Want to engineer a better future for people and nature?
Join us as part of a funded Master’s degree program courtesy of a collaboration between Ducks Unlimited and the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems.
Graduate students in this program will conduct both practice-oriented and basic research on NI methods and engineering guidance, tool development, cost and economic analysis, monitoring and adaptive management, and social dimensions of climate resilient infrastructure with an emphasis on integration of natural and conventional systems.
Graduate students will have internship opportunities in which they will join interdisciplinary project delivery teams with private sector and government partners who are national leaders in planning, design, implementation, and monitoring of real-world NI projects. The internship experiences in NI will result in the completion of a thesis of practice that will position the students to seamlessly enter the NI workforce and effectively contribute to interdisciplinary teams. Check out our current students here and get in touch with program manager Will Mattison at wmattison@uga.edu.
About Ducks Unlimited
Ducks Unlimited is the international leader in wetland and waterfowl conservation. They believe that conservation is done best when it’s rooted in scientific evidence, and feel strongly about helping to build a generation of scientists and engineers who will create a more resilient world.
The ideal candidate for this fellowship will have:
- B.S. degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Ecology, Architecture, Geography, Atmospheric Sciences, Marine Sciences or equivalent.
- Hands-on experience in applied projects related to infrastructure and sustainability.
- A strong interest in integrating engineering with ecology, forestry, landscape architecture / design, policy, and other natural infrastructure-related disciplines
The majority of awards will go to Master’s students, but strong PhD students will be considered as well.
Example Fellowships Projects
Inequitable Impact of Floods and Hazards
Study of how environmental hazards impact low-income and minority communities and create increased disparities. Develop natural infrastructure solutions to provide equitable distribution of benefits.
Monitoring Floodplain Reconnection
Assessment of the success of projects that reconnect rivers and streams to their floodplains to reduce flooding in communities both up- and downstream.
Scales of Natural Infrastructure
Discovering at what scale natural infrastructure features need to be implemented to have the biggest benefits for rural and urban communities.
Overcoming Policy Restraints
Study of the obstacles and regulatory constraints to wide-scale implementation of natural infrastructure, and development of solutions to overcome them.
How to apply
- Send your materials to the IRIS team so that we can review them and learn more about you.
- Begin the application process through the UGA College of Engineering graduate school (or the UGA graduate school that closest fits your expertise)
- If you have questions, reach out to program manager Will Mattison.