Environment Track: Early-Career Research Fellowship

Environment Track: Early-Career Research Fellowship is sponsored by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Gulf Research Program. The Environment Track: Early-Career Research Fellowship, for the 2026-2028 Application Cycle, focuses on Ecosystem Health - Monitoring and Managing for Environmental Change. This track invites research that leverages innovative scientific approaches.

Environment Track: Early-Career Research Fellowship Fellowship/Professional Development Program Environment Track: Early-Career Research Fellowship For the 2026-2028 Application Cycle, the Environment Track focuses on Ecosystem Health - Monitoring and Managing for Environmental Change .

This track invites research that leverages innovative scientific or technological approaches to assess, monitor, or predict the resilience of critical ecosystems and species to changing conditions. Fellows should develop or test innovative monitoring techniques and/or develop solutions that enhance a system's biodiversity or slow its loss.

This work should translate into actionable management & policy strategies that sustain ecosystem services & strengthen community resilience. Special emphasis will be placed on applicants that utilize genetic/genomic/machine learning/or AI methodologies in their work.

Until June 2, 2026 5:00 PM June 3, 2026 - September 14, 2026 Gulf Research Program Welcomes Early-Career Research Fellows in Environmental Protection and Stewardship and Education Research Application and Review Process April 14, 2026: Applications open June 2, 2026, 5:00 pm ET: Application deadline June-August 2026: Review of written applications and selection of fellows August-September 2026: All applicants notified of funding decisions December 1, 2026: Fellowships begin December 1, 2026: Required virtual fellowship orientation December 31, 2027: Progress reports due November 30, 2028: End of fellowship December 31, 2028: Final reports due An award of $76,000 is paid to each fellow’s institution in the form of a two-year grant.

Potential fellows must ensure compliance with their institution’s requirements for applications for external funding. Funds cannot be used on institutional overhead or indirect charges. Detailed information can be found in the Early-Career Research Fellowship sample grant agreement for public and private institutions.

$75,000 is available for the fellow to use for research-related expenses, including equipment purchases, professional travel, professional development courses, trainee support, salary, or any other costs directly related to the fellow’s research. The use of these funds for any other expenses requires pre-approval from the Gulf Research Program. The remaining $1,000 of the award serves as an honorarium for a mentor.

Applicants must identify a senior-level researcher at their affiliated institution willing to serve as a career mentor. All fellows will attend a required virtual orientation near the start of their fellowship term. Fellows may be required to attend other events/conferences during their fellowship term, which may include a fellows and/or alumni networking event.

Travel expenses for these events will be covered by the Gulf Research Program; they are in addition to the $76,000 fellowship award. The Environment Track invites research that leverages innovative scientific or technological approaches to assess, monitor, or predict the resilience of critical ecosystems and species to changing conditions.

Fellows should develop or test innovative monitoring techniques and/or develop solutions that enhance a system’s biodiversity or slow its loss. This work should translate into actionable management and policy strategies that sustain ecosystem services and strengthen community resilience. Special emphasis will be placed on applicants that utilize genetic, genomic, machine learning, or AI methodologies in their work.

Applicants must, at the time of application: Hold a permanent, fully independent position as an investigator, faculty member, clinician scientist, or scientific team lead in industry, academia, or a research organization. A postdoc is not considered a fully independent position. Be an early-career scientist who has received their eligible degree within the past 10 years (on or after January 1, 2016).

Hold a doctoral degree (e.g., PhD, ScD, EngD, MD, DrPH, EdD, DSW or DVM) in the social and behavioral sciences, health sciences and medicine, engineering and physical sciences, earth and life sciences, or interdisciplinary scientific fields relevant to the charge of the Gulf Research Program. Not be currently employed by the U.S. federal government. Applications can be submitted through our online application system .

Required application materials: Your resume or CV (up to 5 pages). A series of personal essays that respond to the following prompts: Relevance (1000 words total): Using language for a lay audience, explain how your research has contributed to and will continue contributing to the track goal.

In your response, include the following: the ecosystems, communities, and species that will be studied, the genetic, AI, and/or machine learning approaches you will leverage, and how your proposed subject will enhance the resilience and understanding of ecosystem services for Gulf communities or more broadly for the region.

(All proposed projects must focus on communities within the U.S. Gulf region, defined as Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, consistent with the scope of the Gulf Research Program.) Describe how your research connects/informs ecosystem health and how this knowledge could be integrated into natural resource management actions and/or inform policy strategies.

Research Portfolio (2,000-word limit): The Gulf Research Program Early-Career Research Fellowship funds people, not projects. Therefore, your research portfolio statement should include information about your research portfolio as a whole, not a specific project.

We encourage you to write your research portfolio statement in a way that is understandable to a scientifically literate lay reader and to make the best use of the space provided by utilizing the entire word count, rather than uploading images, diagrams, or figures. The use of references should be minimal and only when absolutely needed.

