The Self Graduate Fellowship provides funding and professional development opportunities for Ph.D. students in the sciences, engineering, business, and economics. The Fellow Development Program offers semi-annual skill sessions focused on such areas as teamwork, project management and communication coaching as well as monthly luncheons which focus on a particular current interest topic, such as health care reform. Fellows also travel to Washington D.C. to experience the science policy environment of our government - I recently returned from this trip, which was not only eye-opening for understanding our governmental process and for opening ideas for future career paths, but was also a great way to get to better know the other fellows. After graduation, fellows become life members of the Society of Self Fellows, in which they can participate in annual SGF events and help mentor current fellows. This photo was taken during our Fall 2009 Skill Session.

The IGERT C-Change program through the National Science Foundation provides interdisciplinary training for graduate students whose research relates to climate change. IGERT trainees include students from such varied fields as public policy, sociology, geology, ecology and evolutionary biology, economics, anthropology, history and engineering. The fellows participate in a series of interdisciplinary courses in which biological, political and social aspects of climate change are linked through classroom and field research experiences. This photo was taken on our Fall 2009 retreat to the Tallgrass National Prairie Nature Preserve. See the Recent Events page for details on recent C-CHANGE field trips to Mexico and Greenland!