NHSG Community Engaged Graduate Research Fellowship

Options exist for either an M.S. or Ph.D. student, with stipend and tuition support confirmed for two years starting in the Fall 2025 semester with opportunities to secure additional funding support if needed. After review by project mentors, interested applicants must also separately apply for and be accepted into the University of New Hampshire for graduate study. The selected graduate assistants will have specific research and engagement duties related to the projects outlined below and will also have the opportunity to develop their own research questions aligned with the project themes and needs for their thesis/dissertation program requirements. 

Please see each project description below for specific details and deadlines to submit letters of interest to project mentors prior to the formal graduate school admission process. Both of these projects draw from a range of disciplines and data collection methods, involve opportunities for regular interactions with a range of partner organizations, and provide students with training relevant to both academic and community centered career paths.  Applicants should have experience with or interest in: 1) social-ecological systems approaches, 2) community engaged research, and 3) building research communications appropriate for both academic and non-academic audiences. 

Project 1 – Participatory Approaches to Coastal Ecosystem Monitoring 

Co-advised by Alyson Eberhardt, Ph.D. (NH Sea Grant) and David Burdick, Ph.D. (NREN) 

One graduate research assistant will be primarily focused on improving and expanding community based, participatory approaches to the monitoring of New Hampshire coastal ecosystems, with a focus on the marshes and beaches of the Seabrook-Hampton Estuary and associated coastal nearshore areas. The core of this project focuses on an ongoing participatory science effort (beach profiling) and the development of a new community monitoring program in alignment with the Hampton Seabrook Estuary Management plan. This project will draw from the latest research and practice to ensure the long-term success and viability of the efforts as both rigorous scientific endeavors and responsive to community needs and interests. The project includes opportunities for collaboratively developed beach and marsh system data collection, analysis, mapping, and community engagement. This student would be jointly housed in the UNH Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (NREN) and NH Sea Grant, and would have the opportunity to work closely with the Seabrook Hamptons Estuary Alliance as well as other partner organizations in the NH Seacoast region. 

Project 2 – Understanding Indicators of Social Change in Coastal Watershed Communities 

Co-advised by Lindsey Williams, Ph.D. (NH Sea Grant) and Shannon Rogers, Ph.D. (NREN) 

One graduate research assistant will be primarily focused on collaboratively developing and implementing a social indicators program to understand change in New Hampshire’s coastal watershed communities. The core of this project focuses on implementing initial recommendations from a recent collaborative effort to bridge human dimensions research and practice in the Great Bay Watershed to better understand change over time when it comes to community demographics, connection to nature, perceptions of water quality, willingness to take conservation action, stewardship behaviors, and more. There are also opportunities to expand these efforts into more in-depth research into experiences with loss in the face of environmental change, resilience and adaptive capacity, and more. This project includes opportunities for survey and interview design and data collection, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, mapping, and community engagement. This student would be jointly housed in the UNH Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (NREN) and NH Sea Grant, and would have the opportunity to work closely with other partner organizations in the NH Seacoast region. 

Length of Fellowship

Graduate stipend and tuition support confirmed for two years, with opportunities to secure additional funding support if needed. These positions officially start with the Fall 2025 UNH academic calendar, with the option of beginning some work during the summer of 2025.

 The selected graduate research assistants will: 

• Have the opportunity to work together and independently on their projects, with the goal that they both develop complementary skill-sets and understanding of inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to using social and natural sciences along with robust community engagement techniques. 
• Attend NH Sea Grant meetings and activities to build their professional experiences. 
• Participate in community events and activities that build their professional networks. 
• Be concurrently enrolled in either the UNH Graduate Certificate in Citizen and Community Science or the Graduate Certificate in Coastal Policy.  
• Have the opportunity to participate in the NH CoastWise professional development program.