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Indigenous Skies Graduate Fellowship

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The Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology alongside the WVU Planetarium and Observatory presents the Indigenous Skies Graduate Fellowship.

The two-year fellowship with a 1-year possible extension, provides a $30,000 stipend per year with a $2000 travel allowance. The Fellowship provides support for the student to engage in self-directed Indigenous astronomy scholarship. Possible areas of study include but not limited to researching Indigenous astronomical knowledge and traditions of Eastern Woodland peoples (in collaboration with the WVU Native American Studies Program), investigating Indigenous research methods in application to astronomy and astrophysics, and partnering with K-12 schools in Indigenous communities to develop astronomy and physics educational materials that incorporate Indigenous language, knowledge, and perspectives. In addition, the student will collaborate with the WVU Planetarium on development of Indigenous skies show content, and participate in outreach activities in the planetarium and in the community.

Applicants must be admitted into the WVU Physics and Astronomy Graduate Program for the upcoming academic year. Applicants should have clear promise for outstanding performance in doctoral study and research. Native American U.S. citizens that are members or descendants of state or federally recognized tribes, and other Indigenous peoples are especially encouraged to apply.

To apply, please submit regular application for WVU Physics and Astronomy Graduate Program by January 15, 2022.  Send an email to jason.ybarra@mail.wvu.edu expressing interest in this fellowship by the same deadline.

QUESTIONS

Questions can be directed to Dr. Jason E. Ybarra at jason.ybarra@mail.wvu.edu

West Virginia University, with its statewide institutional presence, resides on land that includes ancestral territories of the Shawnee, Lenape (Delaware), Haudenosaunee (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, Tuscarora), Cherokee, and many other Indigenous peoples.

In acknowledging this, we recognize and appreciate those Indigenous nations whose territories we are living on and working in. Indigenous peoples have been in the land currently known as West Virginia since time immemorial.