Last month we announced a fellowship opportunity at AAPS in partnership with the NASA Citizen Science Leaders Series. We were surprised and delighted to receive 55 applications! They came from graduate students and early career professionals in diverse disciplines, with backgrounds and experience that mirrors the range of practice and application that we see in the field of participatory science. The enthusiasm, talent, and passion in these applications was such strong evidence of the broad appeal of doing research using participatory methods and its growing acceptance that we are moved to share some of our takeaways from the review process.
- Opportunities to design and support projects are happening in many different settings. We had applicants with backgrounds in everything from astronomy to zoology–biology, ecology, engineering, nursing, policy and to name a few. There were graduate students, non-profit program managers, education coordinators, university based researchers and instructors, museum professionals, and more. It was inspiring to see so many people from different backgrounds motivated to learn and grow their networks of connections in this field.
- People are finding meaning and purpose through their work in the participatory sciences and looking for career opportunities in the field. Applicants were asked to share their career aspirations and we learned a lot about how this future generation is thinking about career paths in the participatory sciences. They were interested in designing and leading new projects, contributing to scholarship on best practices, influencing policy, building partnerships, and connecting science to new audiences. One applicant commented that, “working in the participatory sciences is how I find meaning in my career as a researcher.” Cheers to that.
- Early career individuals in this field are eager to connect with mentors and colleagues as invested in this work as they are. Applicants were asked to reflect on the value that a fellowship like this would bring to their work in this field. Many commented on the appeal of mentorship, an opportunity to deeply explore best practices, and the chance to connect with leaders in this field. We are excited that this fellowship can help serve a need to connect early career professionals to the mentors and experiences to help them grow in this field.
We are also really excited about the project that this fellow will take on. This fellow will be curating resources, advice, and best practices on topics of common interest from four years of NASA Cit Sci Leaders events. We have covered a lot of ground in this time and are thrilled to be launching an effort to better package the gems into usable formats for busy scientists and project leaders interested in creating, managing, and improving participatory science projects.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who applied for this fellowship and to all of the early career professionals working in this field. You are inspiring and we can’t wait to see what big ideas you contribute to the growth of this field.
AAPS is about to launch up to three additional fellowships in the coming months on different topics. Please keep an eye out for upcoming calls and share them with the inspiring early career folks in your networks.
Are you an early career individual working in the participatory sciences?
Here are four ways to connect with AAPS and the NASA CitSci Leaders Series communities:
- Sign up for the AAPS Newsletter to receive updates about future fellowships and other AAPS offerings and events.
- Join the NASA Citizen Science Google Group by sending an email to Marc J. Kuchner (GSFC-6670) <marc.j.kuchner@nasa.gov> with the subject line “Add me to the Cit Sci Google group” to join. You’ll receive occasional newsletters and emails with information about events and opportunities (~ 6 per month).
- Consider joining as an AAPS member for as low as $39 per year. We have a graduate student/early career affinity group that is a great place to meet others doing similar work in different places, disciplines, and roles.
- Join us in Portland, Oregon for our 2025 conference. The call for individual presentations will open later this fall-come share about your work with us!
