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SCB ASSUMES LEADERSHIP OF PRESTIGIOUS SMITH FELLOWSHIP

In June 2005, the Cedar Tree Foundation, along with The Nature Conservancy, announced that the David H. Smith Conservation Research Program now will be led by the Society for Conservation Biology and will be open to the entire global conservation community. As one of the premier postdoctoral programs in conservation biology in the United States, the Smith Fellowship seeks to find solutions to the nation's most pressing conservation challenges as well as to bridge the gap between theory and application.

The late David Smith, founder of the Cedar Tree Foundation, was a pediatrician, inventor and conservationist. Smith established the Smith Fellowship in 1998 with a grant to The Nature Conservancy, which had overseen the program. As of September 2005, SCB is leading the Fellowship. Michael Dombeck, professor of Global Environmental Management at the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point and former Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, will serve as executive director of the Smith Fellowship.

Since its inception, the Smith Fellowship has identified and supported early-career scientists who will shape the growth and application of conservation biology. The program enables young scientists to improve and expand their research skills and direct their research efforts toward problems of pressing conservation concern. Smith Fellows are expected to design, initiate, and conduct original research projects in collaboration with an academic and a conservation mentor.

While the fellows' research projects focus on urgent conservation issues, the fellows also learn first-hand about the challenges and rewards of conservation applications. The program's focus is to enlarge their professional opportunities and ensure future success by helping them build relationships in the conservation and research communities and by providing opportunities for professional development through targeted workshops and training events. "David Smith understood from his own research the importance of supporting efforts that span research, practice, and policy," commented Deborah Jensen, Past President of SCB. "SCB is honored to help achieve Dr. Smith's vision of developing the next generation of leading scientists."

For details and application procedures please visit www.Smithfellows.org. Applicants must be based at an institution in the United States but need not be citizens of the United States. The application deadline for the 2006 class of fellows is 28 October 2005.

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