It’s time! We are now accepting applications for our 13th class of Hubbard Fellows. Please forward this to anyone you know who might be interested. I supervise our fellows each year, and can’t wait to meet the next two.
The Hubbard Fellowship was built to help people bridge the gap between what you learn in college and the skills and proficiency needed to start a career. After graduation, many (most?) aspiring conservationists spend several years in seasonal positions, trying to gain enough experience to qualify for career positions. Because those seasonal jobs tend to be fairly narrow in scope and short in duration, it can take a while to build a diverse resume.
Hubbard Fellows are involved in nearly everything The Nature Conservancy does in Nebraska over the course of their 12-month fellowship. They spend a lot of time doing land stewardship – getting the training they need along the way – but also attend board meetings, engage in strategic discussions, and help with fundraising and marketing work. Fellows get to meet and work with researchers, lead groups of volunteers, and talk about conservation to the public.
In addition, each Fellow can design their own independent project, which allows them to dive more deeply into a topic of their interest. As long as it provides some kind of tangible benefit to The Nature Conservancy, projects can look like just about anything. Fellows have conducted field research, created art, developed recommendations for conservation strategies, designed outreach programs and materials, and much more.
By the end of their year with The Nature Conservancy, fellows tend to have a stronger sense of what they want to aim for in their career. Sometimes, that leads them into graduate school, ready to focus on their chosen topic, and with an eye toward what they want after they complete their next degree. Other times, it sets them up for a successful job application in land stewardship, environmental education, conservation fundraising, or other fields.
If all of this sounds like something that applies to you, please apply! We get applicants with both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The level of your degree doesn’t matter nearly as much as your enthusiasm and potential. We want to help build the next generation of conservation leaders (including all forms of “leadership”) so tell us why this fellowship would be helpful to you and why you’re excited about the opportunity.
You can read much more about the Hubbard Fellowship here and in this brochure. Applications are due September 28, 2025 and our two new fellows will start on February 2, 2026.
The Prairie Ecologist 