserv

Begin forwarded message:
From: "Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: January 22, 2020 at 6:33:50 PM EST
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: FW:  Call for applications, Summer Collections Internships
Reply-To: "Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program" <[log in to unmask]>
Call for Applicants

Natural Science Collections Summer Professional Internships, Summer 2020

Goal: To provide training/ career development to students who have an interest in working in a professional capacity with natural science collections.

Program Leaders: Alan Prather, Anthony Cognato, Barbara Lundrigan

Overview: This interdisciplinary program will provide professional training in natural science collections curation and management to MSU graduate students during the summer of 2020 (May 15 – August 15). Training will be structured to encompass both theory and practice. Professors and students will meet every other week (for 3 to 4 hours) throughout the summer to discuss a broad range of topics (e.g., history of collections, preservation, collections use, digitizing) and to interact with invited experts. In addition, each participating student will spend 10-20 hours per week working side-by-side with a curator and/or collections manager on day-to-day collections tasks (e.g., acquisitions; specimen identification, preparation, and cataloging; data management; fielding loan requests) in one of the following campus collections:


  *   MSU Herbarium
  *   A.J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection
  *   Vertebrate Collections, MSU Museum
  *   Archaeology/Anthropology Collections, MSU Museum
  *   W. J. Beal Botanical Garden

Students will be assigned to a collection that matches their background and expected to report briefly on their activities during the bi-weekly meetings. Participation in seminars will be required of student interns and open to other interested members of the university community. The location of these meetings will rotate among campus natural science collections so that participants have the opportunity to tour each facility. The last meeting will focus on student presentations, which will address topics of their choice in greater detail.

Fellowships: A $6,000 fellowship will be awarded to each of the top six applicants.

Application Process: Open to MSU graduate students. Submit a CV and a statement of interest describing (1) the anticipated value of this professional training to achieving your career goals, and (2) what you hope to obtain from the experience. Applications should be e-mailed to Anthony Cognato ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) by 5 PM Friday, February 21st.



Alan Prather
Department of Plant Biology
Director of the MSU Herbarium