2019 cohort gathered in Sausalito, California

In May, the Switzer Fellowship network welcomed twenty graduate student leaders from schools in New England and California! The 2019 fellows come from Ph.D., masters' and law programs. They are working on issues such as marine fisheries by-catch, water quality, city and regional planning, wildlife conservation, botany, law, business, and policy, to name a few. All are addressing their work through the lens of a rapidly changing climate. The 2019 Switzer fellows will be a part of our next generation of scientists, lawyers, activists, teachers, business leaders and policymakers.

Read more about them!

Angela Park led a training focused on equity as a 21st century leadership competency

The Switzer Fellows' Fall Retreat was held September 13-15 in Sausalito, California. Our fall retreat is where we welcome new fellows, get to know each other, and engage in a leadership development training.

With the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation's commitment to equity and justice in our organization and programs, we strive to provide fellows with the skills to strengthen their own knowledge and practice towards applying an equity lens to their work. Thus, our fall training, led by our colleague Angela Park, focused on equity as a 21st century leadership competency. This workshop covered topics such as the impact of group identity, power dynamics, and on embedding equity and justice into organization culture, policies and practices. As environmental leaders, Switzer Fellows understand the critical importance of the relationships between environmental improvement, cultural competency, and social justice.

A particularly special aspect to this year's fall retreat was a new format under which we brought all 20 of the current fellows to one fall retreat. This format replaced our past tradition of hosting separate retreats in New England and California, and we could not be more pleased with the results! We saw friendships form across geography, life background, research topic, and career aspirations. We look forward to seeing how more connected cohorts will provide mutual support, inspiration and collaboration.

Fellow Nick Jensen, California Native Plant Society

The Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation helps advance the professional careers of fellows through several post-fellowship grant programs, including the Leadership Grant Program, which provides funds for organizations which partner with Switzer Fellows on a project or to create a position which utilizes the fellow's expertise, and the Network Innovation Grant Program, which supports projects in which two or more fellows work together to advance a solution to a critical issue. Our two most recent grants are:

Southern California Conservation Analyst
$20,000 Leadership Grant to the California Native Plant Society (Claremont, CA) to provided continued support for fellow Nick Jensen's position as Southern California Conservation Analyst, advocating for conservation of southern California's critical habitats.

Whither Phalaropes? Convening a working group to propel shorebird conservation
$10,000 to Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge (Santa Cruz, CA) for fellows Ryan Carle and Margaret Rubega to convene and lead a working group of researchers and others to study two species of migratory birds (Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes) whose population numbers are declining.