If references are included, they will be counted toward the total word count, and we do not have a preference as to citation style. Your research portfolio statement should include: A description of your relevant research and projects to date. A description of future work and the research goals you hope to accomplish in the next two years.

Please note, a budget is NOT required and should not be included in the research statement. You may upload a budget as a separate task if your university requires that one be submitted.

Special Skill Essay (2 part, 600-word limit): Research that enhances environmental protection and stewardship requires multidisciplinary approaches, broad range of perspectives and strong science communication skill to engage with managers, decision makers and various communities within the region.

Describe your experiences and approaches to collaboration across scientific disciplines and engagement of end-users of scientific information. How did you utilize your science communication skills to complement your research to other disciplines/audiences? How have you incorporated principles of impartiality, fairness, and equal opportunity, while nurturing a wide spectrum of viewpoints, in your research, academic work, and career?

Personal Growth and Mentoring: How will the mentoring provided by the fellowship help you to address your career goals and challenges? What is your strategy to be a productive mentee? (400-word limit) How will you know when you have achieved professional success in your career?

What skills or characteristics do you need to work on in order to achieve this success? (350-word limit) How have your lived experiences, educational journey, and/or understanding of the world shaped your identity as a scientist and an early-career researcher? If applicable, we invite you to share your lived experiences of overcoming barriers in your academic journey, along with the strategies you employed to overcome these challenges.

(500-word limit) A statement (up to 1,000 words) from your selected mentor Your selected mentor must be in a senior-level position at your affiliated college, university, research institution, or organization. Do not choose a mentor for a research collaboration.

Choose a mentor who is willing and able to meet at least twice a month to provide guidance and advice on professional development and career topics beyond merely promotion and tenure, such as work/life balance, time and project management, teaching and mentorship, committee and other professional service, community engagement and outreach, lab and research management.

In their statement, your mentor should address how you, the applicant, will benefit from mentoring. Your mentor should consider your professional development holistically, beyond research productivity alone, and identify areas for improvement or potential growth.

If you are unable to find a mentor at your affiliated organization, the mentor honorarium will be waived, and you will be asked to answer an additional question justifying your selection of an external mentor. Once you have created an account and started an application, you can enter the contact information for your mentor.

The system will generate an email to the mentor with instructions for logging in and uploading the mentor statement. We encourage applicants to complete this task as soon as possible because final applications cannot be submitted until the mentor statement have been completed. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

All application materials, including the mentor statement, must be submitted through our online application system by June 2, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM CT / 2:00 PM PT. If you have difficulties submitting materials through our online application system, contact us at GulfFellowships@nas. edu .

Requesting mentor statement Once you have created an account and started an application, you can enter the contact information for your mentor. The system will generate an email to the mentor with instructions for logging in and uploading the mentor statement. We encourage applicants to complete this task as soon as possible because final applications cannot be submitted until the mentor statement has been completed.

Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Fellows are selected based on a set of review criteria . The 2026 Early-Career Research Fellowship application review will be conducted in two stages.

Applications will first go through an eligibility review conducted by Gulf Research Program Fellowship staff. Applications that are eligible will proceed to the second review stage focused on relevance, merit, and impact and will be reviewed by at least three peer-reviewers.

In addition, the Gulf Research Program will be considering how applicants fit into our overall goals as well as balancing fellows across scientific disciplines and institutional affiliations. All applicants will be notified of final funding decisions in August/September 2026.

Before submitting an application, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the review criteria and the fellowship grant agreement (sample for public and private institutions). Space, Security, and Conflicts Our peer-reviewed reports present the evidence-based consensus of committees of experts. Explore the Latest News and Stories The latest news and stories, with context you can trust.

Seminar/Webinar/Lecture Series Stay in the loop with can’t-miss sessions, live events, and activities happening over the next two days. Annual State of the Science Address – June 2 Join NAS President Marcia McNutt for a discussion on the U.S. research enterprise and global science leadership.

Grants, Fellowships and Awards Science Communication Awards Congressional and Government Affairs Connecting policymakers with the National Academies Answers to everyday science and health questions Learn about membership to the three Academies Information on building access, visitor requirements, and facility operations. Former MyNAP users: You'll need to reset your password on your first login to MyAcademies.

Click "Forgot password" below to receive a reset link via email. Having trouble? Members of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of respective Academy portals.

Password must be at least 8 characters I agree to receive emails from the National Academies Thank you for creating a MyAcademies account! Enjoy free access to thousands of National Academies' publications, a 10% discount off every purchase, and build your personal library. Enter the email address for your MyAcademies (formerly MyNAP) account to receive password reset instructions.

We sent password reset instructions to . Follow the link in that email to create a new password. Didn't receive it?

Check your spam folder or Password must be at least 8 characters Your password has been reset. Verify Your Email Address We sent a verification link to your email. Please check your inbox (and spam folder) and follow the link to verify your email address.

If you did not receive the email, you can request a new verification link below Resend Verification Email I agree to receive emails from the National Academies We respect your privacy and will never share your information.