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SEEPAC-fellowship for environmental economics
Motu is collaborating with the Stanford Energy and Environment Policy Analysis Center (SEEPAC) to offer a fellowship for an undergraduate Stanford student to work as a research intern on an environmental economics project in New Zealand for a minimum of eight weeks during 2012 (during the U.S. summer).
Participation will allow students to integrate their economics courses and apply what they have learned to a topic partly chosen on the basis of their interest and experience. Motu has environmental economics work programmes relating to climate change, water quality management, and deforestation.
Go to Motu’s environmental regulation research pages…
Goals of the fellowship
The principal goals of the fellowship are to:
- Expose students to the policy-research interface in a country where innovative environmental policies are being implemented and where, because of small scale, policy processes are accessible;
- Provide students with a deeper understanding of the nature and methods of policy-relevant academic research;
- Stimulate students’ interest in pursuing environmental economics.
Read about the experience of Madeline Duhon, Eric Karpas, and Mohit Thukral previous Motu interns from Stanford.
Who are we looking for?
Preference in admissions will be given to students who have declared economics as their major and are completing their junior year, although sophomores with exceptionally strong academic records are also welcome to apply. Students should be on track to meet the Economics Department’s GPA threshold requirements for Honors (that is, achieving a GPA of 3.5 or higher for the courses required of an Economics major). Completion of an environmental economics course such as ECON 155 before the internship begins would be ideal.
What will the internship involve?
The research intern will work forty hours per week, primarily on their specific topic but also attending meetings with policy makers.
They will be supervised by a Motu Senior Fellow and work in a team with New Zealand-based research analysts working on related issues.
The student is expected to commit to an 8-week period, for which they will receive a stipend of $4,500, which will cover the cost of basic flights and living costs.
The student will be required to attend and participate actively in two organised events every week: one Motu research seminar and one environment team research workshop. The research seminars are primarily led by Senior Motu researchers or visitors. The environment team research workshops feature brief research presentations by research analysts.
The recipient of the fellowship will be required to give at least one presentation about their own work during this workshop. They will need to produce a written report at the end of the internship which will be published as a working paper if it is of a sufficient standard.
Apply for the SEEPAC-Motu fellowship
If you are interested in applying for this fellowship, please email the following information to :
1. Your name, Student ID number and contact information.
2. Your expected graduation date.
3. A brief statement (no more than one typed page) discussing why you are interested in this fellowship and your particular interests in environmental economics.
4. An unofficial copy of your Stanford transcript.
5. A brief resume.
The deadline for applications is 5pm Monday 5th March (U.S. time). Early submissions are welcome